The British Baseball Federation has confirmed the seedings and the format of the 2010 National Under-14 (Bronco) Playoffs the winners of which will progress to the National Baseball Championships.
The Herts fans played a key role on the road to the National Final last year.
Can their support help the All-Stars go one better this time around.
Herts will be represented by the Herts All-Stars team which is selected from among all of the players who are members of the Herts Little League. To determine the Playoff seedings the Herts All-Stars took part in six games against teams from other regions. They won all six of these games and are the only team in the Under-14 League with an unbeaten record so far this season. However, the fact that several of the other teams have played more games has been taken into account by the British Baseball Federation and as a result Herts has been seeded as the third team in the Southern Conference. The team seeded in first place is the London Mets, followed by the Forest Glade RedBacks (affiliated to the Essex RedBacks), Herts are third, Horsham fourth and Bracknell are seeded fifth.
Herts know the top seeded London Mets very well after last year’s dramatic National Final which the team from Hertfordshire narrowly lost and had to settle for a runner-up spot. 12 months have passed since then and the Herts All-Stars will be looking for revenge.
There were tears after the Herts All-Stars narrowly missed out on becoming National Champions
last year in that unforgettable Final against London which ended with a score 0-1
But before that they have to once again do it the hard way through the playoffs. As the third seed they have been drawn to play against Horsham. The two teams met at the same stage of last year’s playoffs when Herts came out on top winning 9-6. Horsham proved to be one of the most difficult opponents which Herts faced in 2009 and they needed a 4-run rally in the final inning to win the game. The draw has not been kind to either Herts or Horsham and the “do-or-die” nature of the playoffs means that the loser will be out of the competition, so there will be a lot of pressure on the players to perform on the day.
If Herts win against Horsham, they will face the loser from the game between London and the Forest Glade RedBacks.
The games will be held at the home of the London Mets in Finsbury Park on Saturday, 11 September 2010 (See full Playoff Schedule below)
2010 National Under-14 (Bronco) League Playoffs (Southern Conference)
Saturday 11th September, Finsbury Park, London
10:00 – Field 1 – Game 1 – #2 Forest Glade @ #1 London
10:00 – Field 2 – Game 2 – #4 Horsham @ #3 Herts All-Stars
13:00 – Field 1 – Game 3 – #5 Bracknell @ winners game 1; winners qualify for NBC
13:00 – Field 2 – Game 4 – Losers Game 1 @ Winners Game 2; winners qualify for NBC
16:00 – Field 1 – Game 5 – Losers Game 4 @ Losers Game 3; consolation game