The Times (issue 2003-2) Bishops lead the Eastern Alliance
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2012 2:28 am
London fans are ecstatic that the off- season investment in their team has certainly paid dividends in the opening weeks of 2003.
The Bishops opened their season with a road trip to the EBA Champions, the Munchen Brauers, and were unlucky to come home with a 2-1 series loss. Bishops ace Daniel Russel had a shaky start to the season opener, giving up five hits & three runs in the first innings but the London side rallied to tie the game at 3 in the top of the 8th only for reliever Sal Mejorado to give up the winner in the bottom half of the innings. New FA Ricky Jamaica gave seven strong innings in the second game and a 3-run homer by slugger Romain Bertrand put the icing on a four run 9th innings as London crushed the champions 8-2. The final game of the series saw the lead change hands a couple of times before Bertrand hit another 9th inning long bomb to send the game into extra innings which the Brauers snatched with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th.
London returned home to face fierce rivals Paris Patriots in their home opening series at the Bishops Ballpark and blew them away, winning 6-2 & 5-1 in the first two games, and sealing the series sweep with a 7-0 complete game shutout as Russel bounced back from his Opening Day loss. The Bishops had the bit between the teeth now and travelled to Madrid to face the Matadors with Jamaica on the mound in the series opener. Despite London cranking out 11 hits it took a seventh innings’ fly-out to get Bertrand home for the game’s only run. 15 more hits in game two saw the visitors come out on top 6-3 before Louis Furst, with his second win in two starts, won the final game as London out-hit Madrid 14-10 on the way to an 11-6 win and a second successive sweep.
Returning home, the Bishops dropped their first game in seven losing 9-7 to Amsterdam. London had led 4-1 after one but the Neptunes knocked starter Leroy Warner out in the third and won at a canter. Stung by the loss Bishops blanked Amsterdam 4-0 behind Russel’s second complete game shutout and then after nine shutout innings by the new fan favourite, Ricky Jamaica, finished off their second successive 4-0 win with a walk-off Grand Slam by back-up Irish first baseman Turlough Kitson.
So 12 games into 2003 London sit atop the Eastern Alliance with a 9-3 record. Stars so far are Ricky Jamaica (2-0), 24 IP, only 14 hits given up with no runs allowed & opponents hitting .165 against him, Daniel Russel (2-1) who has been a bit wild with 11 walks but still has two CG shut-outs and Romain Bertrand who leads the team in homers (3), RBI’s (11) & total bases (28). Special mention must go to Pat Listach who is currently hitting .441 (15-34), Raul Bryant with five steals and Simon Caesar who claimed the second week’s EBA batter award by hitting .519 (14-27) and scoring four times while driving home three.
The Bishops opened their season with a road trip to the EBA Champions, the Munchen Brauers, and were unlucky to come home with a 2-1 series loss. Bishops ace Daniel Russel had a shaky start to the season opener, giving up five hits & three runs in the first innings but the London side rallied to tie the game at 3 in the top of the 8th only for reliever Sal Mejorado to give up the winner in the bottom half of the innings. New FA Ricky Jamaica gave seven strong innings in the second game and a 3-run homer by slugger Romain Bertrand put the icing on a four run 9th innings as London crushed the champions 8-2. The final game of the series saw the lead change hands a couple of times before Bertrand hit another 9th inning long bomb to send the game into extra innings which the Brauers snatched with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th.
London returned home to face fierce rivals Paris Patriots in their home opening series at the Bishops Ballpark and blew them away, winning 6-2 & 5-1 in the first two games, and sealing the series sweep with a 7-0 complete game shutout as Russel bounced back from his Opening Day loss. The Bishops had the bit between the teeth now and travelled to Madrid to face the Matadors with Jamaica on the mound in the series opener. Despite London cranking out 11 hits it took a seventh innings’ fly-out to get Bertrand home for the game’s only run. 15 more hits in game two saw the visitors come out on top 6-3 before Louis Furst, with his second win in two starts, won the final game as London out-hit Madrid 14-10 on the way to an 11-6 win and a second successive sweep.
Returning home, the Bishops dropped their first game in seven losing 9-7 to Amsterdam. London had led 4-1 after one but the Neptunes knocked starter Leroy Warner out in the third and won at a canter. Stung by the loss Bishops blanked Amsterdam 4-0 behind Russel’s second complete game shutout and then after nine shutout innings by the new fan favourite, Ricky Jamaica, finished off their second successive 4-0 win with a walk-off Grand Slam by back-up Irish first baseman Turlough Kitson.
So 12 games into 2003 London sit atop the Eastern Alliance with a 9-3 record. Stars so far are Ricky Jamaica (2-0), 24 IP, only 14 hits given up with no runs allowed & opponents hitting .165 against him, Daniel Russel (2-1) who has been a bit wild with 11 walks but still has two CG shut-outs and Romain Bertrand who leads the team in homers (3), RBI’s (11) & total bases (28). Special mention must go to Pat Listach who is currently hitting .441 (15-34), Raul Bryant with five steals and Simon Caesar who claimed the second week’s EBA batter award by hitting .519 (14-27) and scoring four times while driving home three.