Herts Little League players and fans are standing for the National Anthem
Report from Herts Little League Correspondent, Tracey Manning
The sun is shining and the smell of hotdogs is in the air, which means that the 2010 Herts Little League season is under way at Grovehill Ballpark with eager kids and parents alike.
This year’s teams in the Majors Division are the Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs and Cardinals and in the Minors Division the players themselves chose the names of the teams and they are the Herts Tornados and the Herts Crocs.
On Diamond 1 the Cardinals and Cubs opened up the new season and the newcomers quickly gelled into their new teams to produce a great game. With a dominant performance by Carlos Casal Jr on the mound and with some timely hitting, the Cardinals picked up the win with a final score of 4-0.
Over on Diamond 2 the Red Sox and the Yankees resumed their rivalry in a cracking game. With much gusto and plenty of heart-in-your-mouth action the game ended dramatically in a 4-4 tie.
On Diamond 3 the Herts Tornados and the Herts Crocs got off to a flying start and boy can those Minor Leaguers play a fast game. The final score was 12-11 to the Tornados.
Opening Day Guest of Honour was Milwaukee Brewers Coach, Sam Dempster.
The Herts Little League players and parents had the opportunity to shake his hand
and thank him for his support and the tremendous contribution which he has
made for the development of Herts Baseball Club over the last few years.
After lunch, and plenty of hot dogs and Krispy Kreme doughnuts later, the second games of the day got under way. The Red Sox were too strong for the Cardinals winning with a final score of 13-5.In the other game it looked like the Cubs was going to run away with the win after taking a 9-0 lead, but the Yankees had other plans and fought back with a new-found energy. It proved to be too little too late for them with the Cubs winning 9-5. Nick Martinez was the winning pitcher but Jordan Carter and Lewis Green played a key role in relief.
As the younger members played their last game off the day at a little slower pace the Crocs got their revenge after the loss earlier in the day winning the second game in the series 8-6.
The opening day of the season was the hottest day of the year so far, but the players kept cool and all enjoyed the day. Everyone can’t wait for the next game day, great support from friends and families wonderful turn out and may it continue.
More images from the 2010 Opening Day