Herts Hawks pitcher Andrew Slater set a new season high for strikeouts as his side beat the Kent Mariners 20-3 at Grovehill ballpark.

Slater – also the team’s joint manager – fanned seven batters in a dominant performance.

The Hawks remain unbeaten in the British Baseball Federation’s Single-A league and are looking to secure top seeding for the play-offs. The offense was again led by Andy Cornish, who had four hits, including a home run. Sonam Lama from St Albans scored five runs.

Slater praised the team effort saying: “It was a good performance all around.”

The Hawks main rivals in the league are the London Musketeers, who are also unbeaten. On Sunday they were taking on the Herts Raptors on Grovehill’s second diamond. Raptors are mainly new players, but fought hard to stay with the London side.

In his first ever start for the team, Matthew White hit two doubles and scored two runs, while Darren Priest’s first ever hit was a double. In the end, Musketeers had too much power and they piled on runs to win by 25-6.

Earlier in the day, the Raptors won 9-0 over the Haverhill Blackjacks by forfeit.

Raptors manager Rob Jones said: “We played really well against a tough side, and made some great plays. I am really pleased with the progress new guys have made – they will go far.”