Newton Aycliffe Spartans will this weekend, attempt to reach the National Baseball Championships Finals Weekend when they host Manchester A’s at Sunnydale Leisure Centre on Sunday 31st , with the first pitch at 12pm.
Having secured the AA Northern Division title a few weeks ago, the top seeded Spartans who ended the season with 15 wins and just 1 loss, will be favourites against a Manchester side who finished 4th in the regular season standings.
The two teams have met already back in May, when Spartans beat the A’s twice, by scores of 9-5 and 13-5. However Head Coach Mike Holton expects the previous results between the two sides to be largely irrelevant as the Spartans find themselves in unfamiliar territory.  “We expect a tough game on Sunday, Manchester have playoff experience whilst the playoffs are a new experience for our club.  In addition we will be playing one 9 innings game, so the margin for errors are diminished and we need to be prepared to adapt to situations that we perhaps will not have experienced during the season”
Spartans preparations have been hampered by the British weather which has seen their last few regular season games postponed. “It’s not ideal game preparation in the fact that our last competitive game was back on July 20th, but we know that we have the players who can make step up and make a difference and we will be giving 100% to ensure we can represent Newton Aycliffe and North East baseball at the National Finals in a week’s time”.
Spartans have no injury or availability issues, so a full strength team will try to overcome the Manchester A’s and book a trip to the new home of British Baseball, the purpose built facility at Fareham Park near Slough, taking on the best sides from the Southern Division and a chance to be crowned 2014 AA National Champions.
Come on down and support Newton Aycliffe’s latest sporting success story.
More information on the Spartans can be found at www.newtonaycliffespartans.co.uk