HARWICH Town Bay Area Blues Baseball Club took part in the East of England Baseball Single A playoffs for the first time in the club's history.

It was an early start which saw the club travel to Norwich at 7.30am in good spirits to warm up and prepare for the semi-final against the Norwich Warriors.

The game started off very quickly and also saw the return of Alex Smith to the diamond after his injury, with the Blues scoring five runs with their first at bat of the day.

On the defence Harwich managed to start equally strong, getting the first batter they faced out after Matt Morgan collected the ball and threw to Alex on first for an easy out.

However, after some excellent batting from Norwich the first inning finished 5-5.

The second inning saw Shane Macro subbed in for Alex, and once again the Blues batting skills shone through as the put four runs past Norwich taking the lead.

Looking to maintain the lead the Blues took to the field in attempt to concede as little runs as possible, Matt Morgan managed three strike outs, conceding only three runs to Norwich.

Heading into the third inning Harwich knew they had to be at their best to try and maintain the lead, but unfortunately so did Norwich.

Two subs were made as Elysia Harvey and Rob Schatten were withdrawn with Laura Lenton and James Davey entering the field.

A slow innings for both teams, saw Lloyd Browne score the only run for Harwich.

Despite this the Blues made sure Norwich didn’t take the lead with some great fielding, conceding two runs and tying the game at 10-10 going into the final and open inning.

The open inning saw Norwich make a pitching change, so the Blues were eager to try and score some runs and take the game away from Norwich.

The inning started strong from Harwich and saw Laura Lenton take a hit to the head from a pitch, showing her perseverance she managed to finish her at bat and reach first base with a great hit.

Although, thanks to some great fielding from Norwich, the Blues finished the inning scoring three runs meaning the pressure was on them to defend the lead.

Unfortunately for Harwich, Norwich once again showed their experience with an excellent batting performance, managing to score four runs meaning the game finished 14-13 in favour of Norwich, taking them into the final to face the Cambridge Royals.

Overall, it was a great day in the history of the Harwich Town Bay Area Blues, reaching the play-offs for the first time since they were formed just over two years ago.

Everyone at the club is so proud of how far they have come and we can’t wait to go again next year and attempt to improve even further on what they have built so far!

Anybody interested in joining Harwich Town Bay Area Blues Baseball Club should contact their Facebook or Instagram page for details on training, matches and sponsorship opportunities as they look to build on relationships and the squad they already have!