Ilya Dimitrov went deep over the wall as the Herts Hawks earned a derby win over their club-mates, the Herts Raptors.

Dimitrov went 2-for-2 with two runs and two runs batted in (RBI) in Sunday’s 16-6 win. The highlight was his homer off Paul Barton.

He also stole two bases, although half the team did that too, with 15 steals overall in the game.

The Hawks went into the game in first place in the Single-A League while the Raptors were bottom. The gulf showed early as the Hawks jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the second inning.

The Raptors mounted a comeback, with six runs across three frames, but it wasn’t enough to cause an upset as the Hawks notched their eighth win of the season.

Nicolas Goetz earned the win for the Hawks, holding the Raptors scoreless over three innings.

In the Triple-A League, the Herts Eagles were looking to bring their play-off hopes back to life in their home double-header with third-placed Brighton Bulldogs. These series saw Grovehill Ballpark’s biggest crowd of the season as the fans from the Herts Derby made the short walk to the main diamond.

The big crowd spurred the Herts Eagles on as they won the first game of the series by an unbelievable scoreline of 34-10. Brodie Caress pitched a complete game for the win and he had fantastic run support from his team, which included a tape measure shot by Will Zucker, who went 4-for-4 with six RBIs.

In the second game Brighton responded winning 14-3. There was a brief glimmer of hope for the Eagles in that game after Jon Lewys hit a towering home run over the left centerfield wall. That was only one of four hits for the Eagles as Brighton pitcher Angus Cowell proved to be very effective.

One of the runs scored by the Bulldogs was a solo home run by Sebastian Molina who plays for Brighton in the Triple-A league and for Herts in the under-19 league.

This Sunday is going to be decisive for the Herts Falcons as they travel to the surging Southampton Mustangs. The Falcons have lost their last six league games while the Mustangs have won their last two. The Falcons will need to win at least one of the two games in the series to keep their play-off hopes in their own hands.

Herts Baseball Club received good news off the field as the Great Britain U15 National Team announced its squad for the European Championship Qualifiers. The squad included Herts infielder, Michael Johnson, who has been a member of the Herts U17 and U19 teams over the last few seasons. The games will be played in Belgrade, Serbia, from July 21-26.