Herts announce 2013 awards for its U14 and U11 teams

HERTS CARDINALS

Sunday’s event at Northwick Park also included the presentation of the 2013 awards for the Herts Under-14 and Under-11 teams.

In the U14 age group, Aaron Witter was voted as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) recognising his contribution both on the mound, in the field and with the bat. He also picked up the Cy Young (pitching category) and the Home Run Champion awards, sharing the latter with Alex Guthrie after their back-to-back home run heroics in the regular season game vs London Sports’ U14 team. The awards were intended to be awarded at the Herts Futures Tournament so Ben Jones’ home run versus the London Mets in that competition was not taken into account, otherwise there would have been a three-way tie in that category.

Ben Jones was not left empty-handed however as he was deservedly named the Herts Cardinals U14 Batting Champion and Stolen Base King of 2013.

Adam White and James Roberts played their last seasons in the U14 league as they will be moving up to the U17s in 2014, and it was very fitting that their contribution over the years was recognised by awarding them the Infield and Outfield Gold Gloves, respectively.

In a season when many of the club’s U11 players made their debuts in the U14 league, there were many candidates for Rookie of the Year. The award went to Oliver Durer.

HERTS DODGERS AND GIANTS

The players have voted that Christian Lynch and Lucas Lebrato are the MVPs for the Giants and Dodgers, respectively. Lynch also received the Cy Young award, the first year that this pitching category is included for this age group. Lucas Lebrato needed a hand from dad, Angelo, to carry his trophies at the end of the presentation as he also received Herts Dodgers’ Batting Champion and Rookie of the Year.

The Cy Young trophy for the Herts Dodgers went to Alex Trautman who leads the Herts U11 League with 66% strikes per pitch. Ben Jupp received the Dodgers’ Rookie of the Year award while the Batting Champion was Josh Jones. Both are expected to make many headlines in the coming years.

Joe Gipple and Nico Durer are the Infield Gold Glove winners for the Dodgers and Giants, respectively, while Noah Haines and Noah Lynch collected the Outfield Gold Gloves. Lewis Auchterlounie and Rory Vangundy were the Most Improved Players of the two teams, and Alex Jones and William Morillo received the Coach’s awards recognising their hard work and progress.

The Dodgers overcame the Giants on the final day of the season to clinch the 2013 U11 Herts Championship. The exceptional talent coming through in that age group has been obvious to see not just in the regional championship games but also in clashes with teams from other regions. It is a very promising sign for the club and is an exciting prospect that the U11 players, coaches and parents have at least 6 more years together in the youth leagues and will have the opportunity to go through the incredible experience of the current Herts U17 generation.