The 2008 Herts Baseball Little League season ended with a bang. The Herts Yankees had to produce their two best performances of the season in order to lift the League trophy.
In the opening game of the final day, they clashed with the Herts Red Sox in the sudden-death play-off. The prize for the winner was a place in the League Championship Final. The dilemma facing both the Red Sox and Yankee Coaches was which pitchers to use in this play-off game. The choice was between using the ace pitchers of the team or to save their arms for the Championship Final. One thing was certain; whoever pitched in the play-off game would not have the energy to pitch in the Championship game.
Both managers decided to gamble. Such is the life of a Herts Little League Coach that, for one of the two Coaches, this was to prove to be a brilliant move, while for the other, an error of enormous proportions.
Making a rare appearance on the mound for the Yankees was Liam Green. The pressure of the occasion did not seem to faze him. He was throwing a nasty combination of fastballs and curveballs which kept the Red Sox batters off balance all day. At the same time the Yankees delivered some crushing blows with their bats and started to chalk up one run after another.
Desperate to stay in the game, the Red Sox tried to regroup with some changes in the field, but nothing seemed to be going their way. The Yankees outplayed them both offensively and defensively to record a famous 7-0 victory.
And so the scene was set for the 2008 Herts Little League Championship game. Cubs vs Yankees.
With the Yankees having played through a gruelling playoff with the Red Sox earlier, it was expected that they would come into the game exhausted against the Cubs who had the luxury of resting their arms and bats before the Final. This wasn’t the case and instead the Yankees were the quickest off the blocks taking a 3-run lead in the top of the first inning. The Cubs were putting runners on base but were missing that all important hit with runners in scoring positions. Yankees puitcher, Marty Cullen Jr always seemed to be finding that little bit extra in those key situations.
The Final score of 12-0 was a true reflection of the Yankees’ outstanding performance.
In the 3rd/4th Place Final the Blue Jays managed to pull off a surprising 6-1 win against the Red Sox.
A great day to end a very successful first season of the Herts Baseball Little League. In a very short period of time the League has managed to establish itself as one of the best ways for boys and girls to spend their summer. But this has been more than just a way for kids to spend their free time. The members are now very much a part of one big family – Herts Baseball Club.