It was a long time coming, but after enduring 20 successive losses Newton Aycliffe Spartans final got their first win last Sunday at home as they defeated the play-off bound Oldham North Stars 20 to 10 in the British Baseball Federation Northern League AA Division.
Despite being down 7-0 at the end of the first inning, Spartans sprung into life, producing a great all round team performance with a standout pitching display by Mike Holton and some impressive hitting by Jason Hill, who hit his 2nd home run of the season and drove in 5 runs.
Impressive too was the defence, which has been the Spartan’s Achilles heel all season and to limit the North Stars to just 3 runs after the first inning was the basis for this historic win.
Head Coach Sean Wallwein was naturally a proud man. “I can’t compliment the team enough. We’ve had a number of great performances in recent weeks where results have not matched the effort. But we have had good training sessions in recent weeks and a lot of what we have done right in those sessions we put into practice in the game and this got us our win.” Coach Wallwein had another reason to be happy as he refused to shave until the team got their first win.
Another happy man was Team Manager, John Johnston “We’ve had a number of comments from the teams that we had played earlier in the season on how well we have developed from the start of season and they fully expect us to be in the mix next season. With some good winter training I’m sure we will be able to compete with the very best teams next season. Off the field we really want to let people know about Baseball in the North East and help this club grow”
The Spartans will once again next season be playing in the British Baseball Federation Northern League AA Division and are currently looking to local companies to sponsor the team. There are numerous affordable sponsorship packages available. If you are interested in supporting the North East’s only baseball team please contact John Johnston on 07593 951879 email john@newtonaycliffespartans.co.uk or visit www.newtonaycliffespartans.co.uk
