BASEBALL: Northants Centurions' season gets off to a soggy start

The Northants Centurions baseball team saw their opening match of the new season called off last weekend, due to the heavy rain that hit town.

The team, which is based at the St Crispin’s playing field at the Duston Sports Centre on Cotswold Avenue, were due to take on Birmingham Outlaws, but the clash was cancelled.

The Centurions play in the British Baseball Federation Midlands A Division, and this Sunday are scheduled to be on the road as they go to Stourbridge Tomahawks.

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It is a five-team conference, with the other teams involved being Long Eaton Storm and Cambridge Royals.

Each team plays each other three times, and the Centurions will be hoping they can top the conference and qualify for the National Championships which are staged in August.

The Centurions were A Division winners last season for the first time, and they are hoping to reclaim their crown this summer.

The club was formed in 2013 by Paul Rance and Mark Faulkner, and played its first competitive fixtures the following year.

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The club set up base at St Crispin’s just 12 months ago, with a lot of hard work going into creating ‘the diamond’ they now call home.

“After a couple of weeks and what I estimated to be 260 man-hours of work by players, supporters and friends, we had a diamond,” said head coach Martin Maloney .

“All of the work behind the scenes had finally come to fruition.”

As well as the senior team, there is also a junior team called the Mini Centurions and a softball team called the Praetorians.

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Moloney is excited by the season ahead, and the future of baseball in the town, saying: “I think that we’ll continue to grow steadily.

“If we can get the numbers for more baseball and softball players, a second side for both sports is within reach, and playing competitive games every Sunday while being able to give everyone game time has been fantastic.”

The Centurions, whose kit is in the county colours of claret and yellow, are next scheduled to be at home on Sunday, May 13, when they host Long Eaton.

All spectators are welcome, and new players are also always welcome.

You can even watch some of the Centurions’ matches on Facebook, as they set to be streamed live by county-based Alpha Live at www.facebook.com/AlphaLiveProduction/