London’s two teams won the Bronco (U13) and Rookie (U10) Divisions at the 2009 Herts Futures Tournament sparking wild champagne celebrations.
This was the second year of the Herts Futures Tournament which organised by Herts Baseball Club, based in Hemel Hempstead. The number of teams entering the event increased from 8 in 2008 to 10 teams this year and it brought record number of fans to Grovehill Ballpark.
MINORS DIVISION
The Minors Division (Under-10s) proved to be just as exciting. In an effort to give sufficient playing time to the large number of Rookie players, the double-elimination tournament format, similar to that used at the World Baseball Classic earlier this year) was adopted. The two Herts teams in this section battled hard but came just short against the well prepared teams from Horsham and London.
Arguably the best two games of the whole tournament were produced by the Horsham and London Rookie teams. The first was won by Horsham 1-0, but in the all important Final it was London who managed to deliver the clutch hits to win the Trophy.
MINORS DIVISION
DIVISION | VISITING TEAM |
| HOME TEAM |
|
Minors (G1) | Herts Jr Raptors | 3 | London Rookies | 10 |
Minors (G2) | Horsham Rookies | 10 | Herts Jr Hawks | 3 |
Minors (G3) | (Winner G2) Horsham | 1 | (Winner G1) London | 0 |
Minors (G4) | (Loser G1) Herts Raptors | 13 | (Loser G2) Herts Hawks | 7 |
Minors (G5) | (Winner G4) Herts Raptors | 2 | (Loser G3) London | 9 |
Minors (Final) | (Winner G5) London | 1 | (Winner G3) Horsham | 0 |
MAJORS DIVISION
In Group 1 of the Majors Division (Under-13) all three teams found themselves with identical win-loss records, with each team having one loss and one win in the group games. This meant that the Tournament’s tie-break rule had to be applied and the team with the lowest number of runs conceded was declared the winner. This was Bracknell with only 9 runs conceded while Brentwood and Herts finished second and third with 12 and 15 runs conceded respectfully. This may have been really harsh on both Brentwood and Herts but this is the reality of Tournament baseball. Every run counts and on this occasion Bracknell’s team came out on top.
MAJORS (GROUP 1) RESULTS
VISITING TEAM |
| HOME TEAM |
|
Herts All Stars | 4 | Bracknell Blazers | 9 |
Bracknell Blazers | 4 | Brentwood Bucks | 5 |
Brentwood Bucks | 6 | Herts All Stars | 8 |
MAJORS DIVISION (GROUP 1) STANDINGS | ||||||
TEAM | W | L | % | F | A | RunDiff |
Bracknell Blazers | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 13 | 9 | 4 |
Brentwood Stags | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 11 | 12 | -1 |
Herts All Stars | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 12 | 15 | -3 |
In Group 2 it all came down to the final game where Horsham and London met. Having won their previous games against the Tonbridge Bobcats, they both knew that only a win can take them to the Final. In dramatic fashion London came out on top 3-2.
MAJORS (GROUP 2) RESULTS
VISITING TEAM |
| HOME TEAM |
|
London Mets | 11 | Tonbridge Bobcats | 7 |
Tonbridge Bobcats | 1 | Horsham All Stars | 7 |
Horsham All Stars | 2 | London Mets | 3 |
MAJORS DIVISION (GROUP 2) STANDINGS | ||||||
TEAM | W | L | % | F | A | RunDiff. |
London Mets | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 14 | 9 | 5 |
Horsham All Stars | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 9 | 4 | 5 |
Tonbridge Bobcats | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 8 | 18 | -10 |
The tense battle in Group 1 seemed to have taken its toll on Bracknell and they found it difficult to compete against a hard hitting London team which kept putting runs on the board and won the Final convincingly. Horsham won the Bronze Medal game against Brentwood, and Herts overcame Tonbridge to finish sixth overall, which seemed very harsh on them given the fact that they won two out of three games over the course of the day.
MAJORS (FINALS)
DIVISION | VISITING TEAM |
| HOME TEAM |
|
Majors (5th/6th) | (G2-3rd Place) Tonbridge | 7 | (G1-3rd Place) Herts | 10 |
Majors (3rd/4th) | (G1-2nd Place) Brentwood | 4 | (G2-2nd Place) Horsham | 10 |
Majors (Final) | (G2-Winner) London | 18 | (G1-Winner) Bracknell | 0 |
The event was part of Herts Baseball Club’s fundraising effort for the development of the best baseball facilities in the country at its ballpark in Hertfordshire. It was supported by Herts Baseball Club’s fantastic partners Dacorum Borough Council, BSUK and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.
More images from the 2009 Herts Futures Tournament
(Opening – Presenting the teams)