The Great Britain National Team has confirmed that members of Herts Baseball Club have been selected in the preliminary roster of the GB Under-19 and GB Under-16 National Teams.
U19 TEAM
Pitcher and catcher, Jake Caress, and third baseman, Kyle Lloyd-Jones, have both progressed through to the next stage of the GB U19 Team selection process. Both players took part in these tryouts a year ago, but this is the first time that they reach this stage. They were both members of the Herts U17 team and the Herts Raptors in 2012 and their development on and off the field is very positive news for Herts fans.
U16 TEAM
8 Herts players took part in the GB U16 tryouts. Carlos Casal Jr, Marty Cullen Jr and Tom Everex-Armstrong who play for the Herts U17 team were part of last year’s GB U16 team and all three of them have made it through to the next stage.
Brodie Caress and Callum Vangundy also managed to successfully go over this hurdle, which is an improvement on last year. Jose Morillo also took part in the tryouts and as far as we understand he is kept as a reserve option by the GB Coaches, so perhaps there is still an outside chance of him battling to win a place in the next stage. Herts Eagles pitcher and infielder, Will Zucker, joined Herts last year and he has also been successful in going through to the next stage. We understand that he originally tried for the GB U19 team but, as he is still much younger, the GB coaches assigned him to the U16 team.
Herts Baseball Club revealed that catcher, Conner Brown, has just joined Herts. He was a full member of the GB U16 national team last year and has also made it through to the next phase. He will will meet his new Herts teammates shortly as the Herts youth teams report for Spring Training ahead of the 2013 baseball season.
THE HARD WORK HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN
All of the players reported with the GB teams last weekend as part of the next step in the process. There will be additional evaluations this Spring and the size of the GB U19 and GB U16 roster will be reduced further ahead of the GB Team’s 2013 international games schedule. It is unrealistic to expect all 10 Herts players to make the final squads, but the rising number of Herts players battling for a place in the GB teams is exciting news for everyone connected with Herts.
MORE TO COME
The Club is even more excited by the fact that there are many more talented players coming through the various age groups of the Herts youth system, from the U-11 and U-14 teams through to the U-17 age group. The opportunity is there for any young players who want to get involved in baseball to progress and wear the GB Team jersey. But you don’t have to be a GB National Team player to play baseball. Any interested players, boys and girls between 6 and 16 years of age, from complete beginners to advanced players can join the Herts baseball youth teams (click here for more details).
