Eighth straight NBL title for Mets
Reigning BBF National Baseball League champions the London Mets successfully defended their 2023 title to extend their winning run to eight consecutive championships after defeating Essex Arrows at the National Baseball & Softball Complex at Farnham Park.
London Mets are the 2024 NBL champions
Both sides looked evenly poised coming into the final series. Essex Arrows edged out the Mets by just one game to finish on top of the regular-season table. However, the London club had the better record in this fixture in 2024 with two wins from three matches.
These two regular incumbents of the NBL last met in the final series a decade ago, when the Arrows came out as victors two games to nil. This time it was the opposite result.
Saturday’s clash saw left fielder Mike Benagale open the scoring at the top of the first inning for the Mets before teammates Geremias Dominguez and Marc Theberge extended their lead in the third inning. All the while Tim Brown allowed no runs in his first three innings on the mound to keep his team in a healthy 3-0 lead.
Angel Perez and Juan Diaz scored in the fourth and fifth innings respectively to put the Arrows on the board for the first time. However, the Essex side’s batting order was unable to add any more runs.
An excellent five-run final inning for the Mets, which included two RBI doubles from shortstop Theberge and Jamie Dix, smashed any hope of an Arrows comeback and the reigning champions ran out 12-2 winners.
Theberge and Dominguez were lethal at the plate scoring five runs and driving home five runs between them. Brown pitched a complete game where he allowed just one earned run and struck out five batters in a dominant display.
Games two and three of the final series were scheduled for Sunday, but the Mets knew another win in game two would wrap up the series early and crown them as champions.
They set about their conquest much the same as they did in the first match, by scoring a run in the first inning, Dominguez picked up where he left off last game to put his team in front this time.
However, the Mets found racking up an early lead much harder to come by as Richard Chesterton, Perez, Adonis Rodríguez, and Yonathan Novas fought back to take a 4-2 lead.
A Theberge walk with the bases loaded allowed Dix to equalise the match after Louis Dean’s earlier run at the bottom of the fourth inning.
Centre fielder Jordan Edmonds put the Londoners ahead in the fifth inning via a throwing error. Mitch Tyse and Theberge runs in the following inning extended their lead.
Relief pitcher James Green stayed composed on the mound to retire the final three Essex batters and take his team over the line in a 7-4 win for their eleventh national baseball championship victory.
The NBL final brought an end to an excellent 2024 season. We hope everyone enjoyed the action this season and is rearing to go for 2025.
Relive the live action below:
BBF AAA
It was a thriller in the AAA championships, with the Croydon Pirates overcoming Bristol Badgers 2-1.
Badgers pitcher Alex Martinson was in top form in game one striking out 14 Pirates as the Bristol side held on for a 5-4 win.
A tight game two pitching battle saw the Pirates come back from a one run deficit in the top of the final inning in game two to take a 5-3 win to take the series into the decider.
Game three was a roller coaster as the Badgers took and early 4-0 lead but a late fightback by the Pirates, including a big triple by Jorge Florentino, Jorge and some crucial Bristol errors took the Croydon team to a 9-6 victory and the 2024 AAA title.
Bristol Badgers 5-4, 3-5, & 6-9 Croydon Pirates (AAA)
Croydon Pirates (AAA) are the BBF AAA 2024 Champions
BBF AA
Richmond Dragons 16-0 Wragby Warhammers
BBF A
Bristol Buccaneers 10-12 Milton Keynes Bucks (2)
Bracknell Phoneix 16-3 Guildford Millers
All photos courtesy of Jody Demay-Davies
