The 2009 season was officially put to bed with the announcement of the 2009 award winners of Herts Baseball Club’s adult programme. The achievements of the Raptors, Hawks, Eagles and Falcons over the past 12 months were recognised at the club’s annual end of season event.
For the Raptors one name kept coming up throughout the night and that was the outstanding Jon Lewys. He will need to make some extra space at home if he is to fit the five trophies which he picked up, including, Batting Champion (.750), Stolen Bases (29), Home Run Champion (2), Play of the Year Trophy and the prestigious Most Valuable Player Award voted on by the players themselves.
The Hawks voted their Manager, Marty Cullen, as the team’s MVP in 2009. Cullen also collected the Hawks Batting Title (.562) and the Most RBI’s (13).
Similarly, the Eagles players also chose their Manager, Dave Westfallen, as the team’s Most valuable Player, but it must be noted that the vote was very close indeed with Louis Hare and Mike Wakelam receiving a very large proportion of the votes. They didn’t go empty-handed though. Hare picked up the Eagles Coach’s Award, Best Pitcher and Home Run Champion Award which was shared with Wakelam who also received the Most RBI’s (16) trophy.
Darrin Ward was confirmed as the outstanding player of 2009 for the club’s National League team, the Herts Falcons. He received three trophies in total, Best Pitcher, Batting Champion (.413) and the coveted Herts Falcons MVP Award.
Matt Johnston was awarded the 2009 Rookie of the Year Award (a club-wide award) to add to his Herts Hawks Outfield Gold Glove. He announced at the awards ceremony that he will be choosing baseball over American football in 2010 which is a tremendous boost for the club. A lot will be expected of him in the coming seasons.
Herts Baseball living legend, Andy Cornish’s contribution and dedication was recognised when he was presented with the Excellence in Leadership Award.
More images from the 2009 Awards Night
FULL LIST OF 2009 AWARDS
HERTS FALCONS
MVP, Darrin Ward
Batting Champion, Darrin Ward (.413)
Infield Gold Glove, Luis Goncalves
Outfield Gold Glove, Dan Kerry
Best Pitcher, Darrin Ward
Most Stolen Bases, Luis Goncalves (10)
Home Run Champion, Jason Greenberg (1)
Most RBIs, Yuchih Lin (15)
Most RBIs, Andy Cornish (15)
Coach's Award, Riley Fisher
HERTS EAGLES
MVP, Dave Westfallen
Batting Champion, Carlos Casal (.515)
Infield Gold Glove, Rod Ariss
Outfield Gold Glove, Dave Hamilton
Best Pitcher, Louis Hare
Most Stolen Bases, Carlos Casal (17)
Home Run Champion, Louis Hare (1)
Home Run Champion, Mike Wakelam (1)
Most RBIs, Mike Wakelam (16)
Coach's Award, Louis Hare
HERTS HAWKS
MVP, Marty Cullen
Batting Champion, Marty Cullen (.562)
Infield Gold Glove, Hunter Devine
Outfield Gold Glove, Matt Johnston
Best Pitcher, Greg Bochan
Most Stolen Bases, Matt Johnston (10)
Home Run Champion, Tim Grant (1)
Most RBIs, Marty Cullen (13)
Coach's Award, Liam Green
HERTS RAPTORS
MVP, Jonathon Lewys
Batting Champion, Jonathon Lewys (.750)
Infield Gold Glove, Jeff Witter
Outfield Gold Glove, Iwan Evans
Best Pitcher, Andrew Slater
Most Stolen Bases, Jonathon Lewys (29)
Home Run Champion, Jonathon Lewys (2)
Most RBIs, Andrew Slater (23)
Coach's Award, Paul Curtis
CLUB AWARDS
Excellence in Leadership, Andy Cornish
Rookie of the Year, Matt Johnston
Most Improved Player, Ilya Dimitrov
Play of the Year, Jonathon Lewys
Nob-Out Award (Stuck in the Mud), Marty Cullen & marty Cullen Jr