Player registration for the 2014 Herts Baseball season has just commenced and the club is hoping that it will be another record year after 2013 saw the largest number of Herts members in the club’s 18-year history.
Herts has already completed the league entry process for the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League and in the coming days will be completing the process for its other league teams. It is expected that Herts will enter all of the league tiers so will be battling for the championship trophies on all fronts.
ADULT LEAGUES
The Herts Falcons finished top of the NBL standings during the regular season but lost to the eventual winners, Harlow Nationals, in the semi-final of the all-important National Baseball Championships last September. This pushed them out of the top 50 ranked teams in Europe having been ranked in 38th place at the end of the 2012 season. They will be hungry to bring the NBL trophy home having come so close over the last two seasons.
The Ravens, Hawks, Raptors and Eagles will also be going for the title in the Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A Leagues.
KEY DATES – ADULT TEAMS
25 January , Adult team players report for first Spring Training session
2 March, First Spring Training session back at Grovehill Ballpark
22 March, Start of the 2014 Herts Spring League
6 April, Opening Day (NBL)
13 April, Opening Day (AAA, AA, A Leagues)
end of August, National Baseball Championships (NBL, AAA, AA, A)
27 or 28 September, Hunlock Series
YOUTH LEAGUES
The BBF announced changes to the British youth baseball league structure and the exciting news is that even more age groups will be involved in the National Youth Baseball Championships in September. Apart from Under-17 and Under-14 teams, in 2014 Under-12 teams will also be battling for the national title.
In addition, in 2014 Herts youth teams will be affiliated with Little League Inc with a chance to reach the Little League World Series in America which is shown live on ESPN to millions of viewers across the globe. But to get to the World Series, the Herts youth players will first need to compete in the regional, national and then continental qualification stages before they get to the World Series.
Herts is also expected to make an announcement about the expansion of its youth programme. “We will have more details in the next few weeks, but it is exciting to be involved in a project which could double the size of our club in the next few years” said Club President, Aspi Dimitrov.
KEY DATES – YOUTH TEAMS
25 January , Youth team players report for first Spring Training session
12 April, Opening Day (U17 Regional Leagues)
26 April, Opening Day (U14, U11 Regional Leagues)
14-15 and 21-22 June, Little League UK Qualifiers (U17, U15, U12)
6-12 July, Little League Europe Qualifier (U17 – Novara, Italy)
7-10 July, Little League Europe Qualifier (U15 – Kutno, Poland)
12-20 July, Little League Europe Qualifier (U13 – Kutno, Poland)
10 -16 August, Little League World Series (U15 – Taylor, Michigan, USA)
10-16 August, Little League World Series (U17 – Bangor, Maine, USA)
14-24 August, Little League World Series (U13 – Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA)
13-14 September, National Youth Baseball Championships (U17, U14, U12)
20 September, Herts Futures Tournament (U17, U14, U11)
HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE 2014 HERTS BASEBALL SEASON
Herts Baseball Club has commenced the 2014 member registration process. For those who already have a Herts Club House account they will be prompted to register when they log on next time (click here to go to the Herts Online Club House and log on with your existing username and password). Those who are new to Herts and do not have an online account will be able to register as 2014 members by completing this form.