This Saturday, 16 May, young baseball players from all around Hertfordshire and the surrounding areas will be heading down to Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. The occasion is the start of the 2009 Herts Baseball Little League season.
In keeping with baseball tradition, the Opening Day of the Little League season will be a festive occasion. Everything that is expected on Opening Day will be featured, from the singing of the national anthem to the hot dogs.
Last year the season was officially opened by the Mayor of the Borough of Dacorum, Councillor Mrs. Carol Green, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch with impressive authority. This year’s guests of honour will be members of the emergency services and this would give the young Herts baseball players a chance to show their gratitude to the men and women who work tirelessly helping us in the most extreme and challenging circumstances. Members of Herts Baseball Club who are raising funds for the British Heart Foundation will also be taking part in the event as part of their fundraising campaign.
The opening ceremony will commence at 12pm and it will be followed by the first Little League games of 2009.
The Herts Baseball youth programme has made tremendous strides since its inception in the summer of 2007. It has grown into one of the largest baseball youth programmes in the country and its players have already had enormous success, including winning the MLB PlayBall AA winners’ trophy in 2008 and finishing as runners-up in the Herts Futures Tournament last September defeating some of the best baseball teams in Great Britain.
The talent of the Herts Baseball Little League players has not gone unnoticed and the GB National Team programme has already invited several of them to the GB U-13 National Team.
Last year’s inaugural season ended in a dramatic three-way tie between the Cubs, Red Sox and the Yankees and an extra week of playoff games were required to determine the eventual champions, the Herts Yankees. Who will win it this time around?
Since last season, over £10,000 has been invested in developing the baseball facilities at Grovehill Ballpark thanks to a grant from the National Lottery. It is already becoming an impressive sporting venue which is packed with baseball events for youth and adult teams from March until October. The members of Herts Baseball Club have been working hard over the last 12 months to raise additional funds for the development of Grovehill Ballpark and these are scheduled to be invested later in the year.
Don’t miss the 2009 Little League Opening Day. Boys and girls aged between 5 and 14+ can join the Herts Baseball Little League at any time. For more details visit www.hertslittleleague.com