Category: Hunlock Series

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Can you survive 12 ninth innings in 1 day?

The games schedule for the 2014 Hunlock Series has been published. In the league stage 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 Roosters open with a 4-game series against the Blue Dogs, while last year’s winners, the Black Widows start with four games against White Lightning.

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 2012 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 usual 3 outs, which could mean twice as many pitches thrown in an inning. This is where defence can really help pitchers, by minimising errors and not adding to the pitcher’s pitch count.

Over the course of the league stage each team will play a total of 24 games, 8 games against each of their three opponents. The team finishing top of the league standings will go automatically into the Hunlock Series Final. The fourth and third placed teams will play in the quarter-final. The winner of that game will progress to the semi-final to face the second-placed team. The winner of the semi-final will meet the top team in the final.

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 2014 Hunlock Series Draft takes place this Thursday, 28 August 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.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hunlock Series managers announced. The Draft is at 8pm Thursday, 28 August

We are counting down to the 2014 Hunlock Series Draft which will take place this Thursday, 28 August 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.

Four teams enter this year’s competition and the managerial appointments have just been announced.

Ken Pike has previously won the Series and he is back in the managerial seat. He has teamed up with Glen Downer as the co-managers of the Red Roosters.

The Blue Dogs will be managed by two players who will be making their managerial debuts. Charlie Day and Manny Banson played for the Herts Raptors during the regular season. The Hunlock Series will give them the opportunity of seeing what life is like as a manager and it will be interesting to see if they can outsmart their more experienced counterparts.

Black Widows won the Series 12 months ago. They will be managed by Colin Whitton, who is a member of the Herts Harriers (U17) coaching staff and of course is also the manager of the Bracknell Blazers who came so close to reaching the National Baseball League playoffs this season. Colin’s son, Dan, who plays for the Herts Harriers in the U17 League, the Blazers in the NBL and also for the GB U17 National Team, is among the players who will be drafted on Thursday Night. Will Colin manage to pick Dan or will one of the other teams snatch him ahead of his father.

White Lightning will be managed by Sony Lama. He has played for the Herts Raptors, Hawks and Eagles in the Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A leagues and will go into the Draft with good all-round knowledge of the capabilities of most of the players in the Draft.

Fans will see some new faces in the Hunlock Series this year who have joined the club in the last few weeks, so there will be an element of surprise in Thursday’s Draft. Some of them may be new to Herts fans but they are not new to the game. The Hunlock Series could be a glimpse at some of the new players who will be wearing the Herts uniform for the first time in 2015.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Players have started registering for the 2014 Hunlock Series

The 2014 BBF league season is about to reach its conclusion,  but the best part of the season for everyone connected with Herts Baseball Club is yet 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 eighth year of the Hunlock Series. In its inaugural year in 2006 only two teams were involved, the Falcons and the Hawks. Herts Baseball Club has been growing rapidly since then and the number of teams in the Series has been increasing every year. As players sign up over the next few days we will know how many teams will enter the Series this year.

NEW FORMAT

This year’s competition will be played over 3 weeks. The opening games will be played on Sunday, 7 September.  The second round of games will take place on 21 September with the final round scheduled for 28 September.  Sunday, 5 October has been reserved in the event of rain or other rescheduling requirements.

After its successful introduction in 2012 we will see the return of “The 9th Inning Weekend” where games are decided over one inning only. 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?

Aspi Dimitrov, Hunlock Series Commissioner, said: “The 9th Inning Weekend was very exciting in 2012. Last year it was wiped out by the weather and we know everyone was looking forward to it, so it is back this year.” Dimitrov added: “The pressure of the ninth inning comes once a day for MLB managers. Let’s see how the team managers and players will handle it when every inning is the ninth inning.”

THE DRAFT

As in previous years, the 2014 Hunlock Series managers will select their teams during a live 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 monitoring these games, players who have been pushing for promotion to a higher league team will have the perfect opportunity to make a claim on the big stage in the coming weeks of the Hunlock Series.

PLAYERS LOOKING TO REGISTER AHEAD OF THE DRAFT

Herts players are currently signing up ahead of the draft. 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. Just like last year, the Hunlock Series could provide a glimpse at players who could be wearing the Herts jersey in 2015.

To be eligible for selection during the live draft, players must register and enter their availability details online by 7pm on Wednesday, 27 August. If you miss this deadline, don’t worry. Players would still be eligible to take part but would be added to teams as free agents. Players who wish to register for the 2014 Hunlock Series should contact Herts Baseball Club. To be eligible to play in the Hunlock Series, players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2014.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Black Widows win 2013 Hunlock Series, for now.

The Black Widows management went out from the first round of the Hunlock Series draft with the intention to pick any and all available pitchers including Darrin Ward (photo by Rob Jones)

The final weekend of Hunlock Series games was rained out and weather conditions mean that the Series will most likely end without completing that final round of games. The Black Widows would be declared the 2013 Hunlock Series winners as they currently sit on top of the standings.

The organisers have left an option open that the final round of games may be played in the event of warm and dry weather drying the baseball diamonds sufficiently before winter arrives, so players of the four teams which trail the Black Widows in the standings will be watching weather reports with a great deal of enthusiasm in the coming weeks.

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STANDINGS
TEAM W L % GB STRK RS RA 1-RUN
Black Widows 6.5 1.5 0.813 – W1 22 4 2-0
Red Roosters 5 3 0.625 1.25 W2 21 20 3-1
Green Gators 4 4 0.500 2.25 W1 25 33 1-0
Blue Dogs 3 5 0.375 3.25 L4 18 23 1-1
White Lightning 1.5 6.5 0.188 5.0 L1 18 24 0-5

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by Rob Jones

The baseball bonus: the Hunlock Series

It’s one of the moments in life that you rarely know about as it actually happens. It is not until later that it all becomes clear, writes Rob Jones. And, so, only now can I confirm that my final baseball activity of 2013 was lining out to the first baseman as the Blue Dogs went down to the Black Widows in the Hunlock Series.

You always want that moment to be a walkoff home run, or something similar, but as in much of life it is usually prosaic. During each season you notice the little milestones – I still remember scoring the first Raptors run of the season one year, and catching the ball for the final out in another — and together they build a bigger picture.

Hunlock Series action
Blue Dogs' Ben Marques grounds out in the battle against the Black Widows

I had hoped to be part of the final weekend of the Hunlock, the extravaganza of single-inning games, but rain washed it out and now I am back at work. So it’s over. And that lineout-cum-failed-flare was the final full stop.

The Hunlock Series is the club’s now traditional coda to the baseball season, fought between rejigged rosters of all the Herts teams. Also traditional is my peaen to its charms, and 2013 should be no different. The sun shone kindly on the second round of games, the one in which I took part. It was relaxed yet competitive, fun yet serious. And there was good baseball on show.

Perhaps most notably, pitching ace Ryan Bird got to show off his famous fastball in a series of great moments. There were match-ups with batters from the youth leagues and from the Single-A Eagles, who got a taste of what they are striving for. They probably heard the ball go past rather than actually seeing it, but you still learn the lesson. There was the gloriously even contest against slugger Andy Cornish, the Hawks co-manager, who defiantly won by ripping a double down the left field line. And there was the pitching duel against Liam Green — of which more later.

Old faces are welcomed back for the Hunlock — such as Andrew Fulford, a hero of the Hawks 2012 post-season, and Simon Langton who now plays his baseball in Hull. And these are mixed up with players who are brand new to the game, such as Mike Green of the Blue Dogs, who showed both power and poise in his first at-bats.

The spirit is always great and perhaps that comes from the feeling that you are getting a little something extra, a baseball bonus, by playing into October.

Hnlock Series action
Darrin Ward in action on the pitching mound

So how was my Hunlock playing experience? Actually pretty decent, considering it was my first baseball action in five weeks, and only my second in about nine weeks. I made some plays at third base — tagging out a runner on a throw from Carlos Velasco-Caruz, and even fielding a grounder and throwing out a White Lightning runner at first.

I also felt that I had made one of my best ever plays from the position to secure the final vital out of the game against the Red Roosters. Remember that pitching duel I was telling you about? Well, at the bottom of the final inning, with the go-ahead run on third base, and two men out, Liam Green chopped a hit into the hole towards short. I roved to snare the ball, and with no chance to get Kimi Saionji racing home I hurled it as hard as I could to Rod Naghar at first.

Bang. Bang. But I was sure the play had gone in our favour and the Dogs started to celebrate a job well done when the umpire called Liam safe. The Roosters instead celebrated a walk off, while complaints about the call were added to earlier complaints about the controversial balk call which had put Kimi on second and ultimately into scoring position.

But this being the Hunlock rather than a big league playoff game, the controversy faded quickly. We are all still talking to each other. No helmets were thrown. On this occasion, I have the satisfaction of knowing I am right, and that is enough!

With the bat, I went 0-3, but got good wood on it every time. I grounded out against Mike Cattermole, but moved the runner over. Against the heat of Liam Green, I thought it would be best to try to go the other way. I hit the ball almost exactly where I wanted it, just about two feet too low, and it was caught by Kyle Lloyd-Jones at first base.

Then there was that final out, against the Black Widows’ and Herts Falcons’ very own pitching Yoda, Darrin Ward. His main trade is not exactly high heat but I was still determined the get that hit to right field. Instead, Gilberto Medina’s glove was the recipient of my final gift.

The baseball year was over. The Blue Dogs hoped for a big comeback in the final round of games, but a double-rainout meant the Widows took the title.  But maybe the result is not what is important. Maybe it’s about the fact that the baseball family which has been built in Herts is still so strong, so deep into the year. And that it can once again hope for even better next year.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

20 ninth innings in one day

We are into the final week of the 2013 baseball season and it is all set to be a spectacular event which will decide the 2013 Hunlock Series Champions.

In 2012 the Hunlock Series introduced the “9th Inning Game” and it proved to be a big success so it is back again for the final week of this year’s Series. All 20 games scheduled for this final day of the Series will be played over 1 inning only. Tension and drama are guaranteed. 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 excitement and the pressure of the ninth inning comes once a day for MLB managers. How will the Hunlock Series managers and players handle and approach 8 ninth innings in one day.

The Black Widows lead in the standings and have a very strong roster, however the other four teams will know that they will need to put their ace pitchers on the mound against the Black Widows in order to give themselves the best chance of catching up with the leaders. That means that the Black Widows are going to have to pick up wins against first-round-draft-pick pitchers which will be a big test.

These 9th-inning-games will be played just like the ninth inning of any MLB game. There are however a few special rules which will apply this Sunday, mainly dealing with the transition from one game to the next and aiming to ensure that managers are not taking unfair advantage. Here are the special rules which will apply to the 9th-inning-games:

• During the 9th-inning-games each game will last one inning only.

• The game ends when 3 outs are recorded in the bottom of the inning or when the home team takes the lead, whichever occurs first.

• If 3 outs are recorded in the bottom of the inning and the game is tied, each team is awarded half a win.

• 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.

The organisers have made minor amendments to the games schedule for the final week so that the first and second placed teams meet in the final game of the day. Of course with 8 games for each team, the standings could look very different by the time we play the final game of the Series.

USEFUL LINKS

Schedule and scoreboard

Standings

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

All 5 teams still in the running for the Hunlock Series title

Xavier Gonzalez added an extra spring in the step of the Black Widows (photo by Rob Jones)

The Black Widows are in pole position going into the final weekend of the 2013 Hunlock Series. They received a major boost prior to the second round of games when they picked Falcons shortstop, Xavier Gonzalez, from the Free Agents block.

Gonzalez played a key role as the team won 3 and drew 1 of their 4 games of the day. The Black Widows were already seen as having a superior roster with some outstanding players, and standing in first place it is difficult to see anyone challenging them, but with more free agents joining all the time, there can be no guarantees about who will be on top after the final weekend.

The other big mover in week 2 was the Red team. They won 3 out of their 4 games to move into second place. They displaced the Blue Dogs who move from first to fourth place after four defeats.

No one could have predicted such a turnaround for the Blue Dogs who have Ryan Bird in their squad. He blew away opponents in week 1, but this week he was involved in a dramatic pitchers’ duel with the Red Roosters’ ace pitcher, Liam Green. Both pitchers were in control and didn’t allow any runs until the bottom of the final inning. Lead-off batter for the Blue Dogs was Kimiyoshi Saionji, who is a difficult out regardless of whether he is facing a Single-A pitcher someone as accomplished as Ryan Bird. Left-handed batter Saionji connected well for a line drive to left field which put him on first base. A controversial balk call by the umpire moved him to second base. A passed ball followed and that allowed Saionji to move to third base but by that time there were 2 outs. Up stepped Liam Green and he managed to put the ball in play and beat out an infield ground ball to bring the winning run in.

The Green Gators have very quietly picked up enough wins to stay in touch with the leaders and are in a good position to cause an upset in the final week. They currently stand in third place with a .500 winning percentage, 4 wins and 4 losses.

White Lightning are still bottom of the league but they have given themselves a chance picking up a win against the Blue Dogs and tying with the Black Widows. The White Lightning team includes only players from the club’s U17 team and while playing the Hunlock Series they have one eye on the bigger prize of the 2014 National Baseball Championship. The whole team went through various tests before the start of the day, including a gruelling Beep Test, which was won by Nimrod Wynne.

Play of the Day: Black Widows executing a perfect rundown play to get two outs with runners on first and third base.

Game of the Day: Blue 0 Red 1

Controversy of the Day: Balk call on pitcher Ryan Bird which moved the winning run into scoring position and eventually came in to score.

Players of the Day: Xavier Gonzalez and Nimrod Wynne

Clutch Hit: Kimiyoshi Saionji and Liam Green’s hits versus Ryan Bird.

USEFUL LINKS

Schedule and scoreboard

Standings

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hunlock Series – Week One – freakish stats, MLB fastballs, Mo Vaughn and Frank Spencer

Andrew Fulford was reunited with the 2012 Herts Hawks. There is hope that he will be back for 2014 season.

Black Widows and Blue Dogs will feel confident after the first round of games in the Hunlock Series. They both won three out of their 4 games and are in joint-first place in the standings.

It is a major surprise to see White Lightning languishing in last place after they lost all four of their games. They were tipped as the team to watch after they picked all of the club’s Herts Harriers players and turned up at the ballpark with a squad of 20 very talented players, giving them enviable pitching depth. However, they should not feel too down. All of their games were lost by one run only. This is a very unusual statistic. In a league with a large number of games such as the Hunlock Series the number of wins and losses by one run are expected to be more evenly distributed. For example, in MLB the worst 1-run win-loss ratio is that of the Houston Astros (18-36) and the best is that of the New York Yankees (30-16). It is very unlikely for the ratio to deviate beyond 2:1 or 1:2. The law of averages would suggest that White Lightning will return to a more normal ratio over the course of the competition with 12 more games still to be played by each team.

Apart from the Herts U17 team players, fans also had a chance to see two of the club’s U14 players, Ben Jones and James Roberts, who were squeezed into the competition despite the age limit set at 14. They didn’t look out of place and managed to get a hit against an NBL pitcher.

The Green Gators came through with flying colours (2 wins – 2 losses) in this first week of games when they are missing their star-players. They will be in the mix now that their manager, Cris Hiche, and several others return to the line up in weeks 2 and 3.

The Red Roosters had picked up Andrew Fulford who is one of the best players in the Draft. He is not available in week 2 or 3 and despite his team losing the one game he was available for, he still managed to show why he is a very sought-after player. He is a catcher and in just two innings of play he threw out three runners trying to steal bases. The runners somehow managed to stay safe simply because the fielders were not able to catch the ball thrown by Fulford as it was travelling with such ferocious velocity. The Red Roosters will not have Fulford in the remaining 12 games, but there is good news for Herts Baseball club as we understand that Fulford will be flying into the UK for parts of the 2014 season and the club can count on having one of the bets catchers in any of the British League tiers.

Players of the 7 senior and youth league teams were cheering on Ryan Bird this year in the NBL as he dominated on the pitching mound recording back-to-back NBL no-hitters. Today they had the opportunity to face a Ryan Bird-fastball. For many of the batters this was as close as they will get to facing an MLB-type fastball. The majority tried their best to swing and make contact without success. Many chose to bunt and got a buzz out of how far a ball can travel over the backstop fence by simply laying the bat down for a bunt. Sony Lama got a piece of one of those fastballs to foul it off. Only one batter, Carlos Casal Sr, managed to get on base against Bird and it came at a great cost as the Mizuno bat which had served Casal so well for 4 seasons shattered into pieces in the process. If that success gave batters of the other 4 teams some hope that perhaps the two-time NBL MVP is not unhittable, those hopes were quickly dashed when Bird showed his curveball to the next batter. The pitch broke so hard that catcher Carlos Velazco needed to stay fully alerted just to keep a hold of the ball when strike 3 was called.

USEFUL LINKS:

Scoreboard and games schedule

Standings

Every year during the Hunlock Series, Herts fans get a glimpse at the new talent which will be wearing the Herts jersey next season. There were many players who made an impression, but it was the muscular structure of 22-year-old Mike Green that caught the eye. He made Greg Bochan look like Sheldon in the sitcom series, “The Big Bang Theory”, (or Frank Spencer for our older audience). Mike Green had never played baseball before today’s Hunlock Series games, but it was obvious that he will add incredible power to the Herts batting line-up in 2014. Sometimes muscles do not necessarily come with hand-eye co-ordination, but it was clear for all to see that Green is very capable of combining his explosive power with consistent contact with the bat. He even had batting stance which reminded baseball fans of former Boston Red Sox slugger, Mo Vaughn, but without the extra weight.

The games continue next Sunday, 6 October. First pitch 11:00am.