Here is the latest round of expert analysis from the 2011 MLB postseason.

Harold Reynolds, Mike Lowell and Orlando Hudson look at the swings of Miguel Cabrera and Michael Young

MLB Network’s Diamond Demo takes a look at some key stolen bases during the LCS

Harold Reynolds and Bill Ripken compare the throwing motions of the Rangers Nelson Cruz and the Giants Tim Lincecum

Bill Ripken and Mitch Williams talk about the different schools of thought on defensive positioning on the infield

Dan Plesac breaks down the adjustments Chris Carpenter has made in his delivery since making his Major League debut in 1997

Harold Reynolds and Joel Hanrahan talk about the best way to pitch to the Cardinals and Brewers best hitters

Mitch Williams and Larry Bowa demonstrate how pitchers keep runners from advancing on the basepaths

Bill Ripken breaks down the two-handed follow through in Major League Baseball

Albert Pujols’ heads-up defensive play against the Phillies in Game 4 of the NLDS

The finer points of running the bases and fielding position

Rangers’ successful pitchout in Game 3 of their ALDS vs. the Rays

They have been the two most moribund franchises in the last century, setting the standard for futility. He was the hometown wunderkind, hired to bring his beloved Red Sox to the promised land.  Theo Epstein has now resigned as the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox and has signed a five year, $15 million deal to run the Chicago Cubs. Herts expert analyst, Bruce Dullea, considers what it all means…

After assuming the GM role in Boston in 2002 at the age of 29, Epstein delivered on his goal twice, bringing World Championships to Fenway Park both in 2004 and 2007, exorcising the curse of the Bambino, which had hung over the franchise since 1918.

But in Boston, everything seems to have come full circle. The Red Sox are now a team in disarray, strongly resembling the dysfunctional, over-indulged franchise that personified the Tom Yawkey era. They held a 9-game lead in the wild card race on September 2nd, and then had an historic collapse, getting eliminated on the final day of the season.

Scapegoat

There were subsequent reports that Manager Terry Francona, who had run a loose ship, lost all control of the team. When you treat players like adults often times they show their gratitude by becoming adolescents. Allegations surfaced that pitchers were drinking alcohol in the clubhouse during games. Other players refused to do their workouts.

Players complained about the schedule that would accommodate their appearances on national television. The team had turned into a cross between Animal House and the Bad News Bears. It came as no surprise that Francona became the scapegoat, and he announced his resignation on the 30th of September.

There were also unsubstantiated rumours that Epstein was looking to move as well. With one year left on his contract, what else could he accomplish in his hometown? He was lauded as a brilliant GM, combining a strong player development program with sabermetrics. Even though he landed some free agents who immediately brought dividends, including David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez, many other moves backfired, including the acquisitions of John Lackey, Mike Cameron and Carl Crawford.

Criticism and pressure

He did inherit a club that won 92 games and had Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez, so a major rebuilding job wasn’t necessary. But his player development program has helped establish bona fide young stars such as Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Jon Lester. Nonetheless, the criticism and pressure in his hometown is non-stop, with virtually every move being second guessed and scrutinized.

Pedro Martinez with the Red Sox in 2003

Epstein is very competitive, but maybe felt he had done everything he could in Boston and needed an even bigger challenge in Chicago. The only thing that may have prevented his departure was leaving after the collapse, but the club still has plenty of talent and a stable operations staff it looks likely that his assistant Ben Cherington will be promoted to take his place.
Owner John Henry and club president Larry Lucchino did not stand in the way and allowed negotiations to progress for the eventual move. All that remains is an agreement on compensation and what front office staff will be allowed to move to Chicago with Epstein.

‘Lovable losers’

Although the expectations have always been lower for the fans in Chicago, Epstein will face considerable challenges. The club finished 20 games under .500 and in fifth place each of the last two seasons. $50 of their $121 payroll is tied up in three players  — Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, and Ryan Dempster — with minimal value. There needs to be a major overhaul of the team’s farm system.

The club has not won a World Series in 103 years and a pennant since 1945. Wrigley Field is in need of an upgrade. With the recent release of the ESPN documentary “Catching Hell”, it brought back vivid memories of the Steve Bartman debacle in 2003, which was the last time the Cubs were close to getting to the World Series.

Although Chicago is a two baseball town, and most Cubs fans are used to their “Lovable Losers” coming up short, owner Tom Ricketts has hired Epstein to duplicate what he did in Boston, and has given him total authority. What needs to be finalized is how many members of the Red Sox staff he will be able to bring with him to Chicago. Epstein was assured he will be on equal footing with President Crane Kenney, who was known to micromanage previous GM Jim Hendry.
If Epstein can bring a World Championship to Chicago, it will be an amazing accomplishment and he will go down as one of the greatest baseball executives of all time. The young genius has faced his share of criticism from Boston, but he does have two World Series rings. He is now the highest paid front office executive in the history of the sport. His challenges in Chicago will be extreme. He has exorcised the Curse of the Bambino. If he can do the same with the curse of the Billy Goat, it will be simply remarkable.

WIDOWS AND LIGHTNING ELIMINATED

Nick Russell started on the mound for the Blue Dogs in the decider against the Red Roosters

All four teams were still in the running at the start of the final day.  The Black Widows knew that they needed to win all three of their games.  Their first opponents were the Red Roosters who took what seemed to be an insurmountable 6-2 lead into the final inning.  The Black Widows’ bats suddenly came alive and they recovered to tie the game 6-6. Starting pitchers Justin Henderson and Greg Bochan were still going strong on the mound as the game became a pitchers’ duel going into extra innings.  Ultimately, the Reds scored a key run in the top of the fifth and held on to that 1-run lead.  This meant that the Black Widows were out of the running. 

The Red Roosters were gathering momentum and won their second game of the day in a closely fought battle with Herts White Lightning, which meant that they were also out of the reckoning.

This set up a colossal encounter between the Red Roosters and the Blue Dogs, the winner of which would become the 2011 Series Winner. Both teams had reserved their ace pitchers, Nick Russell (Blue Dogs) and Nic Goetz (Red Roosters), for this deciding game.  Everything seemed to be going smoothly for the Reds.  They built up a comfortable 5-2 lead going into the final inning and with Goetz on the mound it seemed like the Blue Dogs were going to fall at the final hurdle.  One or two big hits in this last inning were not going to be enough for the Dogs. They needed to put runners on base and then a batter who can step up and drive them in under the enormous pressure that was building up.  They successfully did the first part of their task scoring two runs to make it 5-4 and loaded the base for co-manager, Andrew Slater.  He stepped up and delivered the knockout blow with a walk-off 2-run double, giving the Blue Dogs a first-ever Hunlock Series Championship.

Final Standings and Scoreboard of the 2011 Hunlock Series

NUMBER 10

Geoff Hare - in 2004 went a full league season without striking out as the regular leadoff man in the Herts Falcons lineup

A special mention goes to Herts Baseball legend, Geoff Hare.  He wore the Falcons number 10 jersey for over a decade, and before that played with the Hemel Red Sox.  Everybody connected with Herts Baseball Club knows Geoff.  A magnificent short stop and a leadoff batter, a player who can hit for power and for average, Geoff has always been the first name in any Herts manager’s line-up.  Over the last few years Geoff’s magnificent contribution to the club has continued in a coaching capacity and he has now become one of the best and most respected umpires in Great Britain.  He was out of the country in the first two weeks of the Series, but wanted to make sure that he can support his club in this event and after returning from abroad immediately made himself available to umpire 4 of the games in the final weekend. 

HERTS BASEBALL PREPARES FOR WINTER BREAK

Herts youngsters are starting to make impact in the adult leagues of Great Britain

The Hunlock Series has once again proved to be a fitting way to end the baseball season.  Over the three weeks of the competition current, former and potential new club members and their families have had the opportunity to play baseball and be together at the club’s home, Grovehill Ballpark, in the hottest October in history. The Series expanded from 3 to 4 teams this year and the addition of the Herts Under-17 All Star team players has given the adult team members an opportunity to see the results of the hard work by players and coaches in the Herts Little League.  Some of these youth team players are already representing Herts in the adult leagues and their number will be growing even faster in the coming years as the Herts’ youngsters mature into exceptional baseball players.

There is one week left of the Hunlock Series and the Herts Blue Dogs have a slender lead with the Red Roosters and White Lightning one game back on them.  Black Widows are two games back from the leaders but are still in the running thanks to a surprise win late this evening against the leaders.

White Lightning burst back into the championship-race after solid defensive performance. Against the Red Roosters starting pitcher Zack Longboy started the day for them with a shutout win against the Red Roosters. They suffered a hiccup against the Blue Dogs in the second game of the day losing 9-4, but quickly bounced back to beat the Back Widows 5-1 who struggled with the bats against Phil Clark on the mound for the Lightning.

Red Roosters’ early setback against White Lightning was quickly forgotten as they got back in the race with a win against the Widows.  Jon Lewys launched a decisive shot to right-centerfield off Black Widows’ pitcher, Liam Green.  The ball clipped the top of the outfield wall and went over for a two-run home run. 

That set up a titanic Red versus Blue clash played in temperatures of 29^oC forcing both teams to snuggle up together on the third-base side to cool down in the shade.  The game ended with a walk-off 9-8 win for the Herts Blue Dogs.

The Blue Dogs had one more game to play with an opportunity to open up a two-game gap between them and the rest and virtually clinch the 2011 Hunlock Series.  They were shocked by a stubborn Black Widows team consisting of members of the Herts Under-17 and Under-14 All Star teams.  Justin Henderson pitched a gem and had the offensive support from the batting lineup, but arguably the most critical moment of the game came when, with two outs and runners on second and third, Tetsuro Shinkawa, came up to bat.  With the count 2-0 the Black Widows were about to call time for a mound visit as they were considering whether to walk him intentionally or to pitch around him carefully. On the next pitch Shinkawa drove the ball deep down the right-field foul line.  It looked like it would be a certain 2-RBI triple but out of nowhere, 14-year-old right-fielder Thom Adams somehow managed to make up a lot of ground and caught the ball in a spectacular play on the run to end the inning and any hopes of a Blue Dogs comeback.  Justin Henderson held his nerve in the final inning to secure the win which keeps the Black Widows in the running and sets up an exciting final round of games on Sunday, 9 October, at Grovehill Ballpark.  The First game commences at 11:30am with subsequent games starting on the two diamonds every hour.

KEYS TO THE HUNLOCK SERIES FINAL WEEKEND

Series Schedule and current Standings

 Blue Dogs – cannot afford to lose to Red Roosters.  A loss against White Lighting not as critical due to tie-break rules

Red Roosters – must win against Blue Dogs.  If they lose that game they are out of the race

White Lightning – cannot afford to lose to Red Roosters or Blue Dogs.

Black Widows – Still in the running but need a miracle. Must win all three remaining games and hope that other results go their way.

WEEK 2 PLAYER TRANSACTIONS:

• Red Roosters – added Simon (Free Agent )
• Red Roosters – added Phil (Free Agent)
• Black Widows – added Harry Purvis (Free Agent)
• Blue Dogs – added Tetsuro Shinkawa (Free Agent)

Note: Herts White Lightning has the next two picks.

Herts Baseball Club took part in Berkhamsted’s Big Adventure event on Saturday, 24 September.  Hundreds of children were able to enjoy a day of sports activities from kendo and wall-climbing to baseball.

This event clashed with the record-breaking Herts Futures Tournament which was being played at Grovehill Ballpark at the same time, but this didn’t stop Paul Curtis and Troy Linton to represent Herts Baseball Club and introduce baseball to hundreds of youngsters who came out to play on a sunny September day.

Herts Falcons’ Short Stop, Troy Linton, whose wife, Anna, is closely involved with this project, enjoyed the experience: “It was a fun day and the kids really enjoyed the opportunity of trying out baseball. Everyone did very well and there were so many players who impressed with their abilities”.  Linton added: “We hope that as many of these children as possible will come down to Grovehill Ballpark and join the Herts Baseball Family”.

A round of applause for everyone

When I first considered taking up the sport eight years ago, it turned out that Hemel Hempstead was the easiest diamond for me to get to. And what I found there was a club which was welcoming, relaxed and fun — and yet serious about doing its best on the field of play. Never did I feel anything but welcomed by the guys there, some of whom had already forgotten more than I would ever know about baseball.

And it is that spirit of friendship which reaches its apotheosis in the Kyle Hunlock Series, our post-season intra-club tournament which throws all the players into a melting pot and creates something new. The competition is bigger and possibly better than ever this year. Four sides, evenly matched, playing a round robin for the final title.

There is a dwindling band of Herts members who actually took the field alongside Kyle Hunlock, the former player who died in an industrial accident back home in the USA. I won’t pretend that I knew him well at all, but I did share a diamond with him when he wore the Falcons uniform, and I can vouch that his effervescence was of a type that can lift a team, a club and an event. I think he would have enjoyed the atmosphere at the first day of the 2011 Series which now bears his name.

The games were mostly pretty tight, with several one-run differentials. National Leaguers were alongside and against Little League players, and Raptors rookies.  It’s great fun to play. I can’t say I have ever actually performed that well in a Hunlock Series — too rusty, too cold, or some other excuses — but I have never really minded.  I’m not saying that I didn’t try hard — when I beat out an infield hit in our game against the Roosters I was running as fast  up the line as I could. But winning isn’t what this is about.

There were some great plays by other guys, though. There were fantastic outfield catches by Ilya Dimitrov, diving to his right, and by Ken Pike, sliding in to grab a shallow bloop. On the infield, Reagan Wood and Kyle Lloyd-Jones both showed their soft hands to snare ground balls which looked as if they were about to dart past them… in fact they were just watching like a hawk for their moment to scoop it up and make the play.

The morning after, I am aching. And I am already sad that baseball is over for another year, as I can’t make weeks 2 and 3 of the competition. But I am happy that I was there for a last hurrah to my season and for an event which always affirms the beauty of the game.

The Red Roosters and the Blue Dogs have a slender lead in the 2011 Hunlock Series after the first round of games. The Blue Dogs opened the series with a 3-2 win against the Herts White Lightning, who announced a last-minute signing of free agent, Troy Linton, who is the starting short-stop for the Herts Falcons in the NBL.  In their second game the Blue Dogs survived a last inning rally by the Black Widows to win 5-4 and maintain their unbeaten record.

The Herts Red Roosters are the defending Hunlock Series champions and they got off to a great start with a 11-2 defeat of White Lightning. Nic Goetz picked up the win for the Roosters in that game.

This set up a clash between the Blue Dogs and the Red Roosters with both teams going into the game unbeaten.  It turned out to be a classic match-up.  Nick Russell on the mound for the Blue Dogs took a 2-0 lead into the final inning but the Roosters staged a spirited comeback late in the game to win it 3-2.

White Lightning ended their day on a positive note with a 6-4 win over the Black Widows.

Ilya Dimitrov - First baseman, base-stealer, artist

In the final game of the day the Roosters were looking to stay in first place in the standings by completing a 3-game sweep.  They had a 4-1 lead against the Black Widows who had battled hard in their first two games but had nothing to show for their effort.  The Black Widows are made up of members of the Herts Under-17 and Under-14 teams and most of their pitching staff was on a rest day after playing in the Herts Futures Tournament 24 hours earlier.  Thankfully the team had drafted Alex Ganster and PJ Henderson who provided much needed pitching depth to keep them in the game and produce an impressive rally in the bottom of the final inning to win 5-4 against the unbeaten Red Roosters.

This leaves all four teams tightly packed in the standings after the first weekend of the Series.  Next games are scheduled for Sunday, 2 October 2011, and with a heat wave about to come to the British Isles it is set to be another glorious weekend of baseball at Grovehill Ballpark.

PLAYER TRANSACTIONS

White Lightning

• Added Troy Linton (Free Agent)

Blue Dogs

• Added Oz Jr. (Free Agent)

Black Widows

• Added PJ Henderson (Free Agent)

Red Roosters have the next pick.

What it’s all about – read Rob Jones report from the first day of the Hunlock Series.

2011 Hunlock Series – Scoreboard, Standings and more

The 2011 youth baseball season ended in style with the Herts Futures Tournament.  A record 15 youth teams from across Southern England descended on Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead for a day packed with baseball action. 

The event opened with around 200 young baseball players lining up on the first base foul line for the national anthem and then it was time to play with a total of 24 games scheduled over the course of the day.

In the Under-17 competition, 2011 National Champions, London Mets took the title with a 100% record of 3-0, but it took a nail-biting come-from-behind 6-3 win against the Horsham Hornets to do it. Horsham deservedly took second place with Herts overcoming the Essex RedBacks in extra innings to clinch third place. Herts and the RedBacks have had close games all season but the RedBacks kept coming out on top winning all five of their encounters prior to Saturday, so a promising way for the Herts All Stars to end the season and start to build towards 2012.

National Runners-up Herts were the winners in the Under-14 competition.  They finished above London and Bracknell in their pool which took them to the final where they met Horsham and won convincingly. Zack Longboy pitched for the win, while Callum Vangundy stood out with two home runs for Herts.

In the Under-11 race defending champions, the Horsham A’s, once again proved to be the dominant force in this age group finishing the day with a 100% record beating all four of their opponents.

The event also included a Home Run Derby for the U17 teams. London Mets player, Zach Stroman, reached the final round with an impressive score of 6 home runs in the opening round.  Joining him in the final were team mates, Jamie Dix and Jack Peters as well as Sam Boylett (Horsham) and Kyle Lloyd-Jones (Herts) who were all tied in second place on 3 home runs.  In the final round Stroman added one more home run for a total of 7 home runs over the two rounds.  Lloyd-Jones and Jamie Dix added a home run each to their overall tally. Jack Peters came very close to overtaking home run leader, Stroman, with a total of 6 home runs.  Then up stepped Sam Boylett and showed impressive power under pressure.  He launched 5 towering blasts to win the Home Run Derby with 8 home runs overall.

A wonderful day of baseball for the whole family which will certainly leave everyone with warm memories as British Baseball enters the winter break period and starts to prepare for the 2012 season.

Herts Futures Tournament Scoreboard and Final Standings

The 2011 champions in the British senior and youth leagues have been determined, but the question on the minds of everyone connected with Herts Baseball is – Who will win the 2011 Hunlock Series?

Every year just when the MLB season enters its most exciting stage, current, former and potential future members of Herts Baseball Club come to Grovehill Ballpark for a 3-week competition in memory of Herts Baseball Club’s number 36, the late Kyle Hunlock.

In previous years, the Series involved three teams, the Herts Red Roosters, Herts Blue Dogs and the Herts Black Widows.  Following the club’s growth especially among youth members, this year a fourth team has been added to the Series.  The name of the team is the Herts White Lightning.

MANAGERS BATTLE FOR EVERY INCH LIVE ON TV

The 3 weeks of Hunlock Series action was kicked off on Monday night with a 2-hour live show on the Herts Baseball TV Channel.  During the show the club announced the managers of the four teams which will be competing.  The Red Roosters will be managed by Andy Cornish and Greg Bochan who continue their partnership having managed the Herts Hawks this season in the British AA-League.  The Blue Dogs will have three co-managers hoping to lead them to victory. They are John Kjorstad, Andrew Slater and Kal Dimitrov.  The Black Widows will be managed by Aspi Dimitrov.  The expansion team, White Lightning, will be managed by father and son partnership of Arnold and Zack Longboy.

The managers of the four teams did their best to gain a competitive advantage during this draft before a single pitch has been thrown, but ultimately it will all be decided on the field of play.  The first games will be played this Sunday, 25 September 2011, from 11am at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead.  The second round of games will take place on 2 October and the third and final round on 9 October.

FREE AGENTS WELCOME

The players have been drafted but as usual there will be a large number of free agents becoming available over the 3 weeks of the Hunlock Series.  Anyone interested to be added to one of the four teams should contact Herts Baseball Club.  The Series is open to any players over the age of 13 regardless of whether they are experienced professionals or beginners who have never played baseball before.  Players from other clubs are also welcome and several have already been drafted.

Herts Baseball Club will be looking to set a new record for the largest youth baseball event at its Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead this Saturday.

The previous record was 10 teams.  This Saturday 15 teams form around Southern England are expected to take part in the Herts Futures Tournament.

The event will start with an opening ceremony at 10:30am.  After that it is will be game time as the best teams in the South look to clinch the title in the three age groups, Under-17, Under-14 and Under-11.

Traditional Baseball snacks will be on offer including hot dogs, big league chew, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and much more.  Professional photographers DE Photo will be on hand to capture every player from every team in action and players and fans will have a chance to buy framed photos from the games instantly at the venue as well as other photographic products.

Host Herts Baseball Club welcome new players at any time of the year.  Club Secretary, Aspi Dimitrov, said: “Any children aged between 6 and 16 who are interested to give baseball a try should contact the club.  It is not too late to take part in this record breaking event.”

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Herts went into the Final with Richard Ganster on the mound. LYBL took an early lead with two runs in the first and four in the second inning after a 3-run home run by Jonathan Fretheim.  Ganster then seemed to find some extra ammunition in his pitching arsenal and did not allow any more hits for the remainder of his time on the mound.

This gave Herts a chance to get back in the game, but they were badly in need of a big inning which never came. Jose Morillo, Callum Vangundy and Lewis Green each managed to get a hit for Herts, but even when they managed to put runners on base LYBL starting pitcher, Jonathan Fretheim, found a way to keep Herts runners from coming home to score, including tagging out Lewis Green in a play at home.  This was the closest that Herts came to scoring.

Jonathan Fretheim was proving to be the Most Valuable Player of this Final, and just in case there was any doubt about this, Fretheim reaffirmed this with a solo home run in the final inning.

With such a large number of travelling fans from Herts making the trip to Richmond and supporting the All Stars right to the very last pitch, the team probably felt like they let their fans down but that definitely was not the case.  Herts All Stars Manager, Kent Peterson, summed it best: “Hats off to a very talented LYBL team, but I couldn’t be more proud of our Herts team, they came in as defending champions and I believe proved that they are a team of champions.  Great effort all weekend and the team really came to play and showed what a solid team effort is capable of.”

Six of this year’s Herts Under-14 All Stars will be moving on to the Under-17 league, so Herts will be counting on the new generation to make the step up and bring the National Championship Trophy back to Grovehill Ballpark in 2012.

LYBL 8 Herts All Stars 0 (Box Scores)

Link to photos

SEMI-FINAL, UNDER-14 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

HERTS ALL STARS (U14) 8 CARTMEL VALLEY (U14) 6 (BOX SCORES)

A dominant start for Zack Longboy on the mound provided the defensive stability the team needed if they were to continue the defence of the national championship.  He pitched 5 innings allowing only 1 hit, with 11 out of 15 outs coming by way of a strikeout.  At the same time Herts were able to build a healthy lead with two runs scored in the second inning after some aggressive running by Gavin Peterson and an RBI by Ben Jones.

They added three more after a 3-run home run by Richard Ganster.  This is Ganster’s second home run in the postseason and it proved to be critical.  In the top of the final inning the All Stars looked like they secured their place in the Semi-Final with three more runs after hits from Ganster, Longboy, Caress and Vangundy, to  make the score 8-0, however Cartmel had other ideas.  A spirited fight back by them made the score 8-6 with the tying run at second base.  The pressure was on and the large travelling contingent of Herts fans was staring at possible elimination and end to their hopes of retaining the title. 

It seemed that the coolest person in the world at that moment was Richard Ganster.  He got the call from manager, Kent Peterson, to take the mound and he quickly executed the strikeout which Herts needed to book their place in the final.

A real scare for Herts, but Herts All Stars Manager, Kent Peterson, was full of praise for his players. “We had to battle hard at the end against a very difficult opponent and all of our players contributed and deserve a lot of credit.” he said.

In the other semi-final Chris Kiefer pitched a gem for the RedBacks against favourites LYBL not allowing any runs through four innings and giving his team a 3-0 lead with a home run which was launched so deep that it ended up on the Under-17 field and interrupted the Under-17 Semi-Final which was being played there at the same time.  This however wasn’t enough for  the RedBacks to pull off the shock of the postseason.  With Kiefer out of the game having reached his 85-pitch limit, LYBL grabbed the opportunity and came back to win it 6-4.

Herts will now face LYBL in the Final tomorrow, Sunday, 18 September 2011.  Game starts at 2pm at Connare Field in Richmond.

After winning against the London Mets last weekend, the Under-14 Herts All Stars have been confirmed as the Southern Conference second seed.  LYBL are the first seed and the Essex RedBacks are the South’s third seed team after they won the elimination game against the London Mets in the final playoff match-up last Saturday. The fourth team to reach the Semi-Final is Cartmel Valley which is the number one seeded team from the Northern Conference.

In the first Semi-Final this Saturday, 17 September, the Herts All Stars have been drawn to play against Cartmel Valley. The game starts at 11am.  The second final between LYBL and the Essex RedBacks will commence at 2pm.

The winners will meet on Sunday at 1pm in the Final to determine the 2011 National Champions.  Ahead of that game the losing Semi-Finalists will face-off in the bronze medal game at 10:30am.

The event will be held at Connare Field in Richmond. Hosts Richmond will have food and drinks on offer with fully licensed bar, hot meals, BBQ and a concessions stands.

Herts are already making their hotel bookings and travel arrangements for another Herts invasion.

SCHEDULE

UNDER-14

Saturday 17^th September

11am – Semi Final One – Herts All-Stars, South #2, @ Cartmel Valley, North #1

2pm – Semi Final Two – Essex Redbacks, South #3, @ LYBL, South # 1

Sunday 18^th September

10.30am – 3rd / 4th place playoff – Loser SF1 v Loser SF2 *

1pm – Championship Game – Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 *

* Coin toss to decide home team

UNDER-17

Saturday 17^th September

11am – Semi Final One – Cobham Cougars, South #2, @ Cartmel Valley, North #1

2pm – Semi Final Two – Halton Polecats, North #2, @ London Mets, South # 1

Sunday 18^th September

10.30am – 3rd / 4th place playoff- Loser SF1 v Loser SF2 *

1pm – Championship Game – Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 *

* Coin toss to decide home team

Essex Atoms 1 Herts All Stars 12 (Box Scores)  

The Herts All Stars are through to the Semi-Finals of the 2011 Under-14 National Baseball Championships after a dramatic win against old rivals, London Mets.  

Despite being the defending champions, Herts went into the postseason playoffs as the third seed team behind LYBL and London who were first and second seed, respectively, so they had a very difficult task on their hands.   

Before even thinking about facing the higher seeded teams Herts had to overcome the Essex Atoms in an elimination game.  The two teams had not met in the past so the team from Hertfordshire did not know what to expect.  They quickly took control of the game with a 9-0 lead after two innings.  Jose Morillo, Zack Longboy and Richard Ganster each had three hits in the game. Callum Vangundy, Lewis Green and Brodie Caress also contributed with hits of their own.  Jose Morillo started on the mound and Gavin Peterson came in to close in the final inning. They combined for a no-hitter.  Credit must be given to the Essex Atoms who kept going all the way to the end.  Their effort was rewarded with a run in the final inning.  This is their first ever season in the Under-14 League and they will be getting better as they get more games under their belts.  

Herts All Stars 10 London Mets 4 (Box Scores)  

Next up for the All Stars was a Quarter-Final encounter with the London Mets in a repeat of the National Final 12 months ago. Herts took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Richard Ganster beat out a groundball in the infield with two outs to drive home Zack Longboy.  In the bottom of that inning Zack Longboy started very confidently on the mound striking out London’s first three batters. This was proving to be another pitcher’s duel until the third inning when Herts exploded with a devastating offensive display against the London pitcher who had been almost invincible up to that point.  Zack Longboy started it all with an impressive opposite-field home run down the right field line. A walk by Jose Morillo was followed by three singles from Lewis Green, Richard Ganster and Callum Vangundy.  

London responded strongly with two runs in the bottom of that inning followed by a 2-run home run in the top of the fourth to make the score 6-4 going into the final inning.  The score could have been even closer if it wasn’t for an inch-perfect relay from the outfield wall in centerfield with Lewis Green gunning down the London runner at home.  

Herts All Stars celebrate Brodie Caress' home run in the final inning

The tension around the ballpark was incredible.  Spurred on by the deafening noise from the Herts fans, the All Stars produced another hitting assault.  Longboy led-off with another single (3-3, HR , 1 RBI, 3 R).  With one out, Lewis Green then worked a walk to get on base.  Richard Ganster (2-3, HR, 5 RBI) launched a towering 3-run home run to left-centerfield.  Not to be outdone, Brodie Caress (1-3, HR) then stepped up and crushed an identical home run of his own to round-off a 4-run inning.  

Despite having a 10-4 lead there was still work to do in the bottom of that final inning.  Zack Longboy (5 IP, 9 K, 3 H, 2 ER) was still on the mound and he ended the game in style with three quick outs to the delight of the travelling Herts fans who invaded the field.   

The team will now be heading to Richmond’s Connare Field for the Semi-Finals and Finals of the 2011 National Baseball Championships on 17 and 18 September.  Full details of the schedule will be published right here on the Herts Baseball News website.  

HEARTBREAK FOR HERTS U17 ALL STARS  

The Herts fans who had come to support the U14 All Stars at Finsbury Park had to endure double dosage of tension and drama as throughout the day they were receiving updates of the score from Buckinghamshire where the U17 All Stars were also involved in another playoff battle against the Essex RedBacks.  

The lead kept changing hands inning-after-inning.  Herts had a slender 1-run lead going into the bottom of the final inning but sadly couldn’t hold on to it losing 11-10 at the end.  

Despite the loss, the Herts U17 All Stars should be very proud of a fantastic first ever season going up into this age group.  They brought a lot of pride to the Herts Baseball Club showing heart yet again despite missing 5 regular players who were assigned to the Herts U14 roster.  All the signs show that the future is bright for the Herts U17 team. A check of the average age of all of the U17 teams which reached the playoff shows that many of the players among their opponents will be over the age limit next year while most of Herts’ players have 2 or even 3 years still to play in the Under-17 League during which they will have the opportunity to shift the balance of power.  

A link to Box Scores from the Under-17 Playoff game between Herts and Essex RedBacks will be uploaded here soon. 

Click here for more photos from today’s playoff games 

Herts are going into the Under-17 playoffs with a roster which has a significantly lower average age than the other U17 teams.  On the basis of this and their regular season record, the Herts U17 All Stars go into the games tomorrow as the outsiders. The Under-14 Herts team is ranked third in the seeding. 

From last year’s Under-14 National Championship-winning squad there are five players who are still within the Under-14 age group, while six others have moved up into the Under-17 age group.

 SPYING MISSION

We have also received reports that Herts U17 Manager, Lee Manning, has been very thorough in his preparations going as far as actually visiting the venue of the Under-17 Playoffs.  He sent in photos showing what the venue looks like 24 hours before the games commence.

Click here for more photos of RAF Daws Hill

Defending U14 Champions, Herts, enter Playoffs as the third seed. LYBL and London seen as favorites

At this time last year the Herts All Stars were on their way to being crowned Under-14 National Champions.  The Championship trophy has been held in the Herts trophy cabinet since then and the club doesn’t want to relinquish it. Will they be able to win it again?

Many of the members of the Herts Championship-winning team are now a year older and the club has been able to expand by entering a team in the Under-17 BBF league for the first time in the club’s history.  This means that Herts will be battling on two fronts this postseason.

The 2011 Youth National Baseball Championships will be played on the weekend of September 17-18 at Richmond Baseball and Softball Club in West London.

But who will be the combatants? That question has already been settled in the North.

But it’s going to take a bunch of playoff games in the South on Saturday, September 10 to whittle six Under-14 teams and five Under-17 teams down to two teams each.

IN THE NORTH

In the North, the Cartmel Valley and Northwich Baseball Bronco teams have already qualified for the long trip South to the Youth National Baseball Championships, alongside the Halton Polecats and Cartmel Valley Pony teams.

All will be hoping to bring trophies back up the M1 and M6.

The Herts All Stars can count on the loyal support of their travelling fans

IN THE SOUTH

But it will take a playoff round on September 10 to sort out the Southern representatives, with Bronco games scheduled at Finsbury Park and Pony games at Daws Hill at High Wycombe.

At Finsbury Park, the playoffs will begin with the defending champions Herts facing the Essex Atoms and Bracknell clashing with the Essex RedBacks.  The winners of these two opening games will go on to play against the London Mets and top seeded LYBL, respectively.

The winners of these two games will progress to the Youth NBC on 17 and 18 September.  The losers will face off in a do-or-die game where the winner will also progress to the NBC while the loser will have to try again in 2012.

At Daws Hill, top-seeded London Mets Pony needs to win only one game to qualify. Cobham, Horsham, Essex and Herts will battle it out for the other Southern place at the YNBC.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

This evening the British Baseball Federation announced the abovementioned change in the Under-14 playoff format.  The change has been necessary due to only one Northern team being able to make the NBC on 17-18 September. As a result an additional NBC spot has been made available to the Under-14 teams in the Southern Conference creating that additional do-or-die game.  Here is how the Under-17 and Under-14 schedules stand after this change.

The British Baseball Federation has confirmed the teams who will compete in the 2011 National Baseball Championships (NBC) on 10-11 September in Hemel Hempstead.

 The British Baseball Federation has confirmed the dates and venue of the 2011 National Baseball Championships (NBC), where the National League, AAA, AA and Single-A season titles will be awarded.

The NBC will be held on the weekend of 10-11 September at Grovehill Playing Fields in Hemel Hempstead, home to the Herts Baseball Club. However, it will be the Great Britain Baseball programme that is hosting the event in a bid to raise funds for the national teams. Herts has generously donated the use of their two purpose-built baseball diamonds, which makes a significant contribution to Team GB’s fundraising efforts over the NBC weekend. Grovehill Playing Fields was the site of the 2010 Championships.

Also supporting the British Baseball Federation with preparations for the NBC is BaseballSoftballUK, the national development agency for both sports.

FINALS SCHEDULE

Richmond Flames are the defending champions in the National Baseball League

On Saturday 10 September, the National Baseball League (NBL) and AAA will stage 9-inning semifinal games in a single-elimination format to determine which two teams shall advance to the final.

The next day — Sunday 11 September — they will be joined by the top two teams from the AA and Single-A divisions, and all four leagues will play their championship showdowns.

The NBL final will take place at 15:00 GMT on Diamond One. The Single-A final will begin earlier in the day on the adjacent field at 09:30, followed by the AAA final at 12:30 and the AA final at 15:30.

For full details about the event and the National Baseball Championship Schedule click here.

After several weeks of summer holidays the Herts Baseball Little League teams returned to Grovehill Ballpark for the deciding games in the Majors and Minors Championships.

GIANTS CLINCH TITLE IN DRAMATIC EXTRA INNINGS

In the Minors the Herts Giants went into the final game one game ahead of the Herts Dodgers, so there was no room for error for the Dodgers.  They needed to win to force an additional one-game Championship decider. 

They looked down and out going into the fifth and final inning trailing 19-11, but they came out fired up and started a memorable comeback.  11 Dodgers came home to score to give them a 3-run lead (22-19).  In the bottom of the inning the pressure was now on the Giants and they scored three to tie the score at 22-22 and take the game into extra innings.  In the top of the sixth Dodgers regained the lead with another two runs.  Would that be enough? 

With players like Matt Cowler who hit another home run for the Giants earlier in the game the Dodgers needed their defence to perform at their best.  It seemed as though they will manage to complete one of the greatest come-backs in the history of the Herts Little League as they quickly got two outs in the bottom of the sixth.  The Giants had other ideas. Beau Mack-Rehnsi delivered the final blow with a single to left-centerfield which drove in James Roberts to win the game 25-24.

A great Championship-deciding game which will be talked about for a long time.

RED SOX NATION RETAINS CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

In the Majors, the Herts Yankees had a mountain to climb in this best-of-7 series.  They were trailing 2-0.  Everyone was hoping that this match-up will go all the way to game 7 but the Red Sox went into the games with a very focused and professional approach and did not give an inch to their opponents.  Justin Henderson dominated on the mound pitching a no-hitter in game 3.

It was now a do-or-die situation for the Yankees, and the relentless Red Sox pressure continued.  Kyle Lloyd-Jones hit a 3-run home run off Liam Green which went deep over the right field wall and almost cleared the permanent outfield wall which applies to adult league games.  By the time the Yankees got their offensive game going they were trailing 12-2. 

In the third inning Liam Green responded with a 2-run home run to left-centerfield which also came just a few feet short of clearing the full adult league regulation outfield wall distance.  Green produced an absolutely identical 2-run home run in the fifth.  Richard Ganster then stepped up to launch another bomb for a back-to-back home run.  All of this impressive power hitting got the fans off their seats, but at the end proved to be too little and too late for the Yankees. 

Yankees greet teammate Liam Green at home plate after his second of two towering home runs today

The final score was 18-7 completing a convincing 4-0 overall win in the Series and a Herts Majors Championship for a second consecutive year for Arnold Longboy’s team who is starting to build a Red Sox Nation of his own.

Game 3 Box Scores

Game 4 Box Scores

More photos from the event

We have reached the culmination of the 2011 Herts Minors and Majors Championship Series and the winners will be determined this coming Saturday.  Both series are finely poised so it is expected to be a dramatic day of baseball at Grovehill Ballpark.

In the Minors Series, the Herts Giants have the upper hand over the Herts Dodgers, but a win for the Dodgers would bring both teams level in the standings.  They certainly have the momentum on their side as they go into Saturday’s decider with a two-game winning streak.

The Red Sox have dominated the Majors Series so far this season.  They have a 2-0 lead so there is very little margin for error for the Herts Yankees.

The managers of the Herts youth teams have been busy making player transactions ahead of these deciding games.

Who will lift the trophy?  Giants or Dodgers?  Red Sox or Yankees? The action commences at 11am. 

Hot dogs, refreshments and other snacks will be on offer throughout the day and the event is open for anyone to come and enjoy.

Herts Red Sox Manager, Arnie Longboy picked up pitcher Justin Henderson and Charlie Boneham who has played in the outfield for the Herts U17 All Stars so far but his versatility may mean that the Red Sox could try him in other positions as well.  Boneham’s debut for Herts was against the Cobham Cougars and he proved to be one of the most valuable players on that day.

Herts Yankees Manager, Kent Peterson, added Richard Ganster to his roster.  Ganster will add power to the Yankees batting lineup and will strengthen the team as an accomplished pitcher, catcher and pretty much any other position in the field.

Ah but what is a plot twist without a story line…

Pitcher Zack Longboy in action for the Herts All Stars

It all started at high noon when the Raptors took the field to bat and posted a healthy score, immediately followed by a stingy piece of defending led by 13-year-old prodigy Zack Longboy who had just returned from baseball training camp. The money spent by his Dad (and Raptors catcher) Arnie looked a good investment as solid pitching only let in one runs despite some wobbly early fielding.

The next three innings, however, went from good to gold as Zack locked out a Braintree side who looked puzzled at their lack of hitting.  Steady returns from Raptors players at bat steadily increased the lead.

Manager Ken Pike, returning to stand in for the absent John Kjorstad, had to pull the impressive Zack Longboy from the mound in the 5th inning due to his limited pitch-count due to his age, and he threw a self-confessed complete wobbly. Pike promptly took himself off the mound for Andrew Slater to take charge, but not before letting in 5 runs. Thankfully Slater’s calm command of the mound quickly saw out the inning.

The impressive defence continued with excellent backtracking catches from Senna Ashida, an excellent double play from short stop Chris Deacon — and even a couple of decent catches from Ken Pike to make up for his pitching. The hitting meanwhile, which was lacking the triple big gun threat of John Kjorstad, Glen Downer and Theo Scheepers was undeterred and managed to pop single after single to get the scores consistently rolling in.

That’s where we return to the final inning. Andrew Slater still on the mound, but with a heavy pitch count, and having seen the rotation of Rays a couple times round already. The Rays are feeling confident, with loud voicing of ‘we were here last week and did it then’ being audible across the field, and a Raptors team that had enjoyed similar positions and found wanting.

I am afraid that I am hazy on the details as it all became a blur. Two batters reached base, I remember that. I remember getting one out myself, but I honestly can’t even tell you how. But what I can remember is the final play. With two down a well delivered pitch is struck hard. Up in the air, deep, over the head of young centre fielder Senna Ashida…. he back tracks, following the ball the whole way. His glove hand reaches back over his shoulder as the whole team stands stock still watching (except for his left fielder running to cover… another father son combo) and the ball comes down from high.

Straight in to the glove.

Raptors after beating Braintree Rays

At this point, a much harder fought game than the Raptor’s only other victory ended. Players literally jumped for joy, fell to their knees and cheered. This was not the respectful victory celebration of the first win against an opponent that received a drubbing. This was the jubilant celebration of knowing that every last ball had been fought for and ultimately won. Every inning had been a well matched contest, and for once, the Raptors defence had not given up that one big inning. For once, the offence had not fallen quiet at the vital crunch-point. For once, they had come out tops against a well matched team in a hard game.

With two wins on the board and the final match against a team they know they can beat, having done it only a few short weeks ago in Tonbridge, the Raptors are looking to finish the last two games on a real high before entering the post-season friendliness of the Hunlock series. Though it does leave a small and slightly tangy food for thought..what if they had converted the close losses against the Old Timers and last weeks game against Braintree? They would be looking at 6 wins instead of 3…and that’s playoff hunt territory…

Next year?

 The British Baseball Federation has confirmed that the 2011 National Baseball Championships (NBC) will be held on the weekend of 10-11 September at Grovehill Playing Fields in Hemel Hempstead. 

The British Baseball Federation has confirmed the dates and venue of the 2011 National Baseball Championships (NBC), where the National League, AAA, AA and Single-A season titles will be awarded.  

The NBC will be held on the weekend of 10-11 September at Grovehill Playing Fields in Hemel Hempstead, home to the Herts Baseball Club. However, it will be the Great Britain Baseball programme that is hosting the event in a bid to raise funds for the national teams. Herts has generously donated the use of their two purpose-built baseball diamonds, which makes a significant contribution to Team GB’s fundraising efforts over the NBC weekend. Grovehill Playing Fields was the site of the 2010 Championships.  

Also supporting the British Baseball Federation with preparations for the NBC is BaseballSoftballUK, the national development agency for both sports.  

FINALS SCHEDULE  

Richmond Flames are the defending champions in the National Baseball League  

On Saturday 10 September, the National Baseball League (NBL) and AAA will stage 9-inning semifinal games in a single-elimination format to determine which two teams shall advance to the final.  

The next day — Sunday 11 September — they will be joined by the top two teams from the AA and Single-A divisions, and all four leagues will play their championship showdowns.  

The NBL final will take place at 3pm GMT on Diamond One, while the AAA final plays out on the adjacent field from 2pm. The AA and Single-A finals will begin earlier in the day at 10.30am.  

SHOWCASE EVENT  

Spectators from all across Britain are expected to attend the National Baseball Championships, and there is no charge for admission to any of the games.  

Professional caterers will be barbecuing burgers, hot dogs and more on both days with all proceeds going directly to Great Britain Baseball. There will be a mobile bar on site with cold draught beer on tap, and Team GB will sell ice-cold sports drinks courtesy of their official drinks sponsor, Gatorade.  

Also attending is GB Baseball travel partner Virgin Atlantic, who are in discussions with the BBF to offer a special airfare scheme to the British public in support of the national baseball team.  

FUNDRAISING FOR TEAM GBTeam GB will be selling a selection of merchandise and equipment to help raise money for next year’s international competitions, such as the European Championships and the World Baseball Classic qualifiers. 

On sale will be a range of brand-new maple bats from official team sponsors X Bat and Mattingly, as well as XProTeX and Cutters batting gloves, EvoShield protective wear for batters, Phiten titanium bracelets and necklaces, Mattingly equipment bags, Big League Chew bubble gum and official Great Britain Baseball team wear such as t-shirts and baseball caps.  

Supporters will be able to purchase equipment and apparel by cash, cheque or credit and debit card payments.  

In addition to merchandise, the national teams programme will also conduct a raffle with exciting prizes. Team GB would be grateful for additional contributions to the raffle from the British baseball community; please contact General Manager Jason Greenberg if you have raffle prizes to donate.  

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE  

Richmond Knights winning the 2010 British AA League title at Grovehill Ballpark last year

Prior to the Championships weekend, all four leagues will stage playoff games on Saturday and Sunday, 3 – 4 September.  

In the National League, only the winners of each divisional pool will automatically qualify for the NBC, and the 3rd through 6th place teams (regardless of their ultimate pool standing) will battle through 9-inning playoffs to determine the remaining semi-finalists.  

In the AAA, the 1st and 2nd place teams from the North divisions will advance directly to the NBC. Joining them will be the 1st place South team, but the 2nd and 3rd place southern squads will have an all-or-nothing 9-inning playoff.  

The AA and Single-A divisions will play a single-elimination bracket of 9-inning playoff games. 

(This press release was first published on britishbaseball.org)  

The first quick thing to say here is to pay tribute to how hard the Raptors have worked this year, and how far they have come. The team spirit has been excellent, the defense has been much sharper, and the approach at the plate has been great. The team has earned its wins. I also want to give credit to the Tonbridge Bobcats, who approached both our games in a tremendous spirit and fought for this one right til the end.

I will consider the season properly at a later date, but I want to make a quick observation which builds on the last couple of articles. Remember how I said that the final play of your game can colour your view? And also about how a baseball game is a jigsaw made up of many tiny pieces, some good some bad?

Well, on this occasion I had two “final moments”. The second of them was me receiving the throw at first base to retire the last runner on a ground ball, and close out the win. It’s always good to be in on the final play, so while Ken did the actual hard work of fielding the hit and making the throw, I can say I was there “at the death”.

More significantly, it is true that my final at bat was — in theory — a bad ending. I struck out. It’s only the second time this year that I have struck out, but doing it with my final at-bat could have been a real downer. However, things work out in curious ways. The catcher dropped the ball in the dirt, and I was alert enough to sprint up the line and get safely to first base.After catching my breath, I was able to steal second. And then able to steal third. And then, on a passed ball, I scored standing up.

So that last experience of the season, and the one my mind can latch on to, is scoring a run, instead of striking out. And I can also feel to have redeemed in some measure my base-running error from two weeks ago. Then, I had been tagged out needlessly when it was important to pad our lead. This time I had manufactured a run when it was, again, vital to keep the scoreboard ticking over. This game always offers you a second chance, and I am grateful for it.

It’s hard to believe — and sad to believe – that the season is over. But having played in far more games than usual, I feel less frustrated and short-changed than usual. The final game is a bit of a blur, to be honest, and not just because of sleep deprivation. I have a graze on my arm and a bruise on my hip which I have no idea how I acquired. But I remember impressionistic glimpses of the game, and they all look pretty good to me. It has been a fine year, and I enjoyed the ride.

Herts Raptors: "Let's go to work..."

The game against the visiting Bobcats began well. Manager, Ken Pike, started on the pitching mound, and did not give up a single run in the first two innings. The Herts side, however, scored freely – Jon Gamble got two hits and Theo Scheepers was a constant menace with the bat.

After three innings it was 10-2 to the Raptors, and it was looking comfortable. But that can never be said for certain in a Single-A game. The visitors had started to have some impact and score runs – 2 in the third, 4 in the fourth, building towards a 5-spot in the fifth. But Scheepers – who has been a star of the second half of the season – had now taken over on the mound and pitched calmly to limit the damage.

The Herts defense also showed its mettle. Now moved to third base, Ken Pike made a series of good stops and throws, and showed impressive concentration to catch one line drive when the flying bat was so close to him he could have caught that instead. The father-son combo of Arnie and Zach Longboy were now in the game, too, and were bossing things on the infield to mow down a string of Bobcats on the basepaths. At second base, Longboy Snr was in on a couple of close double plays, while Jnr combined with his Little League team-mate Jose Morillo to tag out runners at home plate as they unwisely tried to score. In the outfield, Senna Ashida was once again clutch.

Even though their bats went a little quiet over the final innings, the Raptors did not fold under the pressure. They had the chance to secure mercy-rule victories in the seventh and eighth but were held to just one manufactured run. Each inning, the Bobcats inched closer. But the Raptors were always one step ahead, and they closed it out with a five-run cushion in the ninth inning.

The Herts club was delighted that after a tough start to 2011, its rookie team had taken three wins. The Raptors have shown great spirit and great all-around improvement in their game. In the second half of the season they competed well against the Old Timers and against Braintree even when they didn’t come away with the win. Some players will move up the ranks next year, while others will look to build on their success and make games against the top sides in the Single-A division much closer affairs.

The Herts All Stars continued their preparations for next month’s National Playoffs with an added international flavour.

A mixed roster of mainly Under-14 All Stars supplemented by several Under-17 All Stars travelled to Billericay for a 3-team international tournament hosted by the Essex RedBacks.  The Essex RedBacks the Herts All Stars were joined by the German team, the Marl Sly Dogs.

In the opening game between the hosts from Essex and the Sly Dogs, the team from Germany came out on top 5-3.  In a dramatic second game the RedBacks scored 3 runs in the bottom of the final inning for a walk-off 4-3 win against the Herts All Stars.

Despite a rain delay the sun came out and the final game between the Marl Sly Dogs and the Herts All Stars was completed with a convincing 12-1 win for the Sly Dogs. 

This proved to a be a very productive tournament for Herts as part of the team’s preparations for the British Postseason.  It is not very often that international games are being played in the UK and the Essex RedBacks should be congratulated for organising this visit by the Marl Sly Dogs.

Essex RedBacks vs Herts All Stars (click for box scores and play-by-play)

Herts All Stars vs Marl Sly Dogs  (click for box scores and play-by-play)

UPDATE: Since publishing this article the BBF has confirme that the Under-14 Playoffs on 10 September will be moved to Finsbury Park while the Under-17 games will remain at Daws Hill.

Late this evening the British Baseball Federation (BBF) announced details of the 2011 postseason for the British Youth Baseball Leagues, including the draw for the playoffs.  Players and fans of Herts baseball have been eagerly awaiting this announcement.  As expected, the draw is particularly difficult for the Herts U14 and Herts U17 All Star teams. 

Both Herts teams will need to go through a gruelling playoff format.   The Playoffs will be played on Saturday, 10 February 2011, at the former RAF Daws Hill airbase in Buckinghamshire.  

BBF UNDER-17 PLAYOFFS 

In the Under-17 competition, the Herts All Stars will first face the Essex RedBacks at 11:30am.  The two teams have faced each other four times in the regular season and the RedBacks have dominated this match-up winning all four games.  The winner will then clash with the London Mets who are the top seeded team and the undoubted favourites to win the national championship.  The winner of that game would progress through to the National Baseball Championships (NBC) to be played in Richmond on 17 and 18 September. 

BBF UNDER-14 PLAYOFFS 

The task for Herts in the Under-14 bracket is even more gruelling.  They are the reigning National Champions after their memorable 2-1 win against the London Mets last October, but in order to secure their place in the NBC and defend their title, the Herts All Stars have to win three playoff games in a row on the same day.  Herts are the number three seed for these Playoffs and they open the day at 9am against the number six seed, Essex Atoms.  The two teams have not faced each other in the past, so the Atoms could prove to be a dangerous opponent.  

If Herts manage to win this first game, next for them will be winner of the Bracknell and Essex RedBacks game.  This game is schedule to start at 1pm.  If they manage to win this second game they will then go on to play against the loser of the game between top two seeds, London Mets and LYBL.  This final game is scheduled for 3pm. 

So the task for Herts U-14 is clear – win three games in a row otherwise the team will have to relinquish the National Championship trophy.  If they manage to do this they will book their place for the National Championship event a week later.

Your correspondent, Paul Auchterlounie

“The walkoff.  Possibly the most exciting way to end a baseball game. It doesn’t get much closer than the bottom of the last inning, or extras,  the game is tied and someone gets to be a hero.

The best kind of hero? Perhaps the hitter who clubs the walkoff home run, in the first at-bat, off the first pitch.  Or perhaps the hitter who fouls off several pitches before getting to first, stealing second, then charging round third on another hit to cross the plate.

Whatever your kind of hero, the walkoff is a great way to win a ballgame, and a devastating way to lose. In two weeks, the Herts Hawks have encountered both emotions. Interestingly, on two similar plays.

Last week, on possibly the second hottest Sunday in the summer, they travelled to Croydon to take on the Latin Boys. Outclassed in Game 1 and handed a thumping loss, Game 2 needed a change. But with only eight players as one had to leave early, there could be no changes of personnel. Instead, the Hawks dug deep and behind a stellar pitching performance from Nick Russell somehow were still in the game heading into the seventh. 

We needed four runs to make the Latin Boys bat again. And we got them. Then held them scoreless. Then into extras. I’m sure we played 2 extras but everyone said it was only 1 — blame my confusion on the heat! We were held scoreless in however many we played.

So, bottom half. Leadoff batter. A ground ball up the middle, under the glove of the shortstop. The runner starts to head for second, OK we’ll get him there.  Oh no! Overthrow. Fielded by first, and the runner has taken off for third. We’ll get him there. Oh no! Another overthrow into the trees. Dead ball.  Extra base, and the batter gets home. What a way to lose. And Nick Russell didn’t really deserve to lose on that performance, but that’s baseball.

Then onto today. At home versus Thames Valley and to the end of a somewhat fraught game, punctuated by rain delays, disputed calls, arguments, but thankfully no punches! This time the Hawks had to do it, having so nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by giving up a 6 run lead in just over 2 innings to be behind by 3.  I have already forgotten the actual order of play, and who reached, who didn’t,  except for Paul Curtis who scored the winning run, and Greg Bochan who hit the ball enough for Paul to score.  Well……sort of….

Here’s the interesting bit, see, and how Hawks won in a similar way to how they lost the previous week. And even more exciting, this happened with 2 outs. The ball was a fly ball to very shallow centre. Infielders couldn’t make the play, outfielder had no chance. But only when the ball hits the floor does Paul decide to run to third! (haven’t we repeated enough “2 outs, run on contact”!) 

Surely he’s left it too late?? The game’s going to extras……but no! The third baseman somehow lets the ball out of his glove without applying the tag. Winning run now on third…… no wait! What’s this?? Paul’s run through the stop sign. Was there one?! There was certainly a STTTTOOOOPPP shouted from the bench! He’s now heading for home. The third baseman throws, taking a good line inside the baseline.  All the catcher has to do is apply the tag, and Paul’s done like a kipper……….But it’s gone past him!!! Paul stands on home plate and the home bench erupts!! (apologies to Thames Valley, but the emotions got on top of us!).

Hugs and high fives all round. A get-the-lead-let-them-back-in-it-have-to-do-it-all-now-come-from-behind win. But commiserations to Thames Valley, we DO know how it feels to lose a game on throwing errors. And their pitcher probably didn’t deserve to lose wither, because he pitched a blinder. But that’s baseball. And that’s the excitement of the walkoff.”

The wind blew hard across the field at Braintree, and clouds occasionally threatened rain, but two sides who have had their struggles this season matched up well. Both pitchers recorded a clean first inning, with their defenses making the plays smoothly. Then in the second Ken Pike started the scoring for the visitors, with a walk and a steal before being driven in by Senna Ashida. He was then brought home, along with Jose Morillo, by shortstop Chris Deacon’s double to right field. The Raptors had a 3-0 lead.

Catcher Oz Kemal in action against Braintree

It looked as if the Rays would answer right back. Their first two batters in the bottom of the second came around to score. But Theo Scheepers picked up his first strikeout of the day, and the Raptors fielders again kept it tight. With runners on first and second, Jose Morillo ended the threat by grabbing a sharp line drive at second base.

The top of the Herts order led off the third inning, and it did all you could ever ask really. Chris Deacon got aboard for the third time, and was driven home by right-fielder Duncan Hoyle’s single to left. John Kjorstad was next to get a hit, then up stepped Glen Downer, the clean-up hitter. The first baseman had already clouted a double to centre, but the Rays came right after him, and he hit right back. Again, it went deep to centre but this one was wayyy back. There is no fence at Braintree but with Hoyle and Kjorstad already safe at home, Downer was heading for third and showed no sign of stopping. He didn’t need to. He crossed home plate standing up for a three-run inside-the-park homer.

Downer was also part of a second offensive explosion, in the top of the sixth inning. He scored his third run of the day, while Theo Scheepers finally had some luck with his big bat, and third baseman Ken Pike also scored his third run.  The Raptors now had 15 on the scoreboard and a 10-run lead. But the problem was that the Rays hit back in the bottom of the sixth, batting around to score 7 runs of their own.

And this might be where the crucial moments of the ball-game occurred. The Raptors needed to extend their lead if they were to be comfortable in the closing stages of this game. Substitute right fielder Tak Ashida led off the inning well with a double. But while Rob Jones was at the plate, Ashida tried to swipe third base. The Braintree reliver was a hard thrower, and the catcher had shown he had an arm which was strong if not always accurate. On this occasion, they combined perfectly to cut down the runner.

Jones battled on, and drove the ball over the head of the first baseman to right field. But he, too, had too much fire in the blood. An attempt to stretch the hit into a double was doomed, and he was tagged out in a clumsy collision at second base. Glen Downer took a walk, but there was little the Raptors could do to recover this one, and they ended the inning without scoring.

Theo Scheepers pitched a complete game

The Rays replied with their biggest hit of the day, a triple deep to centre. But they were held to just one run in the bottom of the inning, so the Raptors had a final chance to tack on runs. It was their first nine inning game of the year, and it was going to be tight. Pike reached again, and Senna Ashida reached again (he would make just one out from six plate appearances on the day). After a strikeout, catcher Oz Kemal drew a walk and the bases were loaded. But the Rays’ reliever was up to the task. A second strikeout left the runners frozen, and a final flyout left the Herts side empty handed again.

They now had to defend a 15-13 lead in the bottom of the final frame. Theo Scheepers was in for the complete game, and had shown a lot of fight to keep his side in front, giving up just five walks despite the high winds. The first Braintree batter hit a single, and stole unforgivingly to score on a groundout. One run in, one man out, but that ratio was not going to work for Herts this week. Another hit, more steals, and then a walk laid the table for the decisive blow. Braintree got the final hit they needed to walk off as winners, 16-15.

It was a painful defeat, but it must also be seen as a welcome change from the overwhelming defeats early in the season. Manager Ken Pike — who had a 3-for-5 day with a pair of RBIs – has seen the team grow in confidence and ability during the season. This was the second time in three games that the Raptors had lost by just one run, and a walk-off at that. The third game of the three was a convincing win. The season still holds the return fixtures against Braintree and Tonbridge, so hopes are high that the Herts Raptors can put another win on the 2011 record.

There was one out in the eighth inning, and the Raptors needed to pad a 15-12 lead to be safe. With maybe a 2-2 count,  I lined the ball exactly where I had wanted to, over the head of the first baseman and into right field. I was running hard to first and as usual looking to make the turn. The right fielder was a big guy, moving only slowly to the ball. So although I was vaguely aware of the base coach telling me to stop, I went for two. Off I went, full tilt. And I was out by about six feet, I think, clattering into the second baseman as he fielded the throw and tagged me out.

So instead of us having one out, one on, it was bases empty, two down. A world of difference. If I had to analyse the decision right now, I’d maybe say I was sticking too closely to my original plan. Having hit it where I wanted it, I therefore ran for what I had hoped to achieve. In fact, the right fielder was slow but was pretty much standing next to the ball. And I would have had a decent chance to steal second, anyway.

To be fair to myself, I will add that mine was the second baserunning mistake of the inning. The first out had been Tak stealing third after hitting a brilliant double. He didn’t really need to do it, and he wasn’t really close to getting there. But we should make no apologies for playing aggressively, and — until recently — we didn’t steal third anything like often enough. I should have learned from Tak’s experience, rather than compounding the error.

I remember writing an article a couple of years ago, coincidentally also after a losing game at Braintree, about how your final play can colour your view of an entire game. On that occasion I had enjoyed one of my best days fielding at shortstop, but my final at-bat was poor and had helped to snuff out our rally. That was what I chewed on all week. Today’s could be my last game of the season, so I will get to chew on it all winter!

Of course, I will admit to being able to find something to kick myself about after any game. How else can I hope to get better?! After we blew out the Tonbridge Bobcats last week for our maiden victory, I spent much of my time arguing with myself about whether I should have caught the flare into shallow right field which ultimately ended the game (when Will came in from right field, and made the throw to tag out the aggressive base runner heading for second…. somehow that all sounds familiar … anyway…). Victory was very sweet, but I still found something to grumble about. Ridiculous.

And therefore I should stop being ridiculous and finish this post on a more upbeat note. First, I should of course say that lots of plays go to make up a baseball game, that’s part of its beauty. Yes, some are key, some are routine, but they all play a little part. A glance at the scoresheet shows the Rays also made unnecessary outs on the base paths. And I also know that I hustled to beat out a throw to get a single earlier, and ran for home hard and alertly to score when the Rays attempted a play on someone else at first. So if I hadn’t done that good stuff, we wouldn’t have had as many runs as we did when I did the dumb thing. Does that make sense? The upshot is that we can all take pride in something after  a game, but also find something to learn from.

The real good point today was the fact that the Raptors turned in another strong performance. That’s four good games in a row — we competed with the Old Timers before blowing the game in one inning; then we lost 16-15 on a walk-off; then we beat Tonbridge; now we go down 16-15 again on another walk-off. Those are proper baseball games, not like the silly blowouts from earlier in the season. Guys made good plays today. Senna made good outfield catches; Ken made intelligent plays at third; and I can’t remember Oz letting through a single passed ball. And I have to mention Glen’s inside the park home run. More of that in the match report, to follow shortly, but for now let’s say well played Raptors, and let’s keep learning.

But there was so much more involved in the four and a half hours leading up to that moment, and so much more in the three months and the ten games since the season started. A 37-23 victory over the Tonbridge Bobcats capped off a process of battling, and learning, and wrestling the game of baseball to a point where the Raptors could win, and win well.

Glen Downer smashes another shot into the Tonbridge outfield

The game started with two relatively tight innings. The visiting Raptors showed patience at the plate, with Arnold Longboy and Duncan Hoyle each taking a walk, and scoring a run on steals and pass balls. The Bobcats did manage a scatter of early hits against Ken Pike, but then either struck out or were dealt with by the defense. After two innings, it was 8-6 to the home side.

Then the Raptors put themselves on the right side of a “big inning” for once.  All season, a single meltdown had undone good work by the Herts rookies. Now, they took their bats and pummelled the game into the shape they wanted it. Right fielder Will Belbin led off with a hit and eventually scored twice in the inning. Arnie Longboy took two of his six walks to score two of his seven runs on the day, the highest total on the team. And newly recruited slugger Glen Downer began a series of towering hits which menaced the Bobcats all day. The Raptors batted around twice and scored 13 runs.

Tonbridge had little reply, getting just two hits off Pike in the next inning, and tacking on just a few runs each time to their total. There were pitching changes and conferences, but it all became academic once the Herts bats opened up again in the fifth inning. The rookies had shown both patience and confidence at the plate, an ideal combination. After using early walks to manufacture runs, there were now big hits too. Shortstop Theo Scheepers got two doubles in the inning, while Rob Jones got his third and fourth hits and catcher Oz Kemal scored his fourth run.

The Raptors reliever on the mound now was Jose Morillo, a graduate of the Herts Little League. He blew away the first batter he saw, and persevered through the heat and the pressure heaped on him to finish off the game. Tonbridge put up their best score in the final inning, with Shaun Dary even getting a home run to make his 4-for-5 figures look more gaudy. But all the time the game was ebbing away from them, with Herts defending a commanding lead and giving up runs to secure outs.

In the end there was that flare to right field, and the throw from Belbin to Scheepers, and the celebrations. On a baking hot day in Kent this had been a strong team performance to secure the deserved victory. The manager-of-record for the season, Ken Pike, scored five runs to go with his four strikeouts to help his own cause and secure the big W.  John Kjorstad, who has taken over game-day duties, even managed to come off the DL and take part with a hit. There were still fielding errors and baserunning misadventures, because this is still British single-A baseball. But there was relief and delight for the Raptors to break their duck and take the win. Credit goes to the Tonbridge Bobcats who have also had a long and tough season against more powerful teams — they played this game in a tremendous spirit and battled right to the end with a lot of heart.

Outfielder-catcher Arnie Longboy scored a team-leading 7 runs on the day

The rest of the Herts club extended congratulations to the rookies for their win. At some point in the season, both the Falcons and the Hawks had found themselves looking longingly at the Win column, and in time, they both managed to put some numbers in it. This weekend, they both played hard and took games to extra innings, but were ultimately denied. The Hawks lost 18-2 but then 12-11 to the Latin Boys in the AA-division. By the end of the day, the travelling Hawks had only eight players so the result was even more creditable. The Falcons went down 9-5 to the Essex Arrows in their first game before taking them to extras in a tighter second half of the double-header. Falcons scored five to surge ahead in the fourth inning, but were pegged back and then could not hang on to a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh. After a scoreless eighth, Essex snatched the win 9-8 after nine.

This was a proper game of baseball, with twists and turns and big hits and injuries, and a dramatic walk-off hit. Sadly for Herts, it ended in defeat. But this was the closest the Raptors had come to the big W this year.

The Raptors actually played two games against the Old Timers on Sunday, July 24th, one the scheduled game and one a make-up from a rained out fixture earlier in the year. There was no hint of rain this time — in fact Grovehill was even quite warm in the sunshine. It was the second game which was the classic, but the first one almost matched it.

On the mound, Andrew Slater was taking on the former Herts legend Paul Raybould, and the early exchanges were tight. The visiting Old Timers put up 3, then were shut down in the second inning. The home side squeezed in 1 run in the first, but smashed 4 to take the lead. The big moment came when, leading off the fourth for the Raptors, John Kjorstad deposited a pitch way over the left field fence for a spectacular home run. The side’s first homer of the year helped them establish a 9-8 lead.

But as has been the frustrating pattern this season, a big inning undid a lot of the good work. A handful of walks but also a string of tight singles helped the Old Timers bat around. They scored 12 runs and buried the game. Little League star Jose Morillo came in to pitch and closed out the inning, but there was no way back. The final score was 27-9, not a reflection of how tight the first half of the game had been. Slater and Chris Deacon each scored two runs, while Senna Ashida got on base 3 out of the 4 times he came to the plate.

Rob Jones began the second game on the mound, his debut as a starter. Two walks from the first three batters showed a little tension, but the Raptors defense did its job to get the lower order hitters and hold the Old Timers — now the home side — to 6 runs. By the top of the third it was 9-3 to the Old Timers but rather than be downcast the Raptors fought back. Kjorstad got two hits in the inning, and Theo Scheepers started his sparkling game with a hit and a run. After three innings, it was tied 10-10.

Raptors chose this unfortunate moment to go down 1-2-3, giving the Old Timers a chance to surge ahead. Scheepers had taken over on the mound and also took time to settle in. Raybould got the veterans started with a walk and two steals before scoring. The next three batters also scored, but then the defense stepped up. Ken Pike fielded a fly ball at third; Chris Deacon juggled a ground ball and made the out at first; then Pike finished it all with a neat play of a ground ball.

Old Timers releiver Tony Smyth

Herts stayed focused and re-took the lead, only for the Old Timers to tie it again with a single run. That meant it was 15-15 going into the top of the seventh and final inning. It started promisingly. Kjorstad reached with a single, Senna Ashida followed with another walk. Two men on, nobody out. But things can change fast in baseball, and as Jose Morillo struck out, Kjorstad tried to steal third. Not only was he gunned down but he sprained his ankle on the play and is doubtful for the remaining games. Now it was two down and advantage to the Old Timers.  Jones got aboard again, but had no escape when Andrew Slater’s ground ball was neatly fielded by the shortstop and he was forced at second.

Herts had to have a clean inning if they were to take the game to extra innings.But the first batter reached on a single and was gifted second by an overthrow. Once the Old Timers’ clean-up hitter worked a walk, the signs were ominous. And, indeed, a single through the left side of the infield brought home the winning run.

It was deflating for a Herts team which had worked so hard and made so many good plays. But the Old Timers are the total opposite of the Raptors. They are veterans who maybe don’t run so fast any more, but have played the game for years, and made only one mental mistake in the entire game. Herts are young, mainly rookies with potential and rough edges, and they can take confidence for the next game.

UPDATED (15 AUGUST 2011): Since making this annoncement there have been various changes to the BBF youth and adult postseason schedule and the Herts Futures Tournament will now be held on Saturday, 24 September 2011.

Herts Baseball Club has announced that the 2011 Herts Futures Tournament will take place on Saturday, 3 September 2011.  The event was originally scheduled to be held on Saturday, 24 September 2011, however the British Baseball Federation (BBF) has just announced that the Senior National Baseball Championships will be played on that weekend and so the 2011 Herts Futures Tournament (HFT) has been moved to Saturday, 3 September 2011. 

Herts Baseball Club Secretary, Aspi Dimitrov, feels that bringing the HFT forward to the first Saturday in September is likely to be a much better date for the event.  “It will serve as the ideal build-up to the 2011 National Youth Playoffs and the National Youth Championships which will take place later in September and is a nice way for all the young players to get straight back into baseball on their return from the summer school holidays” said Dimitrov.

The opening ceremony of the first ever Herts Futures Tournament in 2008. Since then the ballpark has added a second diamond and permanent outfield walls.

The Herts Futures Tournament (HFT) has been held every year since 2008 and is now a permanent fixture in the British baseball calendar. It brings together youth teams of all age groups from across the country for a day of baseball at one of the best baseball venues in the United Kingdom.  Grovehill Ballpark is the home of Herts Baseball Club.  It is the only baseball facility in the country which features two purpose-built full-size baseball diamonds, both with permanent outfield walls. The venue recently hosted the National Baseball Championships which is Great Britain’s equivalent of MLB’s World Series. During the Herts Futures Tournament additional diamonds are added for the Under-14 and Under-11 age groups.

This year the Tournament will include a competition for Under-17 teams for the first time, which means that teams from all age groups (Under-17, Under-14 and Under-11) will be entering the HFT. 

You can follow the 2011 HFT on the Herts Baseball News site.  For more information  about the event or if you require details about how teams can enter the Tournament or how players can join the Herts teams in time for the HFT, visit the Herts Futures Tournament homepage or contact Herts Baseball Club

The BBF has just announced the 2011 Postseason format and this has given a major boost to the Herts Falcons.

The Falcons found themselves in Pool B of the National Baseball League, which many refer to as “The Pool of Death”.  With powerhouses like London, Lakenheath, Mildenhall and the Southern Nationals, the Falcons always knew that they were going to face a difficult challenge this year. 

This week’s BBF announcement confirmed that the winners of each Pool will qualify automatically for the NBC. Four more NBL teams will qualify for the playoffs and the critical aspects for Herts is that these will be the next four teams with the best regular season, regardless of which Pool they are in. 

The Falcons are currently 10 games back on the leaders Lakenheath in NBL Pool B, however this playoff announcement has brought the Falcons right back in the race for the postseason playoffs.  Looking at the Playoff standings they still find themselves at the bottom, but crucially only four games back in the Playoff chase. 

Another important factor is that the boys from Hertfordshire still have to play against their direct playoff rivals, Bracknell, Essex and Mildenhall, who all have records of less than .500 (win-loss percentage) so there is real hope that the playoffs are still very much within reach for Herts.

Of course in order to make up the deficit, they will need to start a winning run.  The old cliché of “take one game at a time” will apply for them so all their focus has to be on the next game on 31 July which is a crucial encounter against direct rivals, Essex Arrows.  A sweep in that doubleheader and the Falcons will jump over Essex and perhaps over Mildenhall as well depending on the outcome of the Bulldogs’ games versus Croydon.

With so many Herts players on the DL or overseas at the moment, the two-week break comes at a perfect time for Herts.  By the time the decisive clash with the Arrows comes they should have players like Nic Goetz, Mahendra Prasad, Jamie Munn, Troy Linton, Liam Green and Aspi Dimitrov back.

The BBF has announced the format and schedule of the 2011 Postseason Playoffs and National Baseball Championships for the BBF Senior Leagues.

Due to the numerous postponements this season, the 2011 BBF Senior League Playoffs will start one week later than last year and an additional make-up date for postponed regular season games will be added on 3-4 September. The post season will start on the 10-11 September, continue on the 17-18 September and culminate with the National Baseball Championship (NBC) on the 24-25 September (a week after the Youth NBC).

The NBL and AAA Playoffs will be extended to a two week, best-of-three series with the higher seed playing away for game one in the first week and at home for games two and (if necessary) three in the second week. The AA and Single-A Playoffs remain the same as last season.

The NBC weekend will follow a very similar structure to 2010′s successful format, with some modifications to game start times. The NBL and AAA Finals will now be played as 9-inning games.

Read more about the 2011 Playoffs and National Baseball Championship

The BBF will imminently announce the application process to host the NBC for prospective clubs and venues. The deadline for application is Monday 1 August.

Members of the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers and Giants have been keeping an eye on the weather reports with trepidation. Unfortunately the champagne has been put on ice as the weather has not been kind and Saturday’s Herts Majors and Minors Championship Games have been postponed due to expected prolonged and at times heavy rain.

With the school holidays commencing next week this event will be rescheduled for later in August or September. 

The positive news is that the best part of the baseball season is yet to come.  The Herts Futures Tournament, the Under-14 and Under-17 BBF Playoffs, the U14 and U17 Natonal Baseball Championships, as well as a potential international event are still to come and this is when the season really shifts into top gear.

You can follow all these events right here on the Herts Baseball News site.  For details on how to join the Herts youth teams in time for these events visit the official site of the Herts Baseball Little League

Liverpool Trojans and the Essex Arrows lead the charge for the big prize at the 2011 London Tournament in Croydon. Both sides went undefeated on day one.

Meanwhile, Team France, Milton Keynes Bucks and Birmingham Maple Leafs won two out of two and will prove stiff competition on the second day of competition.

 Liverpool’s first victims were the Southampton Mustangs, essentially fielding their single-A side with a couple of upgrades. The Trojans won 14-4. Later they had a comprehensive win against Richmond, who had patched together a team in order to take part. A revamped combination of Flames, Knight and Dragons looks to be more of a threat in the Frank Brady Trophy on Sunday.

Essex Arrows also fielded an impromptu team – but it wasn’t weakened so much as strengthened. “Arrows Plus” is the way the club described it, as they recruited Adwin Alcantara from the Nationals as well as members of the Mildenhall Bulldogs. Essex beat Richmond 6-2 in one of the games of the day, before mercilessly crushing Southampton.

Saturday had begun with an international matchup, with Team France facing Zuidvogels from the Netherlands. The game saw the first home run of the weekend, with a Dutch player hitting a screaming line drive into the trees in right field on Diamond 2. But France ultimately took the win 4-2, and later came from behind to beat Essex Redbacks 6-3 to claim their spot for Sunday.

The Milton Keynes Bucks – last year’s national champions at single-A – had the most dramatic route through to the Sunday playoffs. After beating Herts convincingly in their first match, they were trailing Croydon Pirates II in the final stages of their next game. Somehow, they managed an extraordinary rally and as the rain fell harder they surged ahead 10-7. With the clock ticking on the game, Ernie Ayala induced three fly ball outs to secure the win.

The Maple Leafs secured two one-run victories, showing they can also come through in the clutch. The main competition is completed with Croydon’s other two teams – Pirates I and III – and the Essex Redbacks. The action starts at 9.45 on Sunday, with the champions due to be crowned at about 6pm. Competition will be just as fierce for the Frank Brady Trophy, with Richmond joined by Herts, Zuidvogels, Pirates II, Southampton and Latin Boys.

Another week and another win for the Herts Hawks, who are finally seeing good work pay off with victories.  Joint manager and spiritual leader Greg Bochan returned for the trip to Brentwood Stags, and was delighted to see that once again his players had brought their best game.

In both halves of a double-header, the Hawks jumped out to an early lead. In the first game, they then exploded for 6 runs in the third inning to put it beyond reach of the Stags. Perrie Sherman ended it in the fifth inning, hitting a sacrifice fly to secure a mercy rule victory 12-2.

Second-year player Jim Arnott is having a good season on the mound and at the plate

In the second game, it was the fourth inning which was the big run-fest. Five came across and although Brentwood managed to take this one the full distance, they never threatened. It ended 12-3.

Nick Russell was a master on the pitching mound once again. He pitched nine innings over the two games, allowing just four runs. Jim Arnott had a great game with the bat, finding a gap in the field every time he came to the plate, and he also picked off a runner at second to end the second game.

The Hawks now have four wins under their belt, and are on a three-game winning streak. On this form, their remaining schedule does not look daunting.  Instead it offers a good chance to push for a highly creditable .500 record — or even better.

The Herts Falcons were taking part in the National League’s second special event of the season, facing the London Mets at Richmond. It was a tough day for Herts’ top team, with base-running errors costing them dear in an otherwise decent performance. The Mets rolled to an 11-1 victory, with Darrin Ward taking the loss.

The Falcons now stand with a 2-12 record for the season. Coach Lee Manning is taking the positives though: “I think we are definitely getting stronger and I believe we are very close to getting a couple of wins. We had problems baserunning and that cost us runs. It was not a great day for us.”

Their next opponents are the Mildenhall Bulldogs, who have had struggles of their own this year, so the Falcons will be looking to get back on track.

A Herts All Star team made up of players from the club’s three adult teams will be driving down South to Croydon for the International London Tournament this weekend, 9-10 July 2011.

There will be 15 other teams involved in the competition including teams from all corners of the United Kingdom as well as France and the Netherlands.

On Day One, Herts start the tournament with a game versus the MK Bucks (first pitch 12pm). This is followed by a game at 16:15 versus the hosts Croydon Pirates III.

If Herts clinch a top three place in their group after these two games, they will qualify for the upper bracket competition on Sunday. If they finish fourth or below they will be competing for the Frank Brady Trophy on the secodn day.

2011 London Tournament 1st day schedule

Saturday 9th July – all games are 1hr 45min duration or 7 innings

    Group 1   

 Start   Finish  Home                         v          Away             

 10:00  11:45   Southampton               v          Liverpool         Diamond 1     

 12:00  13:45   Richmond                   v          Essex Arrows  Diamond 1

 14:15  16:00   Liverpool                     v          Richmond       Diamond 2

 16:15  18:00   Essex Arrows              v          Southampton   Diamond 2

  Group 2   

 Start   Finish  Home                         v          Away

 10:00  11:45   Zuidvogels (NL)         v          France             Diamond 2     

 12:00  13:45   Essex Redbacks          v          Pirates             Diamond 2

 14:15  16:00   France                         v          Redbacks        Diamond 3

 16:15  18:00   Pirates                         v          Zuidvogels      Diamond 1

 Groups 1 & 2 the top 2 placed teams progress to the Winners Group + a possible wildcard (see note)

  Group 3   

 Start   Finish  Home                         v          Away

 10:00  11:45   London Metros           v          Latin Boys      Diamond 3     

 12:00  13:45   Maple Leafs                v          Pirates 3          Diamond 3

 12:00  13:45   Herts                           v          MK Bucks       Diamond 4

 14:15  16:00   Pirates 2 (Pilots)          v          Metros             Diamond 1

 14:15  16:00   Latin Boys                  v          Maple Leafs    Diamond 4

 16:15  18:00   Pirates 3                      v          Herts               Diamond 4

 16:15  18:00   MK Bucks                   v          Pirates 2          Diamond 3
Group 3 the top 3 placed teams progress to the Winners Group

WILDCARD NOTE: A single wildcard place will be given to the best 3rd placed team from either Group 1 or 2

2010 Herts Eagles Home Run Champion, Stolen Base King and Gold Glove Winner, Mahendra Prasad, has been officially engaged to Carit.  The celebration took place in Mahendra’s homeland, Sri Lanka. 

A very important event in the life of Mahendra and Carit, but despite this it seems like Mahendra has baseball on his mind.  In a message to Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning, Mahendra sent his best regards to everyone at Herts Baseball Club and ended his message with “Can’t wait to come back and play”.

He is expected to make his return shortly, which will be a big boost for the Herts Falcons who have been showing signs that they are going to battle right to the end and Mahendra’s return would give them that extra which they have missed while he has been away.

Click here for more photos.

The Herts Under-17 All Stars may have had a tough introduction to the BBF Under-17 League in what is the first year ever for a Herts team in this age group, but the team is learning fast and their growth as a team has been evident on the field of play and on the scoreboard as the season has progressed.

They travelled to the picturesque setting of Cobham International School to face the Cobham Cougars who reached the Final in last year’s under-17 National Baseball Championships, losing to the London Mets.

In game one the Herts batters found it very difficult to cope with the Cougars starting pitcher. Despite managing to get six runners on base by earning a walk, there weren’t any hits to drive the runs in. Any solid contact that Herts managed to make with the bats ended up in the hands of the very capable Cobham defence.

Cobham’s pitcher was on the verge of pitching a complete game no-hitter. He needed to get just one more out to produce something very rare in baseball, but with two outs and a full count, Herts third baseman, Kyle Lloyd-Jones, launched the ball deep into right field for a stand-up double. Cobham’s pitcher was visibly disappointed, but judging from his performance he is expected to have many more opportunities in the future to record a no-hitter or perhaps even a perfect game. He did complete the game striking out the next batter. The final score was 12-0 and although this seems like a blow out, the Herts players performed very well defensively with only 4 errors in the game and pitcher Lewis Green improving on his strikes-to-balls ratio (50-40) and striking out 4 Cobham batters in three innings. With Zack Longboy away, Kyle Lloyd-Jones made his debut on the mound, getting the out which he needed with no earned runs.

Game two was a very exciting clash. Starting pitcher Liam Green had control problems in the first two innings and Cobham took advantage by scoring 7 runs. However, Herts came back into the game with their never-say-die attitude. Liam Green settled down and didn’t allow any more runs for the rest of the game. He walked 8 batters in the first two innings but after that nightmare start he walked only 1 and gave up only 1 hit. The Herts defence was working very efficiently behind him committing only two errors in the game – lowest of the season so far. Only three Cobham batters came up to bat in the third inning after an inning ending double play by Kyle Lloyd-Jones. In the fourth they retired the three batters even quicker with three consecutive groundouts, two went to shortstop Lewis Green and one to second baseman, Jose Morillo. This was the most effective inning for the Herts Under-17 All Stars of the year requiring only 5 pitches by Liam Green.

The performance of the Herts defence got the team fired up offensively as well. They started the third inning with back-to-back-to-back singles by Kyle Lloyd-Jones, Lewis Green and Jake Caress. Undoubtedly, the outstanding hitter for Herts was debutant, Charlie Boneham. Coming with a cricket background, this was his first ever game of baseball and yet he seemed so relaxed in the batter’s box despite facing some of the hardest throwing pitchers in the League. Boneham was involved in all three runs scored by Herts. He picked up an RBI in the third inning driving in Lloyd-Jones. In the fourth inning with Jake Caress on first base, Boneham drove the ball deep into right centerfield with a line drive for a stand up RBI triple. Having reached third base he then took advantage of a passed ball to come home and score the third run for Herts.

Herts went into the final inning trailing 7-3 and they managed to get Jonny Compton-Weight and Jose Morillo on base in that inning but the Cougars closer kept his composure and secured the win for Cobham.

Game 1 Box Scores (click to view)

Game 2 Box Scores (click to view)

ENGLAND’S EURO TEAM SWEEPS HERTS

With no league games scheduled for the Herts Under-14 All Stars the team took advantage by travelling together with the Under-17 Herts team to Cobham for a game against Team England which will be representing the country in this month’s Little League European Qualifying games in Poland. With many Herts players away, Coach Kent Peterson, gave some of the club’s Under-11 players an opportunity to get a taste of Under-14 baseball. There was always going to be a disparity between the two teams but it was a useful experience for the young Herts prospects.

The positive news for the Herts Under-14 All Star Team is that once the games in Poland are completed the team expects to be reinforced with the return of three players who will be very critical for Herts when they play in the Postseason Playoffs and National Championships in September.

Another hard-earned victory is in the bank for the Herts Hawks. After last week’s epic struggles which ended in defeat, this week the Hawks came out on the winning side of another see-saw battle. They travelled to Richmond to face the Dragons, who came from behind to win when they visited Grovehill earlier in the year.

This time Herts set out their stall from the very start. Ilya Dimitrov got aboard with a walk, and then stole both second and third bases. He was finally driven home by Hunter Devine. That one run was the difference at the end of the first inning, and Hawks would never fall behind.

Matt Johnston was an offensive powerhouse for the Hawks

Dimitrov and Devine would keep up their contributions in the field, too. The Herts infield was widely praised for keeping Richmond in check, and Devine and the veteran first baseman Jeff Witter turned two double plays. Witter also made a diving catch, as the Hawks list of heroes grew ever longer.

In fact there were just ten Herts players to go round, and one of them got injured, so on a baking hot day they all knew there was no choice but to stick with it and bring their A-game. Last week’s MVP Andrew Slater once again was a towering presence, while Ilya Dimitrov complemented his speed with two doubles to centre field and four runs. Matt Johnston also racked up impressive offensive figures on the day, hitting.500 and getting 3 RBI’s. Team-mates said he was “on fire” on the base paths.

This is not to say that Richmond rolled over. These two clubs have a long history of tough battles, and this game remained tight throughout. The visitors led 8-7 after five innings. The Dragons tied it up at the bottom of the seventh, after holding the Hawks scoreless for the first time.

But the Herts pitching did its job. Nick Russell, who pitched his full nine innings last week, was the starter again this time and kept Richmond off balance. His stuff was said to be electric. Jim Arnott, last year’s phenom in the Raptors, replaced him late in the game and kept the Richmond bats in check. Herts pitchers were charged with a total of only 6 walks but 9 strikeouts, and excellent ratio.

It was 16-14 going into the final inning, and everything was on the line. Herts chose this moment to match their biggest inning of the game, putting five runs on the board to build a vital cushion. Richmond were able to pull back two runs, but it was never going to be enough. The Hawks ran out 21-16 winners.

This had been another fine team performance. Even those who did not have gaudy stats contributed an enormous amount – outfielder Dave Hamilton picked up 5 walks with his patience at the plate, while the reassuring presence behind the dish, Kal Dimitrov, gunned down a runner at second to end an inning.

The team’s managers, Greg Bochan and Andy Cornish, could not be in Richmond to witness the latest Hawks victory, but they were blown away by what their team had done. They even joked that maybe they should stay away more often.

The Hawks' Nick Russell, a proper pitcher in action

I doff my cap to Theo, who comfortably hauled in two fly balls to centre field, and to Zach, who was equally sure-handed with a pop-up to second base. I also thank myself for improving on the fielding performance I turned in when I pitched against Guildford. This time two hits came my way. I caught the first one, a pop-up in foul ground. Then when a batter mis-hit a dribbler just a couple of feet in front of the plate I picked it up cleanly, cycled through my potential plays in my head until I found the right one, and threw to first for the out.

My experience of pitching was once again a complete blast. In the absence of our usual starters, stand-in manager Arnie very sensibly went for an open-house approach — anyone who wanted to have a go was invited. Arnie himself pitched the first three innings, before giving way to Theo, and then me. Theo throws a harder and heavier ball than me, and it moves more, but I guess I got luckier with the fielding!

I felt a little more comfortable on the mound this time around, and heeded my own advice to try to mix it up a little bit. Any Southampton batters reading this might laugh (please do it quietly) but there was a curve in there somewhere. It felt good to have a pristine match ball in my hand, with proper seams so you could feel what you were doing. I need to throw all my pitches with a bit more conviction, but you can’t beat the feeling of getting up there on the mound and getting results. If I ever hit a home run I will let you know how it compares, but so far pitching a scoreless inning is a winner!

I recorded a less welcome first for the season by striking out in my first at-bat. It had to happen sometime, especially since I started this article by saying how difficult it is to get a hit. At least it was a swinging strikeout on a full count. Southampton’s pitcher is not overpowering but the ball has some zip on it, and a little bit of slide, and he is pretty accurate. I think he gave up 6 walks in the end, but he struck out 6 of the first 8 batters and you can’t really argue with that. I got a single later, and a couple of walks to nudge up my averages, but we need to string together some more good at-bats to get runs against teams like this.

This was an odd game for the Raptors, as we stood little real chance of winning. But it was all played in a pretty relaxed atmosphere and I think we had fun. Jose and Zach, two of our talents for the future, selflessly took turns as the umpire and did a fine job. They also ribbed each other mercilessly about it. Everyone had a good crack at the game, with some good hits and good catches. Don’t get me wrong — we all want to win! I look forward to the blog when that happens.

The Hawks and the Raptors were both in action Grovehill on Sunday 19th June, and the AA side was involved in two titanic battles against the Essex Redbacks II.  Both teams have struggled to get results this season, and this was an evenly-matched contest.  The first game was always close, and ended 12-8 to the visitors, with Nick Russell taking the tough loss.

Kal Dimitrov greets Paul Auchterlounie after his sac fly

The second game looked as if it was going to be a disappointing blowout. The Redbacks scored ten runs in the first inning, and led 16-4 at one point. By their own admission, they had visions of a mercy rule victory. But the fourth inning suddenly saw the Hawks offense blossom. Andrew Slater got things going with a hit. Ilya Dimitrov stepped up behind him and slapped a confident line drive to right field, before speeding round to second base. He challenged the defense and won, taking third before scoring. Ali Hall and Ralph Bartholomew got aboard, too, and Essex seemed not only rattled but overwhelmed.

As for Herts, they seemed to well up with self-belief. Matt Johnston, whose playing time has been cut by a move away from the area, burst out of a batting slump to notch a hit, one of two on the day.  Paul Auchterlounie clouted a textbook sacrifice-fly to bring home Kal Dimitrov, and when the Redbacks finally managed to get Andrew Slater out, he still brought in a run when he grounded out.  By the end of the day he had got on base 7 out of 8 times and was acclaimed as the MVP.

However, all offensive explosions come to an end, and with the lead cut to four the Hawks now took their fielding positions. Essex were not cowed by their experience in the fourth, and they battled back. Runners got aboard as Nick Russell’s extraordinary arm finally began to fall off.  Slater helped limit the damage, throwing his body in the line of fire to tag a runner at third.  Ilya Dimitrov made athletic saves at first base, and the sky high morale looked as if it could carry Herts all the way.  That man Slater came in as relief pitcher in the sixth, and registered back to back strikeouts, and later a scoreless seventh. The tying run for Herts came to the plate in the nail biting finale — but it was not to be. The game ended 25-22, but it was clear to all involved that this had been a great team effort and a great performance.

Matt Jonhston swipes third

Earlier on Grovehill’s other diamond, the Herts Raptors had an experience which was similar in many ways, and yet utterly different. They faced one of the league leaders in Single-A, the Southampton Mustangs. The Raptors were fielding a patchwork team, because the game had been rescheduled at the last minute, and so they had little hope of beating their powerful visitors. The final result of 21-3 was definitive.  And yet the Raptors played with verve and tenacity.

The first inning was unusually quick for a Raptors game. Three of the Herts batters struck out, with no runs scoring, but then when spot-starter Arnie Longboy took the mound he also limited the Mustangs to just one run. Shortstop Liam Green secured all three outs, flashing both leather and his impressive arm.

Longboy’s honeymoon ended quickly. In the second inning a series of walks and doubles helped Southampton score 8 more runs. Arnie did help his own cause in the third inning with a triple to left field, bringing in Rob Jones from first base. He then scored himself on a single by Theo Scheepers. The Raptors loaded the bases, but by then there were 2 outs, and the Mustang’s Dave Wrigley struck out Jose Morillo to end the threat.

With Southampton 12-2 ahead and cruising after three innings there was little hope of a rally, but Herts kept fighting. Jones scored another run on another Longboy hit — and the pitcher/manager ended the day going 3-4 with the bat.  Senna Ashida, who had not played at all this season due to college commitments, reached base every time he came up to bat, and also put away a fly ball in left field.

Raptors had a satisfying end to the game by putting up donuts in the sixth and seventh innings. Excellent defense backed up the second relief pitcher of the day, Rob Jones — Zach Longboy and Theo Scheepers made solid catches, and the pitcher handled two of the plays himself.  Everybody would have preferred a win, but this was a fine effort against a formidable opponent.

Among Joe Gray’s many roles in British Baseball is Project COBB and during the second game of the doubleheader Joe attached  a small camera to the catcher’s mask of Croydon catcher, Matt Schwartz.  Below you will find a link to that video which is a rare opportunity to see baseball from that angle.  It has been a long time since we have seen “Mask Cam” on ESPN or Fox.  The ending of the video below illustrates the potential risk involved so perhaps damage to equipment is the reason for this.

There was a very visible relief on the faces of everyone connected with Herts Baseball on Sunday.  The club’s top team, the Herts Falcons, finally broke the curse that has been hanging over the team since the Opening Day of the season.

The team went into the game against the Croydon Pirates bottom of the NBL standings with no wins and six losses.  They got off to a perfect start taking a commanding lead early.  Darrin Ward pitched a complete game allowing only 1 earned run on 4 hits, striking out 3.  Ward also contributed for the Falcons win offensively.  He went 2-for-4 which included a 2-run homerun deep over the wall in left centerfield and against a blustery wind blowing in from left field.

Alexander von Rosenbach also hit a 2-run home run in the sixth inning, but by then the Falcons had the game in the bag leading 10-3, and that’s how it ended.

Game 2 promised to be a much tougher encounter with Croydon starter Tim Ssali taking the mound.  Croydon were leading 2-1 going into the bottom of the third, when Herts broke out with a game-changing 7-run inning.  They didn’t look back after that and won with a final score of 13-3.  Troy Linton, from Berkhamstead, had another good day causing havoc every time he stepped up to bat.  Louis Hare also stood out going 3-for-3 in game two, with 1 RBI.  But Hare will probably be more pleased with his work on the pitching mound. Like Ward, he allowed only 1 earned run and he also showed a lot of composure with bases loaded and no one out to ruin the Pirates’ hopes.

This is the first time that the Falcons win two games in a row since 18 April 2010 when they swept the Southampton Mustangs at home.  A 6-game losing streak was ended on Sunday and a 2-game winning streak was started.  How quickly things can turn in baseball.  Can the Falcons keep the winning streak going?  The odds are against them as next they will face the London Mets who are the hot favourites for the title. The game will be part of a National Baseball League event at Grovehill Ballpark involving six NBL teams. 

NBL DAY AT GROVEHILL BALLPARK, SUNDAY, 5 JUNE 2011

11:00 Essex Arrows v Lakenheath Diamondbacks

12:30 Herts Falcons v London Mets

14:00 Southern Nationals vs Mildenhall

The Herts Under-14 All Stars after their win at the Essex Redbacks

Intentionally walking a batter is a strategy used by the fielding team to reduce the damage that may be caused by a big hitter coming up to bat, or to face a weaker hitter, or to load bases in such a way that would give the defensive team a better chance of getting out of an inning.  The Herts Under-14 All Stars found themselves needing to adopt the “intentional walk” strategy in the bottom of the final inning of their game with the Essex RedBacks. The intentional walk which they executed turned out to be the game winning play. It will go down in baseball history as the most effective intentional walk ever and it is very unlikely that the multi-million dollar superstars of Major League Baseball will be able to equal that.

Starting pitcher Tom Everex-Armstrong made his debut for Herts and pitched a gem to give his team a good platform to go on and win the game.  He allowed only 3 hits and 2 runs, striking out 9 in his 4 innings of work.  Going into the bottom of the final inning Herts were leading 14-7 but they found themselves in a shaky situation as Essex had scored 5 runs in the previous inning.  With 2 outs and runners on first and second base, up stepped Essex slugger, Chris, with one home run to his name already.  Herts Manager, Kent Peterson, gave the intentional walk sign to his son and closing pitcher, Gavin Peterson.

Despite being Under-14, both Peterson and catcher, Brodie Caress, were very familiar with how to execute the intentional walk and ensure that the batter had no chance to reach out and make contact with the ball.   The hitter took the first pitch as it was way outside.  He seemed to realise that he was about to get the ultimate acknowledgement that his opponents want to avoid him at all cost, and from that point it was very difficult to find a reason or explanation of what happened next.  On the next pitch, to the surprise of the large crowd which had gathered, Chris made a late nonchalant swinging motion with his bat.  The umpire wasn’t quite sure what was happening but had no option but to call strike.  On the third pitch, Chris swung again but this time aggressively, clearly trying to make contact with the ball.  He missed.  The Essex coaches started giving him clear instructions not to swing at these intentional walk pitches out of the strike zone.  With fans and players streaming in from the Under-17 game which had just finished on the adjacent diamond, tension was building up and everyone was on their feet, not knowing what exactly they were seeing and what will happen next in what was meant to be a routine intentional walk.  It must be said that the batter Chris was obviously a very competent ball player.  Despite being Under-14, he had earlier pitched a brilliant game for the Essex Under-17 team and coming from an American family was obviously a very accomplished and knowledgeable baseball player.  The only plausible explanation is that he simply wanted to make a big impact on the game and tried to do the impossible.  With a 2-1 count he followed the instructions of his coaches and took the next pitch without swinging the bat, but on the 2-2 pitch he stunned everyone by taking an almighty hack at the pitch and managed to make contact with the ball for a foul tip.  Amazingly, Herts catcher, Brodie Caress, somehow caught and held on to the foul-tipped ball for strike three, third out, a win for Herts and jubilant celebrations as Herts players and fans invaded the field.

There are over 2,000 MLB games shown on TV every year but the game of baseball somehow continues to surprise us with something new and unique every time.

The final out will be talked about for a long time, but it is also worth mentioning Callum Vangundy, Brian Moulton, Drew Mayhew, Ben Jones and Jamie Brener who all had a good day at the plate and gave the pitching staff the run support they needed.

Essex won game one 13-7, so the Herts Under-14 All Stars stay with a .500 winning record in the league standings.

Everyone, up on their feet! The game ending intentional walk pitch for the Herts U14 All Stars win over the Essex RedBacks. Never in the history of baseball has there been so much tension over an intetnional walk

LATE INNING DRAMA

The clash between the Under-17 teams of Herts and the Essex RedBacks was just as dramatic.  A shaky start for Herts in game one gave them a mountain to climb, but pitcher Zack Longboy came in and pitched almost perfect 2 and 2/3 innings allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk, but most importantly, no runs. He was helped by some good defensive plays, most notably Charlie Mayhew’s spectacular catch in the outfield followed by his throw to second base to get the force out and the inning-ending double-play.  Herts were catching up fast, but at the end they ran out of outs losing 11-9 with the tying run at the plate.

Game two was a real classic. Both teams were matching each other inning-after-inning.  It came down to the bottom of the final inning.  A walk allowed the winning run to get on base and then quickly stole twice to get to third.  With the runner on third base representing the all-important winning run, Herts had to employ the extreme defensive formation of both infield and outfield playing in to have a chance of stopping the runner advancing on a ground ball or on a sacrifice fly.  At the end the defence could do nothing about it as a wild pitch went passed the Herts catcher for the winning run to come in.

Despite two heartbreaking losses, there were many positives for Herts including impressive batting by, Kieran Manning (2-3, 2 RBI) , Matteo Manzi (2-6, 4 RBI), Jose Morillo (2-5, 1 RBI), Liam Green (4-6, 3 RBI), Jonny Compton-Weight (2-7, 2 RBI) to add to the 0.00 and 2.08 ERA performances by Longboy and Green in game 1 and 2, respectively.  They will need a few more good pitching outings like this to bring down their ERA for the season, as the London Mets Under-17 team caused some long-term damage to that statistic in the Opening Games of the BBF Under-17 League season.

For full stats, box scores, standings, schedule and more, visit the official Herts Little League website.

It’s rare, even unprecedented, for me to play in four ballgames in a row, as my shift pattern at work only normally allows me an absolute maximum of three. Playing between two night shifts, and also using up annual leave just so I could play, led to this remarkable streak. There’s dedication for you. This has dashed my usual excuse of not playing often enough, but I’ll think of a new one soon.

It’s probably also worth mentioning how the weather allowed four games in four weeks, which was welcome. The last two were pretty damned windy, but anything other than a rainout is a good thing in the UK. Let’s hope a good Spring lasts into a good summer.

I like to think of it as the superhero outfit, waiting for the next call...

This week we took on the London Marauders, a team we had great fun playing two years ago in some high-scoring, see-saw games. (Last year was probably fun, too, but I missed those games so I can’t comment) Starting at shortstop, I got to catch a couple of high pop-ups. There were two outs at second, one where I fed Chris and he made a throw to first for a double play which really should have been given; the second where I took the feed but could not get the ball out of my glove. I remember another ground ball which I fielded and made the throw to first but Will could not hang on, and another where I muffed the pickup then compounded the error by making a rash throw wide of first base and gifting the runner second base. Dopy.

I then switched to the outfield, where nothing of note happened. The Marauders decided to stop hitting big fly balls, no matter how much I willed them to. I did manage to misfield all three balls which came my way because of bad bounces on the rock hard outfield, which was rather annoying, but had little effect on the runners or the score.

At the plate…. well, the first two-thirds of the game were OK. A pop-up off the end of the bat clearly was not good, but that was followed by a walk and lots of stealing, and then a decent hit into the outfield which scored a run. The problem was that next time up, with runners on base, I popped up the ball in exactly the same way as I had in my first at-bat, and in the same way I had when I started the day’s BP. It might’ve been an idea to carry over the good swing into the game, instead of returning to the rubbish one.

So for the first half of the report card, let’s look at this season’s batting. I’m going to grant myself a B-. I’ve left the precise figures in my other trousers, but on the plus side I know I have an on-base percentage of about .583 and not a single strikeout so far. Since I have been batting high up the order, and often leading off either in fact or in effect, I would count that as a good stat. The down side is that I calculate my actual batting average at about .285, which is not so impressive. My last three outs, from the last two games, have been those useless pop ups which suggest something needs tweaking in the swing.

On the fielding side, I am going to generously grant myself a B+. There have been more bona fide errors than I would like – I can think of three or four, including throwing the ball away against Marauders, as detailed above. But for most of the games I have been really pleased (and maybe slightly surprised) with my handling of ground balls, which is key to any “change” to the infield. I have also caught every pop-up that came my way, so it’s good to secure all the easy stuff.  Instead I have been let down by throws to first. They have been maybe a fraction late — or probably, more precisely, they have not been thrown hard enough and fast enough. That is something I must work on. Of course, I also bump up my rating just for getting the double play against Guildford, which I may well talk about for the rest of my life!

Don't take it so hard

Since I made a pitching appearance for the second time in two years, I suppose I should provide a report card on that too. I think I will give myself a C. This inning was not as effective as the one I threw against Southampton last year, where at least I retired three batters. As I said in a previous week, I think I gave in to the demand of throwing strikes, and limited myself as a result. My overall career ERA must be astronomical, but I am thinking about “feel” rather than statistics.

I can assure you that the experience has not put me off returning to the mound — rather, it has shown me things to work on and improve. If I had to get up and do it again this week I would have a smile on my face. And I think that is the key in all aspects of the game.

The final word should really about my team, rather than about me. It’s not my place to assess the Raptors, but I actually think their report card would look pretty good. There has been great spirit in the team and in three games we have put together good rallies rather than folding in the face of adversity. There have been some really fine plays and performances. We all know we can do better, and there have been rookie mistakes, but that’s because we’re mostly rookies!

Everyone wants to work on their game and improve, and I hope that’s the point I have been making here in focussing on my own performance.  When I next pull on the uniform, in about a month’s time, I hope I’m better and we can be better together.

The Herts Raptors faced their most evenly matched opponent of the year so far in the London Marauders, but the wind quickly played a part. Starting pitcher Phil Gover found his curve ball hanging in the breeze, and the outfielders were outfoxed by a series of huge fly balls.

Six runs scored in the first inning before balls kept on the infield secured the outs. Chris Deacon — returning from injury — made smart plays to retire runners at second base, though the Raptors never quite achieved the double play they were after.

Eight more runs crossed in the second before Raptors could answer back, and by the middle of the fourth the visitors lead was 27-6. Then, at last, the home team’s bats came alive. Hustle and bold hitting got results, Will Belbin and Oz Kemal picked up RBI’s, and the Raptors put 10 runs on the board.

This dramatic comeback included the strangest hit of the day. A mis-hit dribbler went back to the London pitcher, but it got him in the shins and bounced away – after two overthrows the batter was safe at third base and all the runners had scored. Sadly, such good fortune was not to last. In the end, Marauders had too much batting power for the Herts side and ran out 37-19 victors.

At least Herts did put an exclamation mark at the end of the game, as Little League graduate Zach Longboy pitched a 1-2-3 inning in his senior debut on the mound.

The other Herts teams also endured tough days. The Hawks led 6-5 after three innings, and were only narrowly behind after four. But they then suffered a bad inning which has been the hallmark of Herts losses this year. Guildford Mavericks scored 7, and then shut out their hosts to win 21-8.

One bad inning also undid the National League Falcons, at home to the Mildenhall Bulldogs. Ace Darrin Ward was on the mound in the first game but an explosion of 13 runs in the top of the third pretty much settled the matter. Nic Goetz pitched the second game, which went the full seven innings but still ended in defeat for Herts, this time 11-1. Manager Lee Manning said too many mistakes had cost the Falcons in the first match-up, but he was pleased with a better all round defensive performance in the second. “We were just out-hit”, he concluded simply.

After four weeks of league action the three Herts teams competing in the senior leagues each found themselves with the unenviable record of four losses out of four games.  In total this translates into twelve unsuccessful attempts to end the losing streak.

All three Herts senior teams were at home this weekend and with the Herts Under-14 and Under-17 teams starting their British League campaigns the Herts baseball family was hopeful that the nightmare run would end.  Similar to Hollywood movies like Major League and Bull Durham, members of Herts prepared for the weekend exercising all kinds of superstitions from wearing unusual type of underwear, or none at all, to continuing not to shave until the losing streak ends.  Some even considered sacrificing a live chicken.  Thankfully the chicken was spared as the Herts Under-14 All Stars won their opening game of the season against their bitter rivals the London Mets U14.  Brodie Caress was the starting pitcher who picked up the win.  Jonathan Fretheim came in to close the game in style striking out all three Mets batters to end the game.  Both Caress and Fretheim delivered the final blow to the Mets each hitting a 3-run home run deep over the outfield wall.   The second game of the double-header was won 21-10 by the London Mets.

The hard-hitting London Mets are the team to beat this season in the British Under-17 League

At the same time on the other side of Grovehill Ballpark the Herts Under-17 team also opened their season against the London Mets U-17.  This season Herts enter a baseball team into the U-17 British league for the first time in its history and with the majority of the players aged 13 and 14 it was always going to be an uphill task as they came up against the reigning Under-17 British Champions who include accomplished players who are 2 or 3 years older than them.  Despite this, Herts put up a brave fight especially in game two.  They may have lost both games, but this was a good opportunity for the future stars of Herts Baseball to see what the target is for them over the next few years.  The final scores of the two Under-17 League games were 19-2 and 23-10 in favour of the Mets.

The Herts Giants had a dramatic come back win against the Herts Dodgers on Saturday

While this was taking place the Herts Giants and the Herts Dodgers clashed as part of the Herts regional league schedule for the Under-12s.  The Giants won it 18-17 with a dramatic walk off hit to extend their lead in the Herts Minor League standings.

On Sunday it was the turn of the Herts senior teams.  The Herts Falcons were missing key players, Troy Linton, Jamie Munn and Liam Green who was resting after pitching in the Under-17 league game 24 hours earlier, but even if that wasn’t the case it would have been difficult to stop the powerful batting lineup of the Mildenhall Bulldogs who won both games deservedly.  Despite the loss there were many positives for the Falcons to take out of the game as they go into a crucial game against the Croydon Pirates next Sunday.

The Herts Hawks were also at home.  This time they welcomed the newly promoted Guildford Mavericks.  Although the Hawks can have no complaints about the loss, it was very much a missed opportunity as the team had a commanding lead halfway through the game and let it slip away from them at the end.

The Bulldogs found Falcons pitcher Nic Goetz very hard to hit

The weekend was completed with the Single-A League game between the London Marauders and the Herts Raptors. The boys from Herts suffered another loss, but that will not dampen the enthusiasm of the team.  Some struggling teams like to approach one game at a time and this principle applies to the Raptors as well.  The team is a work-in-progress but the day when they will be ready to seriously challenge their opponents is not too far away.  Until then, the team may have to approach one inning at a time rather than one game at a time.

Next Games:

12:00, Sun, 29 May, Croydon Pirates @ Herts Falcons (NBL) (Grovehill Ballpark, Herts)

11:00, Sat, 28 May, Herts All Stars U17 @ Essex RedBacks U17 (Chelmsford, Essex)

11:00, Sat, 28 May, Herts All Stars U14 @ Essex RedBacks U14 (Chelmsford, Essex)

The weather was cold and blustery, and the Royals had already demolished the Raptors once this season. But 11 players made the drive to Cambridge with spirits high. The Herts team had realistic expectations, but the main thing they want to do is play their best.

The first inning perhaps set the tone in that the Raptors fought well but were overmatched. An accurate sidearm pitcher got leadoff phenom Zach Longboy out on a line drive. Rob Jones then coaxed his customary walk, and had steals of second nullified by foul balls as Ali Hall battled hard at the plate.  Hall was alert enough to run when the catcher dropped his third strike, but an equally alert Cambridge bench had him called out because first base had been occupied. Jones was stranded on third as the next man up grounded out. What could have been first and third with one out was turned around by the Royals’ years of experience.

Longboy Snr scored two of the three Raptors runs

With bats in their hand, they put that experience to good use. Over the first three innings they racked up runs with hits and walks, and took a commanding lead. The Raptors’ starting pitcher, manager Ken Pike, put in a solid performance but the strong wind and a tiny strike zone made life difficult. The defense had good moments to back him up, with Will Belbin hauling in a scorching line drive for one impressive out, but overall this was one-way traffic.

As the game progressed, the Longboy double act made the biggest impression for Herts. It was father Arnie who scored two of the three Herts runs — the first of them almost completely manufactured from a walk, a steal and overthrows. He has had a succession of good hits stolen by opposing defenses this season, and finally made one count with his second run. Zach battled against the strong wind to make two excellent catches in left field, and was praised by the Cambridge bench for his excellent technique.

There were also cameos by new acquisition Theo Scheepers, who came on as shortstop and made good plays including a smart tag with an added dance, and by lefty relief pitcher Phil Gover. He hit the strike zone more consistently than in the previous week’s outing against Guildford, and fielded his position excellently to help keep the Raptors battling.

This was another tough lesson for the Herts rookie team. Of their four defeats, two have been at the hands of a league-leading Cambridge team who can boast veterans with expertise, and power in both pitching and hitting. The host team was generous in its praise for the graduates of the Herts Little league, and for the team spirit of the Raptors. But Ken Pike’s men are itching for a straight fight with a rival team. Maybe it can come this week…

For those of you who are concerned that I beat myself up in public about my mistakes, don’t worry – my indefatigable ego will always be convinced that I have a talent for the game, even if it’s a struggle to find it sometimes. Also, I like to think of this blog as a sharing exercise for other small-time ball players who wish they could turn it on like the MLB guys they see on TV.  Finally, I need only ask – would you prefer it if I spent all my time telling you how fanastic I was?!

So, on to this week’s blend of boasting, hand-wringing and acute observation. Here are five things which we have either learnt, or been reminded of, in the past two weeks.

1. You’ve gotta throw a curve. I made my first pitching appearance of the season against Guildford. And it was a good reminder that pitching is really tough, and we should not underestimate the task facing our starters every week. We have given up a lot of walks, and my appearance was an attempt to throw strikes and stop the bleeding of runs. The first bit went fine, as I walked only one of the 9 batters I faced. But it didn’t really stop the runs, as I didn’t get a single out. After a few days mulling, I decided I really should’ve thrown a curve ball in there somewhere. I was focussed on throwing strikes, the main thing we needed at that point of the game. But I’m not sure I threw a curve at all, and that allows the batter to just wait for the meaty one in the zone.When the hits came, we missed at least three chances to get the final out we needed. I was one of those misplaying a ball, so I share guilt at not helping the pitcher out of his hole.

2. The double play is the pitcher’s best friend. In eight years playing this game, I don’t think I have ever turned a successful double play. So, chalk up another new experience. It happened in the third inning against Guildford. The first batter was on base with a walk, and when the second guy up hit a sinking liner to short I was just able to catch it, then throw to first base where the runner had taken off, and secure the simple double play. The next batter flied out, and the inning was clean. The double play is such a punch to the guts of an offense. I can think of an occasion in each of the last two years when the same sort of double play has been turned against us, but overall it’s pretty rare at our level. And it is nice to have members of the opposing team come over to you to say “nice play”. That’s what so-called recreational sport should be about.

Rookie Oz Kemal on the end of high heat from the Royals

3. Single A can mean different things to different people. Now, this is not meant as a grumble as such. But members of the Raptors, the Herts development team, could be forgiven for wondering when they are ever going to play another set of comparable rookies. Each member of this week’s starting line-up against the Cambridge Royals had an average of approximately 1.4 prior years of baseball experience. And that figure is only so high because I have played for 8 years – 4 players had no previous taste of adult baseball. The Royals had ex-GB players and plenty of experienced guys. I had an odd empty feeling on Sunday evening, as if I hadn’t really been in a game, and I wonder if that’s because we never really laid a finger on Cambridge. It’s hard to keep your head up in mismatches, but Herts Raptors showed great spirit against Guildford, where we had a proper chance to compete.

4. Ball first, play second. My most annoying error of choice in each of the past two games has been failing to cleanly pick up a ball which was, essentially, just laying on the ground. The first was the dribbling comebacker which could have made my pitching numbers look a whole lot better, the second was when playing second base at Cambridge. On both occasions I was caught in two minds about which play to make, and so I muffed picking up the ball, and failed to make any play. Cardinal sin. Know your play, be decisive. And make sure you have got the ball before you try to do anything with it!

5. We look good! Every week you have to admire just how cool the Herts players look, with their white uniforms and now a growing range of extra branded gear. It’s still pretty obvious that whoever chose white doesn’t do their own washing, but I accept they made a good choice nonetheless. We win the style battle every week. The only other team that I think comes close is the Milton Keynes Bucks, I like their grey outfits (so would my washing machine). But somehow Herts manage to look better even than, say, Sidewinders who play in the same colours. So let’s take that victory on to the field before we even start!

PS. Having banged on about how rare double plays are, I later remembered that we turned one against Cambridge as well. One out, runners on second and third, and the batter flied out to Ken in centre field. The guy at second tagged up and took off but then found the runner at third stationary, so he had to turn back. Ken made a strong throw to second and we (I think it was me) tagged the guy out. I still stand by the fact that double plays are relatively rare in single-A (the San Francisco Giants ground into 3 in every game!) but I’m pleased to know that the Herts Raptors are turning some.

The Herts Yankees and Herts Dodgers were looking to bounce back after recording losses in week one of the Herts Baseball Little League.  The Dodgers got their first win of the season with a convincing 18-8 score against the Giants. Dodgers’ batters had an outstanding game at the plate.  Ben Jones was one of the star performers going 4-for-5 with 5 RIBIs including a home run over the centerfield wall.  Dodgers celebration were short-lived as the Giants came back strong in game two winning 17-13 which means they lead the series 3-1.  Game two saw home runs by Matt Cowler (2)  and Aaron Witter. 

In the Herts Major League, the Herts Yankees had a spring in their step with several key reinforcements coming in for them.  Lewis Green started on the mound for them and gave them exactly the start which they needed.  They had a healthy 9-3 lead going into the third inning, but then the Red Sox came alive and started to put runs on the scoreboard and eventually took the lead going into the final inning.  A late surge by the Yankees in the final inning included a 2-run home run by Liam Green (2) bringing them to within one run, but then Red Sox pitcher, Zack Longboy, shut the door retiring three batters in succession to end the game and give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the series. 

Rivals London Mets Come to Town this Saturday 

Will Herts and London produce another classic this Saturday at Grovehill Ballpark

Next Saturday, 21 May 2011, the Herts U-17 and Herts U-14 All Star teams will clash in the National League against their London Mets counterparts. This is a repeat of the dramatic London versus Herts National Final which Herts won to lift the Under-14 National Trophy last October.  This year Herts is entering an Under-17 team for the first time in its history. Many of the Herts Under-17 players were members of the Under-14 Championship-winning team from last year. This time they will be facing much older and more experienced players, so it will be exciting to see how they will start in the Under-17 British League. With so many Under-14 Herts players moving up to the Under-17 team, there will be many new faces representing Herts at the Under-14 League level. 

Everything is set for a fantastic day of baseball between two of the biggest rivals in Great Britain.  The games begin at 12pm this Saturday, 21 May 2011, at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead.  Free admission for all.  Hot Dogs, and alls sorts of other snacks and refreshments will be available on the day. Many new players have signed up with the Herts teams this year and new players can join the League and give baseball a try at any point of the season. For more details contact Herts Baseball Club by visiting the official website of the Herts Baseball Little League.

WEEKEND’S BOX SCORES IN THE HERTS LITTLE LEAGUE

Due to a clash at RAF Feltwell, the Herts Falcons’ next league game with the Lakenheath Diamondbacks has been moved to Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead.  The Falcons will still be treated as the visiting team in the game, but hopefully playing at home will give them an advantage as they seek their first win of the season.  The team has had to sit out without any league action over the last three weekends, so they will be eager to get back to the diamond.  They go into the game with a 0-2 record after their Opening Day defeat against the Southampton Mustangs who have quitely gone to the top of the standings with a 6-0 record. 

The Falcons vs Diamondbacks game begins at 12:45. 

Also playing at Grovehill Ballpark are the club’s AA team, the Hawks (0-2).  They clash with League favorites the Sidewinders.  Game starts at 12:00.

The Herts Raptors (0-3) travel to Single-A League leaders, the Cambridge Royals.

Last Saturday ahead of the Opening Day clash between the Herts Yankees and the Herts Red Sox there was a last minute player trade.  Cameron Choudhuri moved from the Yankees to the Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later. The Herts Little League has just confirmed that the player going in the other direction is Jose Morillo. He has developed very quickly into one of Herts Baseball’s hottest prospects and already made his debut with the club’s adult team, the Herts Raptors, who play in the British Single-A League.  He will add experience and a lot of power to the Yankees lineup.  It is a much needed boost for the Yankees who found themselves on the losing end in game one and need to bounce back in game two.

The Herts Yankees made another move by picking up Johnny Machin, who is expected to make his debut in the Herts Major League in early June.  It has been reported that the Machin family are big New York Yankees fans so they will be pleased with this news.

Fans of the Herts Little League can keep track of player transactions throughout the season on the League’s official website. (Click to view)

Grovehill ballpark, Sunday 8th May 2011

This was, in many ways, a game of two halves. Raptors made heavy weather of the first, while picking themselves up for a brave rally in the second. The final result, though, was decided by the fact that the first half included two big meltdowns.

Raptors' lefty pitcher, Phil Gover

The home team’s starting pitcher Phil Gover struggled to get into his rhythm as the game began, walking the first three batters. He settled down and the Mavericks only really got one good hit in the first inning, from a player they had borrowed, Jonny Compton-Weight.  Nonetheless, when it was over 10 runs had crossed the plate. A far from ideal start.

Herts looked to strike back quickly with both the leadoff, Rob Jones, and second hitter Zach Longboy getting aboard with walks. Gover then helped his own cause by driving in a run, which he did again later in the game. But even though the Guildford starter had his own control troubles, and Herts mostly seemed able to get bat on ball, they could only notch up 2 runs as a reply.

The game became tighter for a while, with Herts still giving up walks but also now getting strikeouts. The defence was doing its job, too. An infield double play, and a sure-handed outfield catch by newcomer John Kjorstad, helped keep the third inning clean. And by the top of the fourth it was 13-4 to Guildford.

That is when the visitors started to get their bats going and piling up runs. Raptors could not seem to get the outs they needed, especially that third out. Rob Jones was brought in as an emergency relief pitcher to try to close out the inning. But while he threw strikes, Guildford started to tee off on the pitches and the Raptors defence could not shut the door. A series of routine fielding chances were missed, including one by the pitcher himself, and each time a run scored.

So manager Ken Pike stepped out from behind the dish, where he had been umpiring, to come and fight the fire. Taking over on the mound, he was able to close it out. But in all, 18 runs had crossed the plate, possibly a record even for the Raptors. And that left the team in a deep hole.

And that is where the second half begins. As Herts Hawks started to gather on the sidelines, shouting encouragement, Raptors heads did not drop but lifted, and they fought for the game. They made some better defensive plays and most importantly had both belief and patience at the plate. Will Belbin made fine efforts to secure outs at first base, while third baseman Theo Scheepers had a stream of good hits.

The Guildford pitcher was now tiring and walked batters as Herts  loaded the bases in the seventh with nobody out. Kjorstad stroked a triple to right field, while the Mavericks defence also made a few errors, and an inspired rally was underway. Seven runs scored in all before the final strikeout was called, and the home side had made a respectable score.

There were clear positives for the Herts side. A bit of juggling with the stats would make a very different outcome — for example, Raptors outscored the visitors by a total of 13-8 in five of the seven innings; and they won the last three innings 11-5. But Guildford had complete control because of two innings in which they had scored 28 runs. Raptors will take the lessons on to their next contest in Cambridge.

While all this was happening, the Herts Hawks had been taking on Richmond on Grovehill’s other diamond. They twice rallied from deficits in an excellent game, but ended up as 16-12 losers.

The Red Sox dominated offensively and defensively on Opening Day

The Red Sox got off to the best possible start of the season with a convincing win against the Herts Yankees. The Giants are also in commanding position sweeping the Herts Dodgers on Opening Day of the Herts Little League season.

The Herts Little League team rosters were announced earlier in the week but the Yankees found themselves with a  seriously depleted squad on Saturday with several of their big guns out of action.  Jonny Compton-Weight who just returned after representing Great Britain in the Czech Republic and who is expected to play a key role for the team was unable to take part after suffering with the flu. Callum Vangundy, Jack Harding, Robert Binns and Vincent Moulton were also missing from the Yankees lineup.

The Red Sox took advantage of this by taking a 5-0 lead in the first inning. Lewis Green who has been making tremendous progress as a pitcher over the last 2 years came in to pitch in the second inning for the Yankees and pitched a perfect inning without allowing any hits or walks.  One run did come in during that inning after the Yankees defence committed two errors but this does not take away from the fantastic pitching performance by Green.  The Yankees seemed to be buzzing all of a sudden and were back in the game with a towering 3-run home run to right-centerfield, by Liam Green. That made the score 6-4.  Zack Longboy who was the winning pitcher for the Sox in last year’s final started on the mound and gave his team the platform they needed pitching three innings very effectively allowing 4 hits and 2 walks. By the time he was relived by Brodie Caress the Red Sox had a commanding 11-4 lead thanks to hits by Jose Morillo, Longboy and Kyle Lloyd-Jones who hit a towering 2-run home run. Caress came in and pitched 3 quality innings.  The only minor hiccup came in the top of the sixth when Lewis Green hit his first home run of his career driving in three runs. By that time it was too little too late for the Yankees.  They will need their big guns back for game 2 next Saturday if they are to stand a chance against the dangerous Red Sox.

The clash in the Minors Division between the Dodgers and the Giants was a much more even affair.  Both teams were matching each other inning after inning. It came down to the bottom of final inning.  The Giants were trailing by three runs.  Singles by Rose van Dort and Josh Jones were followed by doubles by slugger Matt Cowler and Beau Mack-Rehnsi.  The knockout punch was delivered by Ryan Reynolds to give the Giants a wild 16-15 win. 

In game two both teams improved their defensive game.  The Dodgers seemed eager to tie the series and they held a 4-2 lead until the closing innings, but the Giants rallied again in the final inning winning 9-4. 

The series continue next Saturday, 14 May, once again starting at 11am.  Will the Dodgers and the Yankees be able to make a comeback or will their opponents continue their domination.

GAME 2

Herts Giants at HOME Opponent
Score By Innings	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Herts Giants	1	1	0	4	3	9	16	0
HOME Opponent	1	3	0	0	0	4	10	2

Herts Giants 9, HOME Opponent 4
Herts Giants					HOME Opponent
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Beau Mack-Rehnsi 3b	4	3	3	1	H Player 1 p	3	2	2	1
James Roberts 1b	4	1	2	2	H Player 2 2b	3	0	0	0
Joshua Jones c	4	0	1	1	H Player 3 1b	3	0	3	1
Matt Cowler cf	4	1	4	2	H Player 4 lf	3	0	2	2
Christian Lynch lf	4	0	1	1	H Player 5 c	3	0	0	0
Jamie Brener ss	3	0	0	0	H Player 6 ss	3	0	0	0
Ryan Reynolds 2b	3	2	2	0	H Player 7 3b	3	0	1	0
Lewis Auchterlounie p	3	1	2	0	H Player 8 cf	2	1	1	0
Alex Trautman rf	3	1	1	0	H Player 9 rf	2	1	1	0
TEAM TOTALS	32	9	16	7	TEAM TOTALS	25	4	10	4

E: H Player 1, H Player 2. LOB: HOME Opponent 6, Herts Giants 8. 2B: Matt Cowler(3), Beau Mack-Rehnsi.

Herts Giants	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Lewis Auchterlounie	5.00	10	4	4	0	11
HOME Opponent
H Player 1	5.00	16	9	6	0	5

T: 1:20. A: 78.

  

The waiting is over. The boys and girls of summer will get the 2011 Herts Baseball Little League season underway this Saturday, 7 May 2011, at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. Players from across Hertfordshire, London and as far as East Anglia will be putting on the Herts jerseys as the race for the championship begins.

The season will open with two mouth-watering match-ups. The reigning Champions, Herts Red Sox, will face bitter rivals the Herts Yankees. Red Sox Manager, Arnie Longboy, will be hoping that his team can pick up where they left at the end of last season. Their opponents, the Herts Yankees, picked up the bronze medals last year and they will be eager to get back to winning ways early. Both teams will field very strong lineups with each of them featuring members of the Herts All Stars team which represented Hertfordshire so magnificently at last year’s British National Baseball Championships and returned home with the silverware.

The other Opening Day match-up is expected to be another exciting clash. When baseball fans hear Dodgers and Giants, they think of the famous West Coast rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. The Herts Dodgers and the Herts Giants Opening Day clash is likely to be just as fiery.

As always, at the start of every season, there will be many new faces after numerous player transfers, trades between the teams and free agents joining the League during the close season, so it will be a fascinating opening day.

This year’s Herts Little League will see a changed format with teams from other parts of the country taking part as well in an Inter-League format similar to the one introduced in America a few years ago. It brought a lot of excitement to Major League Baseball and it is expected to spice things up in Hertfordshire as well.

Apart from the race for the Herts Little League Championship, throughout the 2011 season members of the Herts Little League will also be taking part in BBF league games against teams from other parts of the country. The Herts teams competing in the BBF Leagues are referred to as All-Star teams and they are a selection of the best performing players from all the Herts Little League teams in the various age groups.

Last year Herts had one All-Star team competing in the BBF Under-14 (Bronco) League. This year Herts is committed to give more of its members the All-Stars experience by adding two more All-Star teams competing in the BBF Leagues.

With the weather expected to remain sunny, there isn’t a better way to spend Saturday then at the ballpark enjoying the various snacks and drinks which will be on offer. The games begin at 11am. Free admission for all. Many new players have signed up with the teams over the last few weeks and new players can join the League at any point of the season. For more details contact Herts Baseball Club by visiting their official website www.hertsbaseball.com

You don’t need me to tell you that baseball is a game of inches. But at least the next time I think about it I will have a few frustrating examples to offer, all from half a game at home to the Southampton Mustangs. I was back at third base as a substitute, after missing the top of the game due to being asleep after a night shift. And the hot corner was to give me a very hot day.

It all comes together in a close play at first base

The first chance came quickly, I think the first batter of the second inning I played. I fielded the ball cleanly, took a step, then sent a throw sailing about ten feet wide of the first baseman. I felt the smooth part of the ball slip from the fingers as I threw it, but that doesn’t help me get it back.

The second throw, in the next inning, was in the first baseman’s reach, but it was still between him and the onrushing runner, and he couldn’t hang on. Having played a bit of first myself, I realised I had rather hung him out to dry.

The third one went … I remember not where, but I know the guy wasn’t given out! And the fourth throw, with runners on base, was there and safe and sound – but to my surprise the runner was also given safe and sound. Four chances, one clear error, and no outs.

Somewhere in the midst of all this I made what was nearly a spectacular play. Leaping at a line drive which even I thought was about to go over my head, I got the meat of the glove to a ball. But just not enough, or I started landing a fraction too soon, I don’t know. The ball flicked back up in the air, out of reach of a flailing second attempt, then fell to ground. Almost a web gem, but in the end just another runner aboard.

So where does the inch come into it? Well, I’m not a big guy and I don’t think it’s giving too much away to any future opposition to say I do not have a “Big Arm”. But the throw from third base is a “Big Throw”, and there’s a simple conclusion here that I just didn’t make it. That inch might have got those outs. An inch might have secured that catch, too.

All of this might spell the swift end of my third base career, though I hope not! I have played two stints there and I really enjoyed it. Chiefly because those stints have been busy, and that’s exactly what you want when you step on the field – “hit the ball to ME!”

I was really pleased that against the Mustangs I picked up every ball cleanly and surely, despite all the rust- and sleep-related excuses I am keeping in reserve. But the throws need to be that bit sharper and stronger to make sure I get the guy, and I am keen to work on that. Unless someone conjures me an inch…

While I am on the topic of being “sharper”, I should note that for the second time in two games I found my uniform spattered with blood. In the HSL it was, I think, just a rotating seam that scuffed skin off my hand. All rather feeble, and when it happened this time around I started to think about seeing a ‘weak skin specialist’ or something. So I was slightly reassured to find once I cleaned up my hand after the game that it was a bona fide cut. And I duly found a shard of broken glass near my fielding position at third. A note to all, I think, to check a public field carefully when you set up.

The red badge of courage

A quick word about my batting is that just half an inch might have done, to make my first at-bat a hit. On a 2-2 count fastball I swung but just missed making really good contact. It became a fairly routine ground ball to the third baseman. I was out by a step, but I was out.

I think most Herts players can take solace in the quality of the Southampton defence. As you may have read elsewhere, Mustangs pitcher Dave Wrigley recorded the club’s first no-hitter. But that was not because he was so overpowering or bamboozling. Large part — and I’m sure he would agree – was down to his defence. Take for example, the scorching Raptors hit to lead off the ninth. It was an excellent pick-up by the fielder, then made even better by the first baseman digging it out. We must doff the cap to a really good performance by the visitors.

And what of the Raptors’ all-round experience? Whilst it may not have started well, when I got there it was a tight game. The home team threw up zeroes, and made good plays. New guys seemed pretty confident and comfortable. It’s hard to look back on lots of glaring errors, barring my own decision to airmail a routine throw to first. So there’s always stuff to learn, and with a rookie team a lot of it is still drilling on basics. But there’s a lot to look forward to as well.

The Raptors played host to the powerful Southampton Mustangs on the second week of A-division action. Things did not start well for pitcher, Ken Pike, who struggled with his control and walked batters. Four runs came in. But the visiting pitcher Dave Wrigley also had a poor start, including hitting a batter. Herts struck back with a run, and the game remained quite tight as it developed, with Mustangs slowly inching ahead.

Ken Pike in pre-season action

The Raptors rookies, including Charlie Williams and Oz Kemal, were putting in solid performances. Ken Pike made good plays at shortstop to keep his side in the game, but the home team missed out on too many close plays. Rusty veteran Rob Jones was on the end of a frustating succession of “nearly plays” from third base.

It was 9-1 to Southampton going into the seventh inning, but then the wheels seemed to come off for Herts. Walks, errors and some good hits helped the Mustangs score 8 runs. Lefty relief pitcher Phil Gover came in and was able to stem the bleeding with his deceptive curve, and give Raptors one more chance to keep the game alive.

At this point, the Mustangs catcher had realised what his pitcher did not – Wrigley was in line for the first no-hitter in his club’s history. And the inning encapsulated the game. The first two Raptors hitters made good contact, but excellent play by the defence kept them off the bases. Then Wrigley’s control failed again and he issued a walk to Rob Jones, one of seven the pitcher gave up on the day. The runner stole second and stole third, but in that time the Mustangs’ starter had struck out the final Raptors batter. It was a convincing 17-1 win.

In the AA-division, Greg Bochan and Andy Cornish took their Herts Hawks to the south coast to face Poole Piranhas. It started badly, with Herts giving up 3 runs in each of the first three innings. Despite that, there were several attempts at a comeback, and Jeff Witter and Nick Russell helped the Hawks chip away.

Coach Bochan was pleased with the way his team performed, and there was “outstanding” work in the outfield by Hunter Devine and Ralph Bartholomew. The Hawks scored two more runs in the final innings, but it was never enough to overhaul the home side. Poole won 9-4.

The Herts club is still winless after two weeks of the season, but the managers are taking positives from what has happened so far. The first opponents have been some of the strongest in the various divisions, and Herts must take the lessons it has learned into fixtures which offer good hopes of a win.

The National League Herts Falcons had to reschedule their games against Croydon, and will instead go in search of their first win against the London Mets next week.

As the Jones family flew into the United States last week, what did I most notice out of the plane window?

Was it the skyscrapers? The huge, snaking interstate roads? No, it was the baseball fields. The sight of more and more of those distinctive cut-out diamonds warmed my heart. At one site there were about nine, all clustered together. Not a major league training complex, not a national centre. Just a few diamonds, casually sprinkled in the suburbs. It’s a different world over there.

We actually spent most of the holiday in Canada, where I took in my first Major League game for about five and a half years. The Toronto Blue Jays, who had started the season with a burst of runs and victories, hosted the Oakland Athletics. Jose Bautista was out of the line-up, most of the big stars have long been traded away, but the Blue Jays are still soldiering on. This game was a pitcher’s duel, coming down to a couple of manufactured runs and a wild pitch. Oakland won 2-1.

It didn’t win over the extended family to the joys of the game — “Swing miss, swing miss, swing miss, sit down” is still how my sister characterises baseball — but I certainly enjoyed the experience. And I got within just a few feet of one of those diamonds I had been excited about seeing from the air.

Sadly, while I was gone, the British season got under way without me. And it sounds as if it started badly for Herts. No wins. But it also sounds as if a much depleted Falcons side was only undone by one bad inning, and the Hawks and Raptors faced leading contenders from their divisions. It will take more than a defeat to dissipate the excitement of opening day. I know I can’t wait to get started, and I guess that the players who already have a game under their belts still feel that way too — they want to really get going, and get winning.

Part of the reason for my pwn enthusiasm is the boost from the Herts Spring League. Since we have a weekend off, I thought I would take the opportunity to reach back to the pre-season for some observations which never quite made it to the blog.

First of all I have to ask everyone involved one question — was that fun or was that fun? I usually refer to Spring Training in inverted commas, to suggest in my amusing little way that the experience is often cold and wintry. But it was pretty bright and sunny when I was there, and good baseball was to be found. It was great for Herts to attract another record number of teams for the tournament.

My own ailing physique actually found the experience quite reassuring. Since starting the year by moaning that my 38 year old body seemed to be creaking under the strain, I had tried doggedly to put in hours at the gym or on the streets. I can rarely get to baseball training but I can run home after doing the school drop-off, and my shifts at work have been kind in allowing me to get on the treadmill and lifting (suitably small) weights.

And I felt pretty good after playing two games. I was bleeding after ripping skin off my hand by misfielding a line drive, but what’s a bit of blood between friends? Overall, it’s nothing! I was ready for more.

I made my competitive debut as third base, often referred to as the Hot Corner. And it was like a firing range down there! There were drives over my head, balls along the line, and an infuriating bloop over my head. I managed to stop quite a few, with my legs, my chest and sometimes even my glove. One ball fair knocked me on my backside as it kicked up off the infield grass, and another I had to slide for in the gravel. But they both ended in the glove. The throws were a little too hurried and didn’t make it in time by inches. But that gives me stuff to work on.

For the record and for my ego I should say that I did make some outs, including a tag to cap off some good relay work from the outfield and snag an aggressive Herts Hawks runner.

As for the batting… well, the first against the Hawks was probably the worst I can think of for some time. Hitting second in the line-up and with a runner on first, I would almost never swing at the first pitch. Why would you? Even in any situation I am pretty patient, and won two batting titles basically on the fact that I wouldn’t swing at junk. So did I wait patiently and let my runner steal? Err, no. I watched the pitch, waited, and then the rush of blood became too much to contain so I swung at it. By then, though, it was far too late. It came off like a checked swing and hopped down to the first base man.

Fortunately the runner had enough of a jump that I didn’t hang him out to dry in a double play. And later at-bats were a bit better. My second ground-out to the Hawks was down to Nick Russell’s nifty fielding, and against the Redbacks I got three good hits and I’m pretty sure a walk thrown in too. So there’s another whiff of optimism as I count down to my own Opening Day. See you all there, as soon as I can.

The Herts teams couldn’t have imagined a worse start of the 2011 baseball season.  All four games involving Herts teams ended in defeat.  

The Herts Falcons faced the Southampton Mustangs in their home opener and they came into the game with a lot of confidence after a good run of results in Spring Training which included a convincing victory against the Mustangs.  Despite taking the lead in the first inning, the Falcons gradually lost grip of the game.  In the fifth inning the visitors delivered the knockout punch scoring 9 runs.  Southampton’s starting pitcher, Gary Davison, pitched a complete game allowing only 4 hits. He was shaken up only once when the Falcons’ 2009 MVP, Darrin  Ward, launched a towering 2-run home run over the left-field wall, but it came too late for Herts.   

The second game of the doubleheader was a much closer contest.  Chuck Truelson picked up the win for Southampton after Rodriguez came in very effectively to relieve him in the fourth inning.  Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning, was gracious in defeat: “Southampton outplayed us and they deserved to win today. We need to bounce back now.”

The one positive for the Falcons is that they now have a two-week break which should be enough for their freakishly long list of injured players to recover including Jamie Munn (arm), Jon Lewys (ankle), Troy Linton (elbow), Nic Goetz (arm), Mahendra Prasad (hamstring), Aspi Dimitrov (shoulder).  They will face the Croydon Pirates in their next game on May 1, once again at Grovehill Ballpark.

The Herts Hawks were brought down to earth by a much improved Thames Valley team who, on today’s performance, should be able to challenge in the race for the postseason.  They have acquired the temperamental lefty starting pitcher, Matteo, from the Oxford Kings.  Despite pitching a blinder, he managed to get himself ejected from the game in the final inning with his team winning 16-5.

The Herts Raptors opened their campaign against the newly formed Cambridge Royals, who already look like the team to beat in the Single-A League.  With experienced players like Gary Liston, Adam Brown and Sri Lankan pitcher Raj, who fans of Herts know well, they have the tools to get to the postseason.  They won with a convincing 33-5 score against a Herts Raptors team that will be in much better shape in their next game with the return of some of the team’s big guns Arnie Longboy, Bryan Drummond, Chris Deacon, Phil Crooks, Rob Jones, Stephen Patmore and Tom Green.

A disappointing start of the season for the Herts teams, but those who dismiss their chances do so at their own peril.

BOX SCORES – GAME 1  

BOX SCORES – GAME 2  

Richmond won the NBL and AA league titles last year.  Who will it be this year?

The grass is cut, the foul lines have been marked out, the baseball gloves are well-oiled and the bats are ready to hit one out of the park.  British Baseball prepares for the opening of the 2011 season.  Clubs around the country have been preparing for this moment for the last six months. The time for talking is over. Let the battle for the league title begin.

Just like all the other clubs around the country, the Herts teams are eager to get the show started.  The club’s top team, the Herts Falcons will go into the new season with many new faces in their roster.  They had a promising run of pre-season results against other National Baseball League (NBL) opponents so there is an extra spring in their step. Newly appointed manager, Lee Manning who has been a member of the club since it was founded in 1996, is excited about the team’s prospects. “Everyone is relaxed and excited about the season.  The atmosphere has been great, and we’re really looking forward to it”, said Manning.

The Falcons start their 2011 NBL campaign at home against the Southampton Mustangs, a team which made it to last year’s postseason playoffs in their first season in the country’s top league.  The two teams met on Opening Day last year.  The Falcons swept the Mustangs on that occasion but despite this Southampton ended up much higher in the league standings by the end of the regular season, so, whatever happens in these Opening Day series, it will not determine where these two teams will end up in August, but there is no doubt that both of them would want to get off to a winning start.

The Herts Hawks open the season away at the Thames Valley Bisons.  The Hawks roster looks much stronger than last year so it is not a secret that the club is very optimistic that the Hawks may have an outside chance of getting into the postseason playoffs. Co-Managers Greg Bochan and Andy Cornish have been preparing and planning meticulously for this day so now it is time to deliver.

The Herts Raptors ended last season with one win and twelve losses, but despite this it was a fun season with the team members embracing the underdog spirit.  Herts has once again attracted a wave of new players who are new to baseball so Manager Ken Pike will have the difficult task of turning them into a team which is capable of surprising the league against the odds.  The team had moments of brilliance during the Herts Spring League which included a spirited fightback against the Essex RedBacks only to lose 16-17 in the final inning, so the Raptors’ prospects may not be as bad as some may think.

OPENING DAY GAMES FOR THE HERTS TEAMS

Sunday, 17 April 2011

National Baseball League

Southampton Mustangs @ Herts Falcons (12:30pm)

Grovehill Ballpark, Hemel Hempstead

AA League

Herts Hawks @ Thames Valley Bisons (12:00pm)

Thames Valley

A League

Cambridge Royals @ Herts Raptors (14:00pm)

Grovehill Ballpark, Hemel Hempstead

Richmond clinched the 2011 Herts Spring League Championship in the Majors Division, while the Milton Keynes Bucks were crowned Champions of the Minors Division.

Twenty teams played 46 games over the last three weekends as part of the annual Herts Spring League competition. This was the final rehearsal for the teams from the British baseball leagues before the start of the new baseball season.

Over the years the teams have become accustomed to the unpredictable weather during this Spring competition, but this year, and this weekend in particular, the games were played in weather conditions which we can expect only in the height of summer.  Temperatures were as high as 23^oC and the barbeques were out in force around Grovehill Ballpark in Herts.

Once the first pitch was thrown it was all about the baseball and we were not disappointed.  Both the Majors and Minors Finals were decided by a one-run difference and everyone was kept on the edge of their seat right to the end. 

In the Majors Division the Richmond Flames clashed with the newly formed Southern Nationals.  At the end, the 2010 National Champions, Richmond, came out on top with a dramatic 6-5 win.

In the Minors Division Final, we saw a repeat of the 2010 Single-A National Final between the Milton Keynes Bucks and the Guildford Mavericks.  The game was played at exactly the same venue in Hemel Hempstead and again turned out to be a classic match-up.  The MK Bucks were once again victorious, but it took everything they had in their tank to win 11-10.

The remaining teams in the competition also played their final games.  Herts Falcons, Lakenheath Diamondbacks and Mildenhall Bulldogs played in a three-way playoff to determine the Bronze medallists in the HSL Majors.  Each team won one and lost one so it came down to who conceded the fewest number of runs in these games.  On the basis of that rule Mildenhall was confirmed as the winner of the 3^rd Place Playoff.  Lakenheath finished fourth and the Herts Falcons fifth.  Bracknell finished 6^th. Essex Arrows secured 7^th Place after an impressive 11-8 win against their old rivals, the Southampton Mustangs.  The Sidewinders beat the Herts Hawks 10-4 to finish fifth in the HSL Minors.  Ahead of their first season back in the British baseball leagues, the Cambridge Royals won convincingly against the Leicester Blue Sox. Finally, despite a late fight back by the Herts Raptors, the London Marauders came out on top 13-10.

All attention now turns to next Sunday’s Opening Day of the 2011 British baseball season.  If the Herts Spring League is an indication of what we can expect this year then we are in for one of the most exciting seasons in recent times.

For full details of the scores in the final weekend of HSL action visit the official HSL website.

The group stage of the 2011 Herts Spring League was completed in dramatic fashion at the weekend with battles for positions in both the Majors and Minors Divisions. 

In Majors A Richmond clinched first place after maintaining their unbeaten record with wins over Southampton (5-0) and Herts (1-0).  Herts Falcons’ 18-2 win over the RedBacks secured second place for them.  The Bracknell Blazers finished in third place despite a catastrophic last inning collapse against the RedBacks.  The boys from Essex were trailing 6-0 going into the last inning but came out like mad men with their baseball bats in the bottom of the inning to win 7-6.  Bracknell bounced back with a 4-1 win over Southampton. 

Richmond’s opponents in the HSL Championship game required a careful mathematical calculation as three teams in Majors B Division ended up with the same number of wins.  Ultimately the Southern Nationals clinched on the second tie-break rule which states that the team which has conceded the fewest number of runs in the direct games amongst the tied teams will be placed first. 

In the Minors Division the Championship game will be between the Guildford Mavericks and the MK Bucks, after both won all of their group games.  This would be a repeat of the 2010 Single-A National Final when the two teams produced an classic pitchers’ duel. 

For full list of scores from the group stage and the final group standings you can visit the official HSL website. 

This sets up an exciting schedule for the Finals this weekend with games taking place at Richmond and Herts.  Ideally, the Final would be played at Herts but by virtue of Richmond being scheduled to host games at their field this weekend it was logistically difficult to stage the Final anywhere else. 

Before the battle – Herts and Southampton clash in the HSL Majors (Group A) 

Baseball returned to ballparks around the South East with the start of the 2011 Herts Spring League (HSL).  18 games were played at Herts, RAF Feltwell and Richmond. 

MAJORS (GROUP A) 

First up were the teams in the HSL Majors Group A and the most eagerly awaited game was 2010 National Championship rematch between Bracknell and Richmond.  The Flames came out on top once again and the 11-2 score line was strangely similar to last year’s 10-1 win. There were several new faces in the Richmond line-up and it looks like they will be very valuable additions to the Richmond roster this year.  Earlier on Saturday Richmond picked up another convincing win against the Essex RedBacks. 

Another team to get off to a perfect start in the Majors Group A are the Herts Falcons.  The HSL hosts started their Spring Training campaign with an 8-4 win against the Southampton Mustangs and followed that up with an 11-9 come-from-behind triumph over the Bracknell Blazers.  With Richmond and Herts going into the final group games with a 100% record it sets up an exciting prospect of the group being decided in the direct game between the two teams at 5pm next Sunday, 3 April 2011, at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead.  The other teams, and Southampton in particular, are not out of the race and they may have something to say about that. 

MAJORS (GROUP B) 

The Southern Nationals who earlier this week were confirmed as one of two new NBL teams for 2011 had a dream start in the HSL with two wins.  They first overcame the GB Juniors National Team by a score of 10-0.  They followed that up with another shut-out win over the Mildenhall Bulldogs, but this time it was a much closer encounter decided by one run.  The GB Juniors were then involved in a real pitchers’ duel with the Essex Arrows, which the Arrows won 1-0.  Richard Chesterton driving in the winning run.  All the games in Group B of the HSL Majors were played at RAF Feltwell which is the home of the Mildenhall Bulldogs and the Lakenheath Diamondbacks, the latter also being confirmed as an NBL expansion team for the upcoming season.  These two teams faced each other on Sunday but the game ended in a 5-5 tie.  This will certainly be an interesting rivalry to follow in this year’s NBL. 

MINORS (GROUP A) 

The Sidewinders swept their opponents aside in style.  They first took care of the Richmond Knights with a 24-2 win and followed it with a 23-2 victory over the London Marauders. Earlier in the day Guildford beat the Knights in a thrilling 7-6 ballgame. This would suggest that the race for first place in this group is between the Sidewinders and the Guildford Mavericks, but Sidewinders are expecting to be missing many of their players in week two which may open the door for all the other teams to get back in the race. 

Essex RedBacks running over the Leicester Blue Sox on Sunday 

MINORS (GROUP B) 

Group B in the Minors section of the HSL got off to a great start with a very high quality game between the Milton Keynes Bucks and the hosts Herts Hawks.  This was a rare encounter between AA Midlands and AA South teams which was a good opportunity to see how these two regions compare.  The Bucks took an early 2-0 lead but the Hawks were always in contention.  Thanks to good pitching and defence by both teams, this was a fast-moving and crisp game of baseball.  The Hawks mounted a come back with two runs in the late innings, but it wasn’t enough as the Bucks won it 3-2 with a 6-inning game completed within one hour and thirty five minutes, which is unusually fast for a AA game. 

MK Bucks maintained their perfect record with a 8-0 win over last year’s HSL Minors winners, the Leicester Blue Sox.  This group remains nicely poised after the Essex RedBacks’ minor league affiliate also ended the day with two wins and no losses.  Their first win was against Leicester and the second against the Herts Raptors who made an incredible came back from 15-5 down in the final inning to take a 16-15 lead, but in the bottom of the final inning the RedBacks struck back driving in the winning run on a sacrifice fly to right field with one out. 

The HSL action continues next weekend with the final group games taking place at the ballparks in Herts, Essex and Richmond.  For full details visit the official HSL website. 

The 2011 MLB season is just around the corner so the Herts Fantay Baseball League is back for another exciting season.  There are limited spaces, so enter your team quickly to reserve your place. Once you have paid via paypal, you will receive an invite to join the Herts Private ESPN fantasy league.

• Entry is £10
• Pick Real players from MLB to be part of your roster
• Compete against other members of the Herts organisation for the bragging rights of being Herts Fantasy Champion 2011
• Draft is currently booked for March 29th at 20:00, so please sign up before this time
• Watch your team, and drop, add, and trade players to get the winning team!

For League rules, regulations, details of the prizes and how to enter click here. 

The biggest pre-season baseball tournament in Britain is back. Commencing on 26 March, the Herts Spring League will see a record 20 teams travel from as far afield as Leicester and Southampton to hone their skills and compete for the title. Organised by Herts Baseball Club, it’s Britain’s very own version of the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues currently under way in the US, and it signals that the season is just around the corner.

THE TEAMS

As in previous years, teams from the British NBL, AAA, AA and A Leagues will be placed in the Majors and Minors Divisions, based on the team rankings going in to the new season.  This time around, the HSL will also feature the Great Britain Juniors National Team as they prepare for the international schedule in 2011.  They will face NBL opposition throughout so it will be a beneficial competition for Will Lintern’s men.

Bracknell has dominated the HSL winning the Majors Division two years in a row.  Will any of their opponents manage to dethrone them this year?  They open the 2011 HSL with a mouth-watering clash against the Richmond Flames in a repeat of the 2010 National Baseball Championship Final.  The HSL Majors division is packed with teams of the highest calibre including most of the NBL teams.  This includes the Lakenheath Diamondbacks and the Southern Nationals which the BBF is expected to add to the ever-expanding National Baseball League (NBL).  Similar to the Mildenhall Bulldogs, the Lakenheath Diamondbacks are made up predominantly of US air force personnel stationed in East Anglia so they are expected to be a very tough opponent. 

The HSL Minors will once again see some off the best teams from the British AA and A Leagues and, as always, it will be fascinating to see how teams from the Midlands will fare against their Southern counterparts.  The Leicester Blue Sox won it last year in a dramatic final against the Sidewinders and they are back to defend their title.  There will be two new teams in the Minors groups – the Cambridge Royals who were recently resurrected and will enter the British Leagues this season as well as a second Essex RedBacks team who are proving themselves as a fast-growing force in British Baseball.

With so many teams entering this year the Majors and Minors are divided into several groups and at the end of the group stage the teams will go head to head in the HSL Finals to determine the overall standings and the 2011 HSL Champions. 

THE VENUES

The action will be spread across three weekends – starting on Saturday, 26 March and ending on Sunday, 10 April – and at four excellent venues, Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, Ham Ground in Richmond, Townmead Field in Essex and RAF Feltwell which is the home of the Lakenheath Diamondbacks. 

Herts Baseball President, Aspi Dimitrov was delighted with the surge in interest: “We have once again broken the previous year’s record with 20 teams entering the HSL, but Herts Baseball Club would not have been able to satisfy this demand without the other organisation who have so generously agreed to host HSL events at their own ballparks. Richmond, Lakenheath and Essex have been so supportive and professional over the last few months and our club is very grateful to them.”

GET THE KIDS INTO THE GAME

The HSL may be a tournament for adult players (14 and over), but Herts Baseball Club will be looking to get the youngsters involved as well. Saturday, 26 March will be an Open Day for boys and girls aged between 6 and 16 who may be interested to give baseball a try.  They will be able to join in with the other players from the Herts youth teams for an intensive and fun day of baseball.

It will start at 10:30am at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead (click for map and directions) and is absolutely free and open to everyone. Baseball equipment will be provided.  After play the youngsters and their parents can stay and enjoy baseball of the highest quality including the Herts Falcons vs Southampton Mustangs and the British Champions, Richmond Flames vs Bracknell Blazers. 

If the event has to be postponed due to rain, this will be announced on the Herts baseball Club website. If in doubt, contact the club or check the website before you set out for the Ballpark.

EXCITEMENT BUILDING UP

The Herts Spring League adds a competitive edge to Spring training.  It’s the time for managers to work out their winning formula going into the BBF league season. It is an opportunity to evaluate existing and newly recruited players – which players will earn a spot in the pitching rotation and who will be batting where in the batting order?  Who will make the first team and who will have to work their way up with the minor league teams?  Not forgetting, it’s a chance to size up your rivals for the year ahead.  It’s the first big challenge and the first big excitement of the baseball year. Don’t miss it.

The opening weekend will feature games at Herts, Richmond and RAF Feltwell. For a full games schedule and other HSL details please visit the official HSL website .

On Sunday Herts Baseball Club received the exciting news that four members of the Herts Under-14 All Star team which became national champion last year have been called up by the Great Britain National Team.

Herts has had a good number of its adult players getting a call-up to the GB Team over the years.  Players like Lee Manning and Andy Cornish from Hemel Hempstead and Dan Kerry from St. Albans are just a few that come to mind.  However, it is only recently that members of the Herts youth teams have received this honour.  The first Herts youngster to break into the GB (Under-15) National Team was Liam Green 12 months ago. 

This time around four Herts players have received the invitation from GB U-15 National Team Manager, Brendan Cunliffe.  They are Infielder Carlos Casal Jr. and first baseman, Jonny Compton-Weight, both living just a fly ball away from the club’s ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, Infielder Kyle Lloyd-Jones from St. Albans and Pitcher Marty Cullen Jr. from Hitchin.

This announcement recognises their incredible season last year and the hard work and progress which they and all the young players at Herts have made since the start of the club’s youth programme in 2007.

Casal Jr., Compton-Weight and Lloyd-Jones have been selected to play at the 2011 SUMA PONY Qualifier in Prague, Czech Republic from April 13-17. This is a Pony tournament with the winner going to Lafayette, Indiana, USA to compete in the Pony World Series. They will face Israel, Czech Republic, Tempo Praha (CZE), and Mures County (ROM) in the opening round.

Cullen Jr. has been selected for the USSSA Gold Medal Games in Kissimmee, Florida from July 9-16, where he may face opponents like the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, France, Italy and others.

This news is a tremendous boost for the players and Herts as an organisation.  The Club is even more excited by the fact that there are many more talented players coming through the various age groups of the Herts youth system, from Rookie (U-11) and Bronco (U-14) through to the Pony (U-17) age group which the club will be unveiling this year.

It is unusual for the Herts Baseball Newswire to be getting into political analysis, but when the House of Commons is debating a bill which could have a significant effect on the game of baseball in Great Britain, then we like to sink our teeth into it.

A new ‘tourism strategy’, to be published by the Coalition Government within days, is expected to contain plans to move the country to ‘double summertime’. Putting the clocks forward by an hour to British Summer Time +1 (equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time +2) would mean lighter evenings in the summer months. The plan already has influential support among Conservative MPs, safety campaigners and environmentalists on the basis of data which suggests that the decision could result in reduction in overall number of car accidents, significant energy savings and a boost to tourism, among others. Rebecca Harris, the Conservative MP for Castle Point, Essex, said: “The tourism industry has been crying out for extra daylight saving for years. It could extend the tourist season and boost the economy by up to £3.5billion a year.”  

But most importantly, as far as we are concerned, it would be a substantial boost for summer sports such as baseball.  Double summertime would put British clocks in line with the rest of Europe which means that for three months in the height of summer between May and July baseball teams around the country would be able to enjoy sunlight as late as 10pm.  With limited or no funding available for luxurious capital items such as floodlights for baseball fields, the longer, lighter evenings would be an ideal and cost-effective substitution, without any energy or other consumption costs.   

Could this be a sign of the future?  It’s 10:22pm and the sun is still up at the ballpark. 

This could open up the opportunity for British baseball to add midweek baseball action in the evenings just like Wednesday Night Baseball on Channel 5 which we became accustomed to over the years. It would add a different dimension to the British Baseball leagues if teams could no longer rely on two starting pitchers for the whole of the league season. Instead teams would have to have stronger starting rotation bringing us closer to the conditions which MLB teams play in and which give baseball its unique weekly cycle.  The bottom line is more baseball for adult and youth leagues around the country. 

For many years members of Herts Baseball Club have been looking for solutions to the problem of very short evenings in the UK compared to our Central and Western European rivals and the conclusions have always been that there are no financially-viable options. 

It would appear that there is a lot of support for this bill among members of parliament and with one swing of the bat they could give British Baseball a major boost.  So, for all fans of Herts and British Baseball in general, if you bump into the Prime Minister or the Mayor of London and they ask whether you support the government’s “double summertime bill” then you know what your answer should be. Way to go Dave.  Attaboy Boris. 

The 2010 season ended many months ago but the busy baseball schedule at the end of last year did not leave time in the calendar for the club’s annual Little League awards event, until today.  

The players and families of the Herts youth baseball teams started the day with a Family Bowling Tournament with 56 players taking part and there were many more who wanted to take part but were either out of the country or had prior half-term arrangements. 

Attention then turned to the all-important 2010 Herts Little League awards.  All 2010 players as well as players who will be joining in 2011 received a commemorative medal.  This was followed by the presentation of the awards in the various categories including Infield and Outfield Gold Glove, Batting Champion, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award, and the most sought after award for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the year which is voted on by the players. 

Ahead of the 2010 Herts Baseball Little League Awards presentation, players, coaches, family members and friends of the club took part in a Bowling Tournament at the Hotshots Bowling centre in Hemel Hempstead.  The participants were divided into two teams – the San Francisco Giants and the LA Dodgers. They were competing for individual and team honours over two games, with the individual and team averages over the two games used to determine the winners.

In the individual contest the pace setters after the first round were John Machin with 140, Raymond Moulton and Brodie Caress both with a  round of 138 and Chris Deacon and Jeff Witter close behind them with 137 and 131, respectively.  Jeff Witter, Chris Deacon and Brodie Caress has a nightmare second round all recording scores below 100 which put them out of contention. 

The real surprise of the day was Vincent Moulton who recorded a solid 126 in the first round and did even better in the second round with 133.  That big second round score pushed him into the Bronze medal position with an average of 129.5 over the two rounds.  Later we learned that this score was no fluke and that 12-year old Vincent Moulton used to play bowling quite regularly in the past. 

Coming into the silver medal position was Vincent’s father, Raymond Moulton, who finished with an overall average of 133.  John Machin, who led after the first round remained untouchable and became the Tournament Champion with an average of 137.

In the team competition the Dodgers had a healthy lead after the first round.  Their team average was 106.96 compared to the Giants’ 99.86.  The Dodgers still needed a solid second round to ensure overall victory over the Giants.  The final team averages over the two rounds were Dodgers (103.38) Giants (97.23).

Click here for more images form the event.