The 2017 BBF league season is done and dusted, but the best part of the season for everyone connected with Herts Baseball Club is still to come.

Every year, just when the MLB season enters its most exciting stage, players come to Grovehill Ballpark for a competition in memory of Herts Baseball Club’s number 36, the late Kyle Hunlock.

This is the twelfth year of the Hunlock Series. In its inaugural year in 2006 two teams were involved, the Falcons and the Hawks. Herts Baseball Club has been growing rapidly since then and the format of the competition has evolved. As players sign up over the next few weeks we will know how many teams will enter the Series this year.

SERIES FORMAT

This year’s competition will be played over three Sundays. The opening games will be played on Sunday, 24 September. The second round of games will take place on Sunday, 1 October, with the final round scheduled for Sunday, 8 October. If weather conditions affect the first three weeks, 15 October is available as a backup date.

In 2014 we introduced “The 9th Inning Games” where games are played over a single inning. We will be doing this again this year. This format recreates the tension and drama of the ninth inning. Can the teams manufacture the all important go-ahead run? Can they deliver the walk-off hits? Can the pitchers and defence execute with the game on the line?

THE DRAFT

As in previous years, the teams will be selected by the team managers during the Hunlock Series Draft. Who will be the first round picks? How will minor league players perform alongside NBL players?

Over the years we have seen how decisions made during the Draft can shape the outcome of the Series before a pitch has been thrown. The managers will have to make carefully calculated decisions if they are to put together a team which can compete for the Hunlock Series title, otherwise they face miserable few weeks.

With all of the club’s managers and coaching staff observing these games, players who have been pushing for promotion to a higher league team will have the perfect opportunity during the Hunlock Series to make a claim to play on the bigger stage in 2018. The club has also received enquiries from many potential new members over the last few weeks and this event is the ideal opportunity for them to come and play.

HOW TO REGISTER

Existing Herts players are currently registering ahead of the Draft by simply updating their availability in the online Clubhouse. New players and players from other clubs can also sign up by contacting Herts Baseball Club.

There has already been interest from non-Herts players located in other regions of the United Kingdom and overseas. They are all welcome to sign up and play in these games. Just like last year, the Hunlock Series could provide a glimpse at new players who could be wearing the Herts jersey next season.

To be eligible for selection during the Draft, players must register and enter their availability details online by 7pm on Monday, 18 September. If you miss this Draft deadline, don’t worry. Players would still be eligible to play but would be added to teams as free agents. To be eligible to play in the Hunlock Series, players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2017.

The games schedule for the 2016 Hunlock Series has been published. All games will adopt the “9th Inning” format where games are decided over one inning only. This format recreates the tension and drama of the ninth inning. The Red Kites open with a 4-game series against the Blue Squirtles, while the Black Hawks will have to wiat until 2:30pm for their first game when they will face the Red Kites.

The Hunlock Series Rules have also been published and they include the following regulations which apply to the “9th Inning” format.

• The batting order of each team remains unchanged for the duration of the day unless a substitution is made.

• A substituted player cannot re-enter the same game, however that player can re-enter a subsequent game.

• The batter who was next to bat upon completion of the previous game will be the first batter in the next game with the rest of the batting lineup coming up to bat in order.

What is also noticeable from the schedule is that the home team alternates over the course of the 4-game series which implies that the fielding team in the bottom of the inning will remain on the field in the top of the inning of the subsequent game. This scheduling approach was adopted in previous years and it sped-up the games enormously as there was no need for teams to go in and out of the field. There even was no need for warm-up pitches as the pitchers were ready. The downside is that a pitcher will need to stay on the mound for 6 outs without a break as opposed to the usual 3 outs, which could mean twice as many pitches thrown in an inning. This is where the defence can really help pitchers, by minimising errors and not adding to the pitcher’s pitch count.

Over the course of the Series each team will play a total of 24 games, 12 games against each of their opponents. The team finishing top of the league standings will be the 2016 Hunlock Series Champion.

The other rules which differ from what teams are used to in the BBF leagues are:

• Pitching Restrictions. A player can appear as a pitcher in one, two or more games per day, but no player shall accumulate more than 3 innings (9 outs) as a pitcher over the course of the day. It is the responsibility of the opposing team to inform the umpire when a pitcher reaches the limit. Managers must inform opponents of the number of innings pitched by each of their pitchers during the day prior to the start of each game.

• No Mercy Rule will be in force.

• If the game is tied after completion of the final inning, each team is awarded half a win and half a loss in the standings.

The 2016 Hunlock Series Draft takes place this Thursday, 15 September at 8:00pm. This year the Draft will not be televised but, with social media challenging TV as a media platform, coverage of this year’s Draft will be via Facebook. It will enable participants to interact more easily as the managers make their picks. For more details follow Herts Baseball Club on facebook.

Who will be the first Draft pick?

If you have not signed up to play in the Hunlock Series, it is not too late. Contact Herts Baseball Club for details on how to sign up.

The 2015 Hunlock Series rosters have been set.

The series sees two returning managers and a new face to lead the squads. Ken Pike will return as manager of the Red Roosters. Sony Lama will return as manager but this time of the Black Widows and new to the managers role is Jamie Lang for the Blue Dogs.

After some careful planning and a day of drafting, the rosters for the teams have been set.

Don’t worry if you want to play but haven’t signed up to do so yet. There is still time. All you need to do is register with the Hertsbaseball Clubhouse by clicking here. Once your registration has been confirmed you can fill out your avaialability for the games and the managers will assign you to a team.

Click here to see the Hunlock Teams page.

Red Roosters

Kennet Pike #51

Daniel Bennett #77

Warwick Byrne #66

Jake Caress #75

Mike Cattermole #22

Andy Cornish #7

Michael Cresswell #85

Aspi Dimitrov #4

Glen Downer #48

Jon Gamble #50

Tim Elkins #45

Clive Johnson #38

Michael Johnson #67

Felix Maldonado

Drew Mayhew #2

Rod Naghar #1

Tom Weatherilt

Mathew White

Black Widows

Sonam Lama #86

Akito Bando

Greg Bochan #13

Mark Caress #30

Bruce Dullea

Plamen Georgiev

Tim Lawrence

Lee Manning #14

Charlie Mayhew #41

Gilberto Medina #79

Takaya Miki

Connor Oshaughnessy

Daniela Phillips

Nick Russell #31

Christopher Shefford

Michael Smulczynski

Darrin Ward #66

Blue Dogs

Jamie Lang #93

Emmanuel Banson #94

Ralph Bartholomew #17

Dan Bartram #97

Brodie Caress #25

Joe Court #16

Ilya Dimitrov #21

Matthew Jackson #73

Troy Johnson

Rob Jones #6

Simon Langton

Zack Longboy #47

Ben Marques #18

Darren Priest #9

Andrew Slater #99

Adam White #34

Nick White #54

The 2015 Hunlock Series rosters have been set.

After some meticulous planning, the schedule has also been set for the series.

As stated previously, all games will be played on Sunday and are subject to weather.

Click here to see the Hunlock Schedule page.

DATE	TIME	VENUE	VISITING TEAM	HOME TEAM
WEEK ONE
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	13:00	New	Blue Dogs	Red Roosters
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	13:20	New	Red Roosters	Blue Dogs
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	13:40	New	Blue Dogs	Red Roosters
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	14:00	New	Red Roosters	Blue Dogs
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	14:30	New	Black Widows	Red Roosters
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	14:50	New	Red Roosters	Black Widows
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	15:10	New	Black Widows	Red Roosters
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	15:30	New	Red Roosters	Black Widows
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	16:00	New	Black Widows	Blue Dogs
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	16:20	New	Blue Dogs	Black Widows
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	16:40	New	Black Widows	Blue Dogs
Sunday 27 Sep 2015	17:00	New	Blue Dogs	Black Widows
WEEK TWO
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	13:00	New	Black Widows	Red Roosters
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	13:20	New	Red Roosters	Black Widows
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	13:40	New	Black Widows	Red Roosters
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	14:00	New	Red Roosters	Black Widows
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	14:30	New	Black Widows	Blue Dogs
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	14:50	New	Blue Dogs	Black Widows
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	15:10	New	Black Widows	Blue Dogs
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	15:30	New	Blue Dogs	Black Widows
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	16:00	New	Blue Dogs	Red Roosters
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	16:20	New	Red Roosters	Blue Dogs
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	16:40	New	Blue Dogs	Red Roosters
Sunday 04 Oct 2015	17:00	New	Red Roosters	Blue Dogs
WEEK THREE
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	13:00	New	Black Widows	Blue Dogs
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	13:20	New	Blue Dogs	Black Widows
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	13:40	New	Black Widows	Blue Dogs
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	14:00	New	Blue Dogs	Black Widows
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	14:30	New	Blue Dogs	Red Roosters
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	14:50	New	Red Roosters	Blue Dogs
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	15:10	New	Blue Dogs	Red Roosters
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	15:30	New	Red Roosters	Blue Dogs
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	16:00	New	Black Widows	Red Roosters
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	16:20	New	Red Roosters	Black Widows
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	16:40	New	Black Widows	Red Roosters
Sunday 11 Oct 2015	17:00	New	Red Roosters	Black Widows
DATE	TIME	VENUE	VISITING TEAM	HOME TEAM

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A heavyweight battle between pitcher Jamie Gregory and batter Cris Hiche in the final of the 2014 Hunlock Series

The Red Roosters came back from behind in both the semi-final and the final to win the 2014 Hunlock Series.

The day began with the Blue Dogs’ shock win over White Lightning in the Quarter-Final elimination game. They had a win-loss percentage of just .146 finishing bottom in the league stage of the competition miles behind the other three teams. Everyone had written them off ahead of the elimination stage of the Series and they took full advantage of the low expectations. Their opponent was third-placed White Lightning. They were missing several key players and struggled to respond to the Blue Dogs’ onslaught who won convincingly 15-7.

Next up for the team in blue was a semi-final elimination game against the Red Roosters who didn’t want to take any chances and put their ace pitcher, Zack Longboy, on the mound. Despite the Blue Dogs taking an early 3-0 lead, this proved to be just a hiccup for the Roosters. They moved up a gear and eased to a 15-5 win, but the Dogs should feel satisfied that they reached the semi-final against all the odds.

The stage was set. It was down to two teams – Black Widows and Red Roosters. The managers went with Lee Manning and Jamie Gregory as their starting pitchers, respectively. The expectations of a pitchers’ duel didn’t materialise. It was all about offense as both teams put together big rallies. After three innings the Black Widows took a 7-6 lead thanks to a 3-run home run by second-baseman Fraser Duggan hit over the right-centerfield wall.

Both teams brought in their relief pitchers who did very well to quieten the bats, but not before the Roosters drove in 3 runs to take a 9-7 lead. A George Blaskett single in the penultimate inning reduced the deficit to 8-9. Fraser Duggan came within a few feet of his second home run of the game which would have scored 2 runs, however left-fielder Takaya Miki showed great range with a leaping catch at the wall for the third out with Red Roosters holding onto their slender 9-8 lead.

Black Widows brought in leftie closer Cris Hiche. He was faultless recording three quick outs to take the game into the bottom of the final inning. Mike Cattermole led off with a single. Dan Whitton was hit by pitch and very quickly the Black Widows had the tying run on third and winning run on second base. The infield moved in and so did the outfield. Jimmy McCormick made solid contact but grounded straight to shortstop Carlos Casal who managed to make the play and get the out at home. Relief pitcher Simon Langton was doing very well and he managed to strikeout the next batter for the second out of the inning. With two outs and the tying and winning runs on third and second base, respectively, this was the type of situation in which Black Widows would bring on their walk-off hero Colin Whitton who has had a 1.000 batting average (2-for-2) in these do-or-die situations in the previous two weeks of the Series, but he wasn’t available on this occasion. It came down to Aspi Dimitrov to try to do a “Colin Whitton”. He swung at the first pitch taking the ball to left-centerfield where Takaya Miki was on hand again to make another running catch to end the game and secure the Hunlock Series Championship for the Reds.

These were the final baseball games of 2014. Hopefully these enjoyable Hunlock Series will help players survive the dark and cold months of winter which will be upon us soon. 2015 Spring Training seems far away. There may not be any baseball action until then, but the members of Herts Baseball Club know that the club will shortly be entering a period of frantic off-field activity which could shape the 2015 season and could prove to be the difference between success and failure both on and off the field next year. For more information about getting involved as a member of staff or as a board member, contact Herts Baseball Club.

 

(photo by Paul Holdrick)

The Red Roosters were on the verge of an incredible achievement, but they slipped up in the final league game missing out on the top spot. Despite this they can be very pleased with their effort as they leaped over White Lightning to avoid the dreaded Wild Card game on the final day of the 2014 Hunlock Series.

The Roosters started the day in third place, three games back on the leaders with 12 games remaining. They had the best possible start with four wins over the Blue Dogs and then two wins and two draws against the league-leading Black Widows. This elevated them into the first place for the first time in the Series.

 

It came down to the final series of the day between the Reds and the Whites who were also in the running for top spot after three wins earlier in the day over the Blue Dogs. At the end the Reds and Whites split the series 2-2 which was the worst-case-scenario for their hopes of a first place finish. All they could do now was to hope for a Blue Dogs win over the Black Widows. They were halfway there after picking up a well-deserved 1-0 win. They followed this by taking a 2-run lead in the final game. With two outs, up stepped Black Widows manager, Colin Whitton. In the previous week he played a key role with a walk-off hit. This time he came through a 12-pitch at-bat which ended with a hit which drove in the tying run. Another week-one walk-off hero was about to step up to the plate. Jimmy McCormick added to his reputation with yet another walk-off hit to give the Back Widows a 3-2 win which secured first place for them.

Click to view scoreboard

Click to view standings

ELIMINATION GAMES NEXT SUNDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER

This means that the Black Widows will go into the elimination phase of the Hunlock Series in pole position. They can sit back next Sunday and wait while the other 3 teams have to go through two gruelling games.

First up fourth-placed Blue Dogs will play third-placed While Lightning. Whoever wins this game will face the second-placed Red Roosters and the winner of this game will go into the final against the Black Widows.

Each of these three games will be played over 6 innings. The 9-outs restriction on pitchers will still be in force therefore the Blues, Whites and Reds managers will have some very difficult decisions to make as they try to save their ace pitchers for the Final, but they need to get there first. It will be very tempting for White Lighting to put one of their secondary pitchers in the game against the Blue Dogs who are seen as the underdogs. This could provide a lifeline to the team in Blue, so don’t write them off just yet.

We are all set for an exciting end to the season in front of a large audience as the three games will be played on one diamond, unlike the games in the first two weeks.

Click to view games schedule

(photo by Paul Holdrick)

After the official photocall, there wasn’t much time for teams to settle gently into the opening games of the Hunlock Series as the first thing they had to do was deal with some very awkward “ninth inning” game situations. This year the league stage of the competition has adopted the “ninth inning” format where each game lasts one inning only, which means that every game recreates the drama of the ninth inning.

Abel Salas and Lee Manning celebrate on a good day for the Black Widows (photo by Paul Holdrick)

The Black Widows and Red Roosters adapted to the format quickest as they quickly put wins on the scoreboard against White Lightning and Blue Dogs, respectively. White Lightning managed to recover and by the end of the day’s action they were sitting comfortably in second place after taking 3 wins out of their 4 games against the Red Roosters pushing them into third place.

The Black Widows had only the third best offence but their runs always seemed to come at the right time. Walk off hits by Jimmy McCormick and manager Colin Whitton, were just two of the timely hits by the team in black. They had the best defence in this first round of games allowing only 5 runs in their 12 games. White Lightning had the best offence scoring 27 runs.

Gilberto Molina wins the battle with Joseph Osborne-Brade on this occasion (photo by Paul Holdrick)

The Blue Dogs find themselves in last place 8 games back on the leaders. Their first round draft pick, Conner Brown, was on the DL so this must have had an effect, but one way or the other they would need to consider ways of tightening up their defence and pitching if they are going to climb up the standings. They conceded 27 runs in 12 innings.

After the first few games the teams were becoming more acclimatised to the “Ninth Inning” format and we saw defensive alignments adjust to different situations, with corners guarding lines and outfielders playing deep to stop lead-off doubles, infields playing in to stop the winning run scoring from third, sacrifice bunts to put runners into scoring positions, pinch runners, pinch hitters, delayed steals with runners on first and third to bring the runner from third base home, squeeze plays, outfields playing in to guard against runners scoring on a sacrifice fly. We even had an extreme shift attempted by the Blue Dogs. With the winning run on third base, third baseman Vincent O’Brien suggested bringing right fielder, Felix Maldonado, to stand behind the catcher to backup any passed balls or wild pitches. The umpiring crew disallowed this defensive shift as all players, with the exception of the catcher, must be in fair territory when the pitch is delivered. The only strategy which we didn’t see today was the intentional walk. It can be a very effective move in an effort to avoid facing a difficult batter or to put runners on base to create force-out situations and/or help induce double plays.

Plays of the Day

• Shortstop Ryan Hackel 360 degree spin and throw to get the runner at first base after a ball hit hard to his left.

• Jamie Gregory homerun off pitcher Ryan Hackel

• Colin Whitton walk off hit

• Ilya Dimitrov diving catch to rob Rob Jones of a double

Hunlock Series links

• Standings

• Scoreboard and upcoming schedule

Next Up

The Hunlock Series takes a two-week break as Herts will be represented in all three divisions (Under-17, Under-14 and Under-12) of the National Youth Baseball Championships to be played at Farnham Park this weekend, 13-14 September. The next Hunlock Series games are on Sunday, 21 September. Players can still sign up to play in the Series by contacting the club. They will be drafted into the teams at the next Free Agents Draft scheduled for Friday, 19 September.