The Herts Falcons failed to overcome a costly first innings from pitcher Jose Sosa in a 6-2 loss to Southampton Mustangs, extending their losing streak to six.

Herts Advertiser: Herts Cardinals in the U15 Little League qualifier. Picture: Vicky SinclairHerts Cardinals in the U15 Little League qualifier. Picture: Vicky Sinclair (Image: Archant)

Sosa gave up six runs at the top of the first innings before completely shutting down Mustangs’ offence for the rest of the game.

He pitched a complete game and fanned six.

It was Herts’ second loss of the weekend. Their bats were hot against South London Pirates, scoring 10 runs on seven hits, but it wasn’t enough for victory. The Pirates kept pace throughout and secured a walk-off win at the bottom of the seventh and final inning.

New signing Ian Sales struck out five in four innings of work in his debut, while allowing eight runs.

The team’s six-game slump is the longest since they lost eight straight in 2011.

“We find ourselves in a difficult period and we have to battle our way out of it. We have a tough BBF Cup quarter-final away game against the Oxford Kings coming up on Sunday and that’s the only thing that we are thinking about at the moment,” said Falcons manager Lee Manning.

There was some good news for Herts baseball fans as the Herts Hawks scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win 18-17 against the Guildford Mavericks. This means that they are still unbeaten after seven games. They are top of their division and in a very strong position to qualify for the Single-A League play-offs.

Herts Raptors are still searching for their first win of the season after a 32-11 defeat against the Bracknell Inferno.

In the Little League U19 qualifiers, the Herts Harriers lost their games against LYBL and London Mets, while in the U15 division, the Herts Cardinals finished fourth behind London Sports, LYBL and the winners, London Mets.