Category: Headlines

Falcons to open 2012 NBL season at home versus Blazers

Riley Fisher at the 2009 National Championships versus Bracknell. Will the Falcons be able to get to the Finals in 2012?

The British Baseball Federation (BBF) has announced the 2012 schedule of the National Baseball League. The Herts Falcons will open the new season on 1 April 2012 at home against the Bracknell Blazers. The two teams met twice last season with Bracknell winning both games. The second game ended dramatically with a 11-10 win for the Blazers in extra innings. Will the Herts Falcons be able to start the season with a win this time around?

This season opener could prove to be a special occasion as Grovehill Ballpark will be hosting many AAA, AA and Single-A League teams on the same day as part of the 2012 Herts Spring League. There is nothing better in British baseball than a packed Grovehill Ballpark on Opening Day.

On the following weekend the Falcons travel to Waltham Abbey for a clash with local rivals, Essex Arrows. This is followed by a trip to Southampton.

8-TEAM NBL

The schedule confirms the rumours that the NBL will feature eight teams, compared to ten in 2011, due to the Mildenhall Bulldogs and the Richmond Flames withdrawing from the NBL. This leaves eight NBL teams to battle for the title. The schedule indicates that teams will play each of their seven opponents four times, two at home and two on the road. This implies a regular season of 28 games.

The regular season will feature a special NBL event on 22 July 2012 with all 8 teams battling it out at the same venue. The schedule also includes four game days with the involvement of the Great Britain Under-19 National Team. Herts Baseball News is awaiting confirmation from the BBF about whether these games versus the GB Team will count towards the league standings.

POSTSEASON

We are also awaiting news of the format for postseason qualification. The teams which reach the postseason will be involved in playoffs on 18-19 August and the winners will progress to the National Baseball Championships which this year will be decided over three days rather than two on the August Bank Holiday weekend, 25-27 August.

WEAR THE HERTS BASEBALL JERSEY IN 2012

Herts Baseball Club welcomes youth players from 6 to 16 and adult players from 14 to 50+ from complete beginners to experienced ballpalyers. New players can join at any time of the year. For more details click here for adults or here for youth players.

2011 Awards for Herts Adult Teams Announced

Mahendra Prasad, Nick Russell and Ken Pike picked up the prestigious Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, and the performances of many other Herts players were recognised at the Herts Baseball Club’s 2011 Annual Awards. 

The end of the 2011 season seems a long time ago now, but finally the outstanding performers of last year were announced today. 

Darrin Ward featured heavily in many of the award categories for the Herts Falcons including Best Pitcher, Home Run Champion (2 HR), Batting Champion (Avg .298) and Most RBIs (15), but it was Mahendra Prasad who collected the coveted MVP trophy. At the start of the season he faced the impossible task of having to fill the centerfield position vacated by the phenomenal Dan Kerry, on paternity leave after the birth of his daughter. Prasad proved to be one of the outstanding outfielders of the National Baseball League, and probably the fastest player around, despite suffering a hamstring injury in the second half of the year.  Prasad also picked up the Outfield Gold Glove award. 

The Herts Falcons’ Infield Gold Glove went to Louis Hare while Jon Lewys picked up Most Stolen Bases (8). Liam Green made his NBL debut in 2011 and his performances including his remarkable 0.00 ERA in his two games on the mound at such young age, attracted the praise of many in British baseball.  Everyone at Herts hopes that Green will be the first of many talented players coming out of the Herts Youth academy and making their mark at the highest level of British baseball. 

Andrew Slater (centre) presents the Hawks MVP award to Nick Russell (right)

The awards event was the first opportunity for club members to see Nick and Sarah Russell after the birth of their son Luc earlier this month, who also made an appearance. Their car was significantly heavier on their return trip up the M1 as Russell scooped the Herts Hawks MVP award and the Best Pitcher Award (3 W).  It was also confirmed that Russell was voted as the MVP of the 2011 Hunlock Series. 

Jim Arnott couldn’t attend due to bereavement in his family. He was awarded the Herts Hawks Batting Champion title. The Gold Gloves went to two of the club’s most reliable players Ralph Bartholomew (Infield Gold Glove) and Matt Johnston (Outfield Gold Glove). Hawks Co-Manager, Andy Cornish, was the Home Run Champion with two dingers in 2011.  Hunter Devine drove in the most RBIs (14) for the Hawks, while Ilya Dimitrov received the Most Stolen Bases title with what must be a record 37 steals. 

In a very closely-run Herts Raptors MVP vote Manager, Ken Pike, was confirmed as the Raptors MVP and he also collected the Most Stolen Bases title.  The club does not currently have an award recognising the work of managers, but if there was one, Pike and co-Manager, John Kjorstad, would be very deserving candidates for such an award after they managed to turn the Raptors’ season around in a big way with three wins in the last four games of the league season. Kjorstad himself was the recipient of the Outfield Gold Glove and the Home Run Champion awards, while the team’s South African ace, Theo Scheepers, picked up the Infield Gold Glove and Most RBIs. 

In 2011 the Raptors received a much needed boost from two members of the Herts Baseball Academy who made their debuts in the British senior leagues.  Jose Morillo and Zack Longboy were awarded the Coach’s Award and Best Pitcher Trophy, respectively. 

Glen Downer may have joined Herts at the halfway point of the season but he certainly made his mark with the glove and with his bat in particular, bringing a lot of offensive power to the lineup. He was awarded the Herts Raptors Batting title as well as the Hunlock Series Blooper Award which was a baseball card signed by the infamous Bill Buckner of the Boston Red Sox.  This award was generously donated by Tim Elkins. Downer’s blooper could not be compared to Buckner’s costly error in game 6 of the 1986 World Series, but it certainly had comedy value as it takes something special to make an attempt to steal second base with the bases loaded. 

In the club-wide honours Troy Linton’s amazing diving catch as short stop for the Falcons against the Lakenheath Diamondbacks was chosen as the Play of the Year, and deservedly so. After that play fans and both sets of players were on their feet applauding it acknowledging the special play which they witnessed.  Rod Naghar received the honour of being the club’s Most Improved Player of 2011 and the Excellence in Leadership award went to the Dimitrov family.  Paul Curtis had numerous nominations  in the ‘Nob-Out’ category so he was odds-on to win, and he did with his ‘Bragging Matserclass’ after the Herts Hawks at Guildford Mavericks AA game.

Click here for details of the Herts Baseball Bowling Contest which was held before the awards presentation.

HERTS FALCONS
MVP Mahendra Prasad
Batting Champion Darrin Ward (.298)
Infield Gold Glove Louis Hare
Outfield Gold Glove Mahendra Prasad
Best Pitcher Darrin Ward
Most Stolen Bases Jonathon Lewys (8 SB)
Home Run Champion Darrin Ward (2 HR)
Most RBIs Darrin Ward (15 RBI)
Coach’s Award Liam Green
HERTS HAWKS
MVP Nick Russell
Batting Champion Jim Arnott
Infield Gold Glove Ralph Bartholomew
Outfield Gold Glove Matt Johnston
Best Pitcher Nick Russell (W3)
Most Stolen Bases Ilya Dimitrov (37)
Home Run Champion Andy Cornish (2)
Most RBIs Hunter Devine (14)
Coach’s Award Kal Dimitrov
HERTS RAPTORS
MVP Ken Pike
Batting Champion Glen Downer
Infield Gold Glove Theo Scheepers
Outfield Gold Glove John Kjorstad
Best Pitcher Zack Longboy
Most Stolen Bases Ken Pike
Home Run Champion John Kjorstad
Most RBIs Theo Scheepers
Coach’s Award Jose Morillo
CLUB-WIDE AWARDS
Rookie of the Year Oz Kemal
Most Improved Player Rodney Naghar
Excellence in Leadership The Dimitrov Family
Play of the Year Troy Linton
Nob-Out Award Paul Curtis – Bragging Masterclass
HUNLOCK SERIES AWARDS
Hunclok Series MVP Nick Russell
Series Blooper Award Glen Downer (stealing 2B w/bases loaded)

The Big Raybouldski

Herts Baseball legend, Paul Raybould, was crowned as Herts Baseball’s bowling supremo at the 2011 awards event for the three Herts adult league teams. It was also Raybould’s team, the Brewers, that won the team contest. 

These days Paul Raybould plays for the Old Timers team in the British Single-A League so it was a great pleasure for members of Herts Baseball Club to see him back with the Herts teams.  

It was highly suspicious when Raybould arrived at the Hollywood Bowl in Watford wheeling a large suitcase containing his bowling ball, bowling shoes and other performance-enhancing gizmos.  Numerous contestants submitted official complaints requesting Paul Raybould’s expulsion from the competition, but the Bowling Commissioner confirmed that his equipment met international regulations. 

Paul Raybould wearing the Herts Falcons jersey at the 2004 Division 1 National Finals

It took a few frames for him to warm up, which he attributed to the lanes being ‘very dry’ but by the fifth frame Raybould showed why he is the most feared opponent on the bowling circuit and why his bowling average is higher than his baseball batting average.  He had strikes in the next five frames to complete his first game with a score of 177.  This was a new record beating the previous record of 152 set by Tim Elkins at last year’s tournament. 

The chasing pack were given a glimmer of hope as Raybould took his foot of the pedal with a score of 111 in the second game.  Greg Bochan, Dave Smith, Paul Auchterlounie and Bobby Gould gave it a real go in a desperate attempt to catch up, but it wasn’t enough.  Gould ended the day as the runner-up with an average score of 130 over the two games and Bochan was close behind him in third place with 129. 

The Brewers won the team competition with an average of 106.6 followed by the Astros, a team featuring many of the Herts Under-17 All Stars who finished the day with 100.4 overall average. The Rockies were third (96.5) while the Expos finished in last place (91.5).  

The most improved second round score was that of Andrew Slater. He scored 134 which was a massive 50 points higher than his first round score of 84.

ASTROS GAME 1 GAME 2 AVG
Liam Green 102 112 107
Kyle Lloyd-Jones 90 94 92
Arnold Longboy 98 97 98
Zack Longboy 125 116 121
Kieran Manning 88 95 92
Cameron Manning 79 92 86
Jose Morillo 114 107 111
Lewis Green 87 100 94
Lawrence 98 113 106
TEAM AVERAGE 97.9 102.9 100.4
EXPOS GAME 1 GAME 2 AVG
Ben Marques 68 108 88
Jeff Witter 106 116 111
Lisa Witter 49 37 43
Hayley Witter 88 80 84
Aaron Witter 86 86 86
Glen Downer 110 117 114
Oz Kemal 95 106 101
Ken Pike 103 109 106
TEAM AVERAGE 88.1 94.9 91.5
ROCKIES GAME 1 GAME 2 AVG
Bobby Gould 116 143 130
Gina 69 61 65
Alex Deacon 70 86 78
Cristobal Hiche 87 83 85
Andrew Slater 84 134 109
Jen Slater 52 61 57
Chris Deacon 122 119 121
Greg Bochan 152 105 129
TEAM AVERAGE 94.0 99.0 96.5
BREWERS GAME 1 GAME 2 AVG
Dave Smith 127 110 119
Matt Johnston 90 131 111
Paul Raybould 177 111 144
Paul Auchterlounie 136 104 120
Lewis Auchterlounie 73 77 75
Janice Grzywacz  98 98 98
Tracey Manning 82 82 82
Ali Hall 87 112 100
Ilya Dimitrov 116 107 112
TEAM AVERAGE 109.6 103.6 106.6

Herts teams commence 2012 Spring Training

It may be cold outside but, as far as the members of Herts Baseball Club are concerned, the long dark days of winter are over.  On Sunday the Herts adult teams and Under-17 team members reported for the first Spring Training session of 2012.  Throughout January and the first half of February the Herts teams will be preparing indoors at Berkhamsted SportSpace. 

As usual in these first few weeks of Spring, the coaches put the players through their paces to rebuild physical strength and stamina and work through baseball fundamentals of the defensive and offensive aspects of the game.  Gradually the sessions will start to focus on specific positions to fine-tune the club’s pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders. 

Herts will be looking for a big improvement in the performance of all its adult and youth teams in 2012.  After the end of the 2011 season the Herts Executive Board made it a top priority to attract new players who can strengthen the club’s rosters. The club will be announcing its new players officially in due course, but all the signs are that the winter player recruitment period has been a very successful one for Herts. 

Of course the process of recruiting adult and youth team players continues and new players can join at any time throughout the year.  With its teams competing in the various major and minor leagues of British baseball, Herts is able to offer baseball playing opportunities to players of any standard from complete beginners to advanced and experienced ballplayers. For more details about joining the Herts teams, contact the club. 

Spring Training continues this Sunday and here is the list of upcoming events for the adult and U17 teams in Spring 2012.  

Note: Spring training for the Herts youth teams (6 to 16-year-olds) will commence on 12 February 2012 and new members can sign up for those sessions by contacting the club.

DAY DATE TEAMS DETAILS
Sun 08-Jan-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Spring Training (Indoor)
Sun 15-Jan-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Spring Training (Indoor)
Wed 25-Jan-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Spring Training (Indoor)
Sat 28-Jan-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A 2011 Awards and Bowling Tournament
Sun 05-Feb-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Spring Training (Indoor)
Sun 12-Feb-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Spring Training (Indoor)
Sun 19-Feb-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Spring Training
Sun 26-Feb-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Spring Training
Sun 04-Mar-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A Herts Try Outs (Adults)
Sun 11-Mar-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Spring Training
Sat 17-Mar-12 NBL Herts Spring League
Sun 18-Mar-12 NBL Herts Spring League
Sat 24-Mar-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Herts Spring League
Sun 25-Mar-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Herts Spring League
Sat 31-Mar-12 AAA / AA / A / U17 Herts Spring League
Sun 01-Apr-12 AAA / AA / A / U17 Herts Spring League
Sun 01-Apr-12 NBL BBF League Opening Day (NBL)
Sat 07-Apr-12 AAA / AA / A / U17 Herts Spring League
Sun 08-Apr-12 AAA / AA / A / U17 Herts Spring League
Sun 08-Apr-12 NBL BBF League Game Day
Wed 11-Apr-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A / U17 Wednesday Night Training
Sun 15-Apr-12 NBL / AAA / AA / A BBF League Game Day

2012 HSL dates announced

Herts Baseball Club has announced the dates of the 2012 Herts Spring League.  The Opening Games will be played on Saturday, 17 March 2012 and the league has been extended to four weeks this year due to the European Championships. 

This is the fifth year of the Herts Spring League (HSL).  Every year this competition keeps setting new records. Last year 20 teams entered the HSL – a new record.  The geographic spread of participating teams seems to be expanding as well, with teams as far away as Leicester and Southampton being involved. This year’s competition is set to be even bigger and teams have been keeping the Herts front office busy with enquiries over the last few months. 

Spring is the time when managers put together their teams and aim to turn them into winning machines ahead of Opening Day.  Similar to the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in MLB, the HSL provides a competitive edge to spring training.

League Format

Teams will be placed in two or more divisions (e.g. HSL Majors and HSL Minors) based on the teams’ ranking going into the new season.  The exact format will depend on the number of teams entering the HSL and the availability of venues, therefore full details will be published when the league line-up is confirmed. 

Over the years the HSL has featured teams from the National Baseball League (NBL), AAA, AA and A-Leagues, as well as international teams such as the GB Under-19 National Team and the ASL Eagles, who won the very first edition of the HSL Majors in 2008. 

The number of team entries has been going up every year. 2008 – 10 teams, 2009 – 13 teams, 2010 – 17 teams, 2011 – 20 teams.  Can the HSL set another new record in 2012? 

There has also been interest from Under-17 (Pony) League teams who want to enter so this year the HSL expects to have U17 teams involved as well.  The high standard of most of the BBF U17 League teams will certainly enable them to compete comfortably at the level of adult teams form the AAA and AA League teams.

Schedule

The BBF announced that the NBL season will commence on 1 April 2012 which is much earlier than previous seasons due to the GB Team’s involvement in the European Championships.  The HSL schedule will be adjusted to ensure that NBL teams can complete their HSL games by Sunday, 25 March 2012.

HSL Majors

The HSL Majors involving the NBL teams will be played over two weekends (not three).   

HSL Majors (Week 1 of 2)

  • Sat, 17-Mar-12
  • Sun, 18-Mar-12  

HSL Majors (Week 2 of 2)

  • Sat, 24-Mar-12
  • Sun, 25-Mar-12  

HSL Minors

The other HSL Division(s) involving AAA, AA, A-League and Under-17 League teams will be played over three weekends, as in previous years: 

HSL Minors (Week 1 of 3)

  • Sat, 24-Mar-12
  • Sun, 25-Mar-12  

HSL Minors (Week 2 of 3)

  • Sat, 31-Mar-12
  • Sun, 01-Apr-12  

HSL Minors (Week 3 of 3)

  • Sat, 07-Apr-12
  • Sun, 08-Apr-12  

Most games will be played at Grovehill Ballparkin Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, but there will also be games at other venues around London to fit the ever increasing number of HSL games. 

You can follow all the latest HSL news on the official Herts Baseball website.

WEAR THE HERTS BASEBALL JERSEY IN 2012

Herts Baseball Club welcomes youth players from 6 to 16 and adult players from 14 to 50+ from complete beginners to experienced ballpalyers. New players can join at any time of the year. For more details click here for adults or here for youth players.

Herts youngsters get GB Team call-ups

The Great Britain National Team has confirmed that members of Herts have been selected in the preliminary roster of the GB Under-16 National Team. 

Brodie Caress, Callum Vangundy and Jose Morillo attended the U16 GB Team tryouts last month and all three have been successful in being included in the squad.  They played a key role in the Herts U14 All Stars’ success in finishing as runner-up in the National Championships this season. Caress and Morillo were also members of the Championship-winning Herts U14 team of 2010. For 13-year-old Vangundy, 2011 was his first ever season playing baseball so being selected in the preliminary GB team roster so early in his career is an exceptional achievement. 

There will be additional evaluations in the Spring and the size of the GB U16 roster will be reduced further ahead of the GB Team’s various international games in 2012.   

Herts players, Jake Caress, Jonny Compton-Weight and Kyle Lloyd-Jones attended the GB Under-19 Team tryouts. Compton-Weight and Lloyd-Jones were part of the GB U16 team in 2011 playing in the qualifier in Prague. For all three of them this was a first year jumping up into this older age group and so they had the difficult task of competing against players who are two or even three years older than them.  They didn’t make the preliminary GB U19 team rosters, but the experience will hold them in good stead for the future.  They have several more years in this GB Team age group so, with hard work this season and next, they can make a very strong claim for a place in the GB squad in coming years. 

The progress of Herts players with the GB teams is a tremendous boost for 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 the U-11 and U-14 teams through to the U-17 age group. They will all be reporting back to the ballpark early in 2012 for another exciting season of Herts Baseball. The club usually experiences a wave of new players joining the youth teams in time for Spring Training.  Any interested players, boys and girls between 6 and 16 years of age, from complete beginners to advanced players can join the Herts baseball youth teams (click here for more details).

Herts looking for competitive edge in 2012

Lee Manning will be leading the Herts Falcons in 2012

Herts Baseball Club announced the managerial appointments for its three adult league teams as they prepare for the 2012 British Baseball season. The appointments were confirmed at the club’s Annual General Meeting which was held today in Apsley, Hertfordshire.

Lee Manning will continue at the helm of the Herts Falcons with the team looking to climb up the standings in 2012 after finishing ninth in the National Baseball League (NBL) this year. Manning who lives just a fly ball away from Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead has been with the organisation from a very young age and he is looking forward to the challenge ahead for the Falcons. It was revealed that the team has added several new names to its roster, and it will be interesting to see how they will fit into the lineup. The attraction of joining the Falcons appears to come from the fact that Herts Baseball Club is one of the largest baseball organisations in the United Kingdom in terms of size, facilities, number of adult and youth teams, players and supporters, but it hasn’t managed to become a dominant force in the NBL yet. It is a “sleeping giant”, desperate for success much in the way that the Chicago Cubs have been suffering for so long and the Boston Red Sox did right up until they ended the curse of the Bambino in 2004. There is a real opportunity for players to come in and become Herts Baseball legends and this appears to be an appealing challenge. Despite the additions of these new players, there is work still to be done and the team still has slots on its roster which need to be filled to add strength in pitching, defence and offence.

Andy Cornish
Greg Bochan

 

There is also no change for the Herts Hawks. They will once again be led by joint-managers Andy Cornish and Greg Bochan. The partnership between the two has worked very well and this is an opportunity for them to build on the progress made over the last 12 months. Like the Falcons, the Hawks also ended 2011 with a below .500 win-loss record. If the Herts Falcons succeed in adding more players to its NBL roster, it would have a positive knock-on effect with experienced players trickling down to the club’s second and third teams. It is too early to predict which team roster players will be assigned to as these decisions will be made on the basis of performance in the critical Spring Training period, but the signals coming out of Herts’ Annual General Meeting is that all the Herts teams are determined to be involved in the playoff races of all league tiers.

Arnie Longboy

Berkhamsted resident, Arnie Longboy, has been confirmed as the Manager of the Herts Raptors. Longboy has been heavily involved both as a player and coach at the club over the last few years and he will be able to count on his son, Zack, not only as a member of the Raptors’ pitching rotation, but also as his assistant. The Raptors ended the 2011 season impressively winning three out of the last four league games. The really positive news is that he will be able to count on a large number of club members including Chris Deacon, Glen Downer and John Kjorstad who have made themselves available to support Longboy in coaching and other capacities. While the Herts teams hope to get a boost out of experienced players filtering down to the Double-AA and Single-A League teams, there will be an additional fillip coming from the club’s Under-17 team players who seem to be maturing fast. Jose Morillo, Liam Green and Zack Longboy already made their mark with the adult teams this year and other U17 players are knocking on the door to do the same next season.

If the club is successful in attracting more players over the next few months, this, combined with U-17 players staring to move into the adult teams, may prompt the club to enter a fourth team into the league

Other news coming out of the Herts Baseball AGM includes the club’s exciting plans for the next wave of investment into Grovehill Ballpark. The club is expected to issue more details on this over the next few weeks in anticipation of the final outcome of its BSUK/Sport England grant application.

Herts Baseball Club welcomes youth players from 6 to 16 and adult players from 14 to 50+ from complete beginners to experienced ballpalyers. New players can join at any time of the year. For more details click here for adults or here for youth players.

“A warm Caribbean Sea”: reflections on 2011

Major League players appear in about 150 games a year. I appeared in ten. How do you think I feel about that? Bloody delighted. Because that’s a huge jump from my usual six games a year. It’s a quantum leap, and it means that I don’t have the frustrated feeling which usually accompanies the end of a year’s baseball. That’s not to say I am happy of course! In the quest for my baseball dreams, I would prefer to have had more innings, more at-bats, and more moments of brilliance. But there are at least things I can look back on fondly.

 

The first must be the fact that — for the first time since 2009 — I was involved in a win!  In fact, I was in on two of them. On a sun-baked day in Tonbridge, the Raptors piled on the Bobcats and beat them 35-23. We had suffered a long hard season with big defeats by vastly more experienced sides, such as Southampton and Cambridge, so that was an immense relief to get the victory. Like a warm wash of Caribbean sea, after a long British winter. The Raptors had also faltered during some close games and given up big innings, such as against Guildford and the London Marauders. So that meant it was doubly satisfying for us to win much closer games to wrap up the season – a second win over Tonbridge, and a defeat of the Braintree Rays.

Rob Jones
Rob hit .609 in ten games
So to break the Jones year down into the three constituent parts of baseball — hit the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball.
I hit a smidgen over .600, so I can’t be anything but happy with the performance at the plate. My regular collection of walks boosted my on-base percentage over .700 and, unusually, my slugging was even higher. I am very much a singles hitter but managed to throw in a couple of doubles and even triples this year. Some of those came from an ability to hit by choice to the opposite field, which was also satisfying. Of course, like everyone who was there that day, my average was boosted by the trip to Tonbridge, so I am grateful to the Bobcats for that. But I was also there when the Raptors lost big, and I managed to stay respectable there too. There is always work to do — on driving the ball more, and not topping ground balls down to third, or popping up to the infield. I have plenty of room to be more aggressive, and for that I must be prepared to see my average drop, maybe to even see a few of the walks turn into outs. Like anyone, I guess my hitting is only as good as the pitching I face. But I think the future must involve me doing the same stuff, but doing it a bit better.
 

Throwing the ball is the area where I must do the most work. Earlier in the season I had a couple of games at third base — which I really enjoyed actually — but they did confirm that I need to put a whole lot more mustard on the ball to be fully effective. There are times over this year — and over my previous career — when I have made perfectly good throws from short, and in from the outfield. But I need to focus every time, and put everything on it every time. Blog entries from my time at third show that I finally decided the problem was not that I couldn’t make the distance, but that the ball just wasn’t travelling fast enough. That requires some wrist work over the winter (stop sniggering). I have the best intentions, but I can’t promise anything.

 

Rob Jones
Rob Jones recuperating during a stressful game
 

The other element of my “throwing” the ball this year was pitching. I made another baby step onto the mound, logging about six innings, and one start. I can’t imagine that even single-A teams are quaking in their boots at the idea that I could do more pitching next year, but overall I definitely advanced from previous seasons. I threw at least two, and probably three, curveballs that I was completely happy with. One of them appeared to entirely bamboozle the hitter, and whilst Slater was doubtless boosting my confidence by shouting “Yes! He didn’t know what to do with that!”, it worked, and I am grateful to him! After some experimentation, I have found a curveball grip that I am happy with and I hope I can put it to good use next year.

 

My first ever start — against the Old Timers in the second half of a double-header — was an interesting moment. Usually I have come in as a reliever in a game which is already lost, so it is hard to judge how successful you have been. For example, hitters might swing away at pitches they would normally leave. My two scoreless innings to close the game against Southampton — whilst I do not write off the wonderful feeling that gave me! — were perhaps misleading. On the flipside of that same coin, when I came in as a fire-fighter against Guildford, I was guilty of focusing too much on throwing straight strikes, and not ‘working’ the hitters enough. That didn’t turn out well. So, the start against the Old Timers was the most “pure” pitching experience I have yet had. I enjoyed it enormously. Three walks and nine runs in three innings actually isn’t too bad at this level. Bizarrely, I seemed to resume a bad habit which I hadn’t really shown since my first appearance last season, namely pushing the ball off to the right, either at or behind the batter. If I had been throwing heat, I probably would’ve been ejected from the game! We will see where 2012 takes me, but if I continue to make progress I might be a passably decent pitcher in about four years.

 

Catching the ball takes in a variety of skills and sins. I don’t think I ever dropped a ball in the air which I should have caught, so that’s a good thing, and I might even have caught some which I shouldn’t. But I definitely logged errors on the infield. At least two of them were failing to pick the ball up! They were bare-handed plays on dribbling balls when runners were advancing, and I found it was far too easy to rush yourself and fail to get a clean grip before trying to make a play. Other errors were from bad, rushed throws.

 

But I think I made mostly sensible judgements about when to throw and when to hold the ball, and about where to get the out – on several occasions I helped force a lead runner at second, and made sure of that out. In our final game against Tonbridge, Zach Longboy was bossing the infield brilliantly, and with his help I was in on great defensive plays, including cutting down two runners at the plate. I’m not too proud to learn from a teenager! And I must not leave without mentioning the fact that I did turn a relatively unassisted double play, so my year did have a defensive highlight! It was against the Guildford Mavericks, a man on first, nobody out. The batter hits a sinking liner to me at shortstop. It looks for all the world that it will get through, but I am able to reach down and make the catch off my shoelaces. All those years of playing must finally have sunk into my brain, as I instantly knew that the runner who had confidently set off from first was now a dead duck. One simple throw to the first baseman and it’s now two down, bases empty, and we got out of the inning without conceding a run. Man, that felt good!

 

So, to sum up all this self-obsessed rambling? It’s been a pretty good year. Getting so much time at the diamond was a huge plus point for me, and playing in two victories was a welcome bonus. The raptors were a fun team to be part of, especially in the second half of the year. I felt that I made some progress in all areas of the game in 2011 so whilst there is much more progress to be made, I feel pretty good about things. The club as a whole is strong, and the youth players coming through have a lot to offer. I don’t know whose team I will be on next year, but I do know one slightly strange ambition for the year — and that is to suit up in the tools of ignorance! Might never happen, but having now played third base and starting pitcher, the only position I haven’t played in proper, competitive league games, is catcher. Managers, take note…

 

Wire to wire – Herts baseball in 2011

The Herts baseball club was an integral part of the 2011 British baseball season. The curtains were raised and lowered at the green, green grass of Grovehill — from the Herts Spring League in March to the moment when the Southern Nationals were proclaimed National Baseball League Champions in September. And the Herts teams each had a story to tell. Sadly, none of the three adult teams was able to put together a winning record. But whichever way you look at it, the future is bright.
Liam Green
Herts Falcons' rising star, Liam Green

Let’s start with the National League, where the Falcons were spending their third consecutive season. It was always going to be challenging, as the Nationals who went on to win the NBL title did so with the help of a clutch of 2010 Herts players. Despite the sudden departures, the 2011 Falcons never lost their enthusiasm for the game. With Lee Manning now at the helm, that was never likely.

The team began the year against the Southampton Mustangs, who went on to have a strong season, and they nearly came away with a split. In fact, it was part of a 6-game losing streak to open the season and that element of “nearly” haunted the Falcons season a little. Their final record was 4-19, but that does not reveal the extra-innings defeats by Essex and Bracknell, or the close final moments of contests against Lakenheath and Richmond. Twice the Falcons took a lead late into the game against the eventual champion Nationals, only to be overhauled.

There were high spots in their performances. Shortstop Troy Linton made what must rank as one of the plays of the season for the entire League, making a spectacular diving catch against the Lakenheath Diamondbacks. 15 year old Liam Green continued his emergence on the NBL scene, maturing steadily and providing just the first of many mentions here of the Herts youth pedigree. There was also a rediscovery of fun and joy among the Falcons – Louis Hare, who had moved up from the 2010 Eagles, found himself enjoying his baseball more than ever. Manning can take a great deal of credit for that, and while the work of turning the team around and challenging for a title will not happen overnight, the work has already started for players, coaches and fans.

The Herts Hawks had a new twin-headed management team, as Andy Cornish joined Greg Bochan at the helm. Slugger, catcher and all around gentleman Cornish said that throughout the year the Hawks developed, learned and bonded and from that they built a team and started to win. Like the Falcons, they also lost their first six league games, some in lop-sided games and others in close contests. A titanic double-header against the Essex Redbacks in June suggested that the gods were against the Hawks — they narrowly lost both games, despite a superbly impressive effort. But as June turned to July they got the winning habit and took games from Richmond and Brentwood. The biggest win was over Thames Valley in August, a 16-15 walkoff  after a comeback.

Herts Hawks
Hawks' Matt Johnston during the battle with the Essex Redbacks

 The Hawks ended the year with a 5-15 record. Coach Cornish was happy with the way his first management season developed. “We can make the Hawks a model for the way baseball should be played”, he said. “With a small addition and with work to keep the pitching and defence to the level we know we can, we have a great chance of stepping up the level of baseball played at the club.”

The Herts Raptors had very much a season of two halves. In the Spring, it had been hoped that last year’s developing corps of starting pitchers could really blossom in 2011. But Phil Gover and Bryan Drummond were largely kept away by external commitments and injury, while Jim Arnott had moved up to the Hawks. That left the coach Ken Pike shouldering the vast majority of the pitching duties. He gave it 110% as always, but was a tough ask whilst also trying to drive the offense and the organisation of a band of genuine rookies. The Raptors were humbled in their early games — which were, in their defence, against the powerful Southampton Mustangs and the eventual national champions of Single-A, the Cambridge Royals.

 

Herts Raptors
Slugging first baseman Glen Downer in action at Tonbridge

But the character of the season changed slowly, at first imperceptibly, with the addition of further pieces of the jigsaw. John Kjorstad and Theo Scheepers came aboard, both feeling their way back into the game of baseball after a long layoff. And they would help to turn the Raptors season around, especially once Scheepers was able to share the load of the pitching duties. From the mound, he was consistent and tough,vital qualities in this league. The talented graduates of the Little League — including Zach Longboy and Jose Morillo — were also maturing and getting used to the challenges of the adult game. By the end of the year, they were formidable, and Pike said that opposing teams “gawped” when they found out how young they actually were.

If there was a pivotal point, Coach Ken identified it as being the Croydon Tournament. Plenty of Raptors players took part and they relaxed and had fun, and experienced a win for the first time in 2011 . The last of the key recruits played his first game there too, Glen Downer. A double header later in July against the Old Timers showed how much had changed. In the first game, it was even for several innings before the Old Timers made their experience tell, but the second game ended with a 16-15 walkoff win.

And then, finally, it happened. The Raptors won. On a baking hot day in Tonbridge they blew away the Bobcats, with their patience at the plate being matched by their power. Pike took the win, with Morillo closing it out. Downer’s big bat in particular, showed what a weapon it could be. There was another heartbreaking 16-15 loss at Braintree, but the season ended with three wins from the last four. Ken Pike hailed the incredible effort from the team: “Some people describe baseball seasons as roller coasters, but we started at the very bottom and just went up and up and up, which is crap for a rollercoaster, but fantastic for a season.” And he noted that Longboy, Morillo and Senna Ashida are the sort of players showing that the future is bright.

Herts fans
The Herts All Stars have one of the best teams in the country - and the most passionate fans

And that takes us to the best performers on the Herts club. The Little League once again went from strength to strength, with a competitive regular season building to another national final for the U-14 All Stars. In fact, the club entered two All Star teams in the postseason, compared to one in 2010.  This is the first time in Herts Baseball history that the club had entered a team in the Under-17 league. The team reached the playoffs and gave a spirited performance 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.  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, and they have the opportunity and talent to shift the balance of power. 

The Herts Under-14 All Stars went into the postseason with a very different team compared to that which won the championship in 2010, but the team was just as determined to bring back the trophy to Hemel Hempstead.  They eliminated three teams on the way to the final, including last year’s finalists, the London Mets.  In the Final they faced a formidable opponent in LYBL, a team which represented Great Britain in the European Qualifiers for the Little League World Series.  They deservedly beat Herts in the Final.  The All Stars probably felt like they let the vast number of travelling Herts fans down but that definitely was not the case.  The 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.”

Kermode, Mayo and Herts on Moneyball

If you want to learn to hit from the best you would go and talk to people like Hank Aaron and Ted Williams.  For pitching you would turn to Nolan Ryan.

When it comes to movies, there is only one place to go to and that’s Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo’s Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.  When they talk movies, the other film critics scramble around to get pen and paper and take notes.

On the day of Moneyball’s release in the UK, Kermode and Mayo had their say, and Herts Baseball Club also decided to get involved in the discussion. 

Here is a little excerpt from their weekly show on Friday afternoon on BBC Radio 5 Live.