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 team members reported for the first Spring Training session of 2013. Throughout January and February the Herts teams will be preparing indoors at Berkhamsted SportSpace, which has good facilities including batting nets, however t is becoming obvious that the club has outgrown this venue and must start to look for an alternative in the winter of 2014 as the large number of players found it difficult to fit into the large sports hall. Thankfully the meteorological conditions were very good and the teams were able to use outdoor third-generation artificial pitches.
As usual in these first few weeks of Spring, the coaches put the players through their paces to rebuild physical and arm 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.
Apart from the returning players, the club had a chance to see some of the new faces which will be wearing the Herts jersey in 2013. The entry of a fifth Herts team in the adult leagues adds a new dimension to the process of assigning players to the five teams and it will be interesting to see which team roster the new recruits will appear in on Opening Day.
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 us.
Quote of the day goes to New Yorker, Greg Bochan. Over the years he has stayed strictly away from discussions linked to football (soccer) in any way. While doing a ground ball drill with Tim Elkins and Rod Naghar, out of nowhere Bochan asked “What did you guys think about Eden Hazard and that ballboy?”
Play of the day goes to new signing John Blose. This was his first appearance in training with the Herts teams. While fielding a fly ball on the run at the indoor venue, he ended up colliding with the wall and taking out the fire exit door in the process. Herts fans should not worry. Blose came out unscathed from the collision.
Spring Training for the adult teams continues next Sunday.
Spring training dates for the Herts youth teams (6 to 16-year-olds) will be announced shortly and new members can sign up for those sessions by contacting the club.
