Author: AspiDimitrov

by AspiDimitrov

BIG WEEKEND LOOMS ON THE HORIZON FOR HERTFORDSHIRE’S THREE TEAMS

This coming Sunday the climax of the English Football Premier League will not be the only sporting event taking place.  Hertfordshire’s three baseball teams enter a critical stage of the season. 

 

In the AAA Division the Herts Falcons will clash with the London Metros.  Both teams sit at the top of the standings with 100% records.  The London Metros are affiliated to the London Mets Ball Club which snatched all of the British baseball titles last season from the National League Final 4 to the Youth National Final 4.  The Falcons have had a perfect start of the season winning their first 6 games.  As a newly promoted team their opponents so far may have underestimated the strength of the Falcons, but after a 6-0 start, the secret is out and now teams in the AAA league know that Herts Baseball Club means business.  The team has now played 4 games without making a single error.  Can they keep this impressive streak going this coming Sunday?  This will be a double-header which will be played at Grovehill Ballpark in Hertfordshire.  The first game starts at 11am followed immediately by the second game at around 1:30pm. 

 

The action does not end there.  A top of the table clash between the Herts Hawks and the Sidewinders takes place immediately after that on the same field at around 4pm.  The Hawks’ loss at Richmond on Sunday means that they are now tied at the top of British Baseball’s AA Division with the Sidewinders and two other teams.  The Hawks and the Sidewinders are expected to stay involved in the title race all the way to the end so this game will have serious implications on the league table in August.

 

With three games back-to-back at the same venue, this will be a great event for regular baseball fans and for those who have not had a chance to attend a baseball game yet to come and enjoy.  The number of fans attending games at Grovehill Ballpark has increased this season and last Sunday included some loyal Herts Baseball fans who had travelled all the way from Seattle, USA to support their favourite baseball club.

 

This year fans at Grovehill Ballpark can also enjoy various hot and cold beverages, snacks, sunflower seeds, sun-screen and other goodies from the concessions stand.  Starting this Sunday, the club will revive a Grovehill tradition going back to the 1990s by offering an official matchday programme for sale.  The prices are reasonable and profits will be used to fund the development of the club’s baseball facilities including the building of a second baseball diamond.

 

While the Hawks and Falcons play their games at home, the Herts Raptors travel to Essex for a repeat of the heartbreaking clash with the Arrows last month which they lost in the last inning.  Can the Raptors win their first game of the season and start a climb up the league table?  Mobile phones and text messages will be exchanged nervously between Hertfordshire and Essex all day with players and fans keeping a close eye on scores.

by AspiDimitrov

STORM CLOUDS SILENT AS FALCONS SWEEP HURRICANES

Posted on behalf of Falcons Correspondent Andrew Cornish (#7)


With spirits running high before the day’s baseball, due to Kimiyoshi ‘Kimi’ Saionji’s birthday, the Falcons were hopeful to keep their momentum into the game.  This was dashed slightly when the Milton Keynes took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first due to a home run with one runner on base.  The Falcons managed to plug away against the Hurricanes with a highlight being Greg ‘The Motion’ Bochan laying down a perfect squeeze in the third, which tied the defensive team up, scoring a run and getting all runners safe.

After great fundamentals, and another no-error game, the Falcons rolled on with a 12-2 victory after 6 innings of play.  Nic Goetz wrote up another successful victory, already taking his season to an impressive 3-0 with an exciting 3.79 ERA.

Game 6 of the season was a game of firsts with promoted Tim Elkins making his first start in centre field and Aspi Dimitrov making his first start on the mound.  Anticipation was high and hoping to continue on the same run of form, the Falcons, fuelled by the blue Powerade sold on the fantastic new fund-raising concessions stand, rampaged to a 6-0 lead in the second inning concluding in a monster home-run by ‘maturing’ Kimiyoshi Saionji.  The impressive Aspi Dimitrov ended the game allowing 1 earned run in 6 strong innings, striking out 6 and stranding 8 opposing runners.  

Tidbits: On his 34th birthday, Kimiyoshi Saionji collected the first Falcon home run, adding another team leading 8 RBIs…… Tim Elkins went 1-3 scoring 2 runs…… Andy Cornish scored 5 of the 23 runs on the day.

GAME 1, 12:00pm

MK Hurricanes at Herts Falcons
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
MK Hurricanes 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0
Herts Falcons 0 0 4 1 4 3 12 12 0

Herts Falcons 12, MK Hurricanes 2
Herts Falcons MK Hurricanes
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Andy Cornish ss 2 3 2 0 A. McVay ss 3 1 1 0
Jason Greenberg c 2 1 1 0 G. Sheppard 1b 3 0 1 0
Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b 2 1 2 3 D. Larwell p 3 1 1 2
Marty Cullen 1b 4 0 0 0 S. McVay 3b 3 0 1 0
Greg Bochan lf 4 1 2 1 K. O'Sullivan c 3 0 0 0
Nick Goetz p 3 2 1 0 M. Philpot cf 2 0 0 0
Darrin Ward 3b 3 1 1 0 E. Wilmot lf 2 0 0 0
Aspi Dimitrov cf 4 1 1 1 P. O'Sullivan 2b 1 0 0 0
Lee Manning rf 2 2 2 0 C. King rf 2 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 26 12 12 5 TEAM TOTALS 22 2 4 2

LOB: MK Hurricanes 3, Herts Falcons 7. 2B: Kimiyoshi Saionji, Aspi Dimitrov, S.
McVay. HR: D. Larwell. SB: Kimiyoshi Saionji, Andy Cornish, Nick Goetz.

Herts Falcons IP H R ER BB SO
Nick Goetz W 6.00 4 2 2 1 7
MK Hurricanes            
D. Larwell L 5.33 12 12 6 6 1

HBP: by D. Larwell (Andy Cornish). . , by D. Larwell (Lee Manning), by D. Larwell
(Andy Cornish). . WP: D. Larwell(5). PB: K. O'Sullivan(5). T: 2:30. A: 58.

GAME 2, 2:30pm

MK Hurricanes at Herts Falcons
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
MK Hurricanes 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 7
Herts Falcons 0 6 0 1 3 1 11 14 0

Herts Falcons 11, MK Hurricanes 1
Herts Falcons MK Hurricanes
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Lee Manning lf 4 1 2 0 Player 1 p 2 1 0 0
Andy Cornish ss 4 2 2 0 Player 2 c 1 0 0 0
(b5) Greg Bochan 3b 0 0 0 0 Player 3 1b 2 0 0 0
Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b 4 1 3 5 Player 4 2b 2 0 1 1
Jason Greenberg c 3 0 0 0 Player 5 3b 1 0 0 0
Marty Cullen 1b 4 2 2 0 Player 6 ss 3 0 0 0
Nick Goetz 3b-ss 4 0 1 0 Player 7 lf 3 0 0 0
Darrin Ward dh 4 2 3 1 Player 8 cf 2 0 0 0
Tim Elkins cf 3 2 1 0 Player 9 rf 3 0 0 0
Rodney Naghar rf 3 1 0 1
Aspi Dimitrov p 0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 33 11 14 7 TEAM TOTALS 19 1 1 1

E: Player 6(3), Player 1(2), Player 2, Player 8. LOB: Herts Falcons 7, MK Hurricanes
8. 2B: Lee Manning, Player 4. HR: Kimiyoshi Saionji. SB: Darrin Ward(2). CS: Jason
Greenberg.

Herts Falcons IP H R ER BB SO
Aspi Dimitrov W 6.00 1 1 1 5 6
MK Hurricanes            
Player 1 L 5.33 14 11 2 1 1

HBP: by Aspi Dimitrov (Player 2). . , by Aspi Dimitrov (Player 2), by Aspi Dimitrov
(Player 3). . . . PB: Player 2. T: 2:10. A: 58.
by AspiDimitrov

THE HAWKS HAVE THEIR FIRST LOSS OF THE SEASON AT RICHMOND DRAGONS

Report by Newswire correspondent, KAL DIMITROV

 

This Sunday saw the first loss for the Herts Hawks.  They were faced with the big-hitting Richmond Dragons team, who had lost narrowly to the Sidewinders in their first game, but managed to out-score the Croydon Pilots in their second game.  It was expected to be a tight game and a competition of “who could outslug who”.

 

It did not happen that way.  The Richmond starter Dan Lally showed great composure and had two 1-2-3 innings to start the game, ably assisted by the defense. The Hawks were able to get a couple of runs in the second, but their bats were mostly silent until the 7th. By that time Richmond had replaced Lally with Per Nilsson (who is even taller), and he was continuing along the same lines.

 

On the other hand, the first three innings were a nightmare for the Hawks. Their starter, Louis Hare, may not have felt very comfortable in the first inning, but that was not helped by a slightly shaky display by the defense.  From the second inning on Hare settled down and started “dealing”.  Only an error-strewn 4th inning (which brought the score to 11:2 for Richmond) was able to shake him momentarily.  The biggest problems were felt in the infield, predominantly behind the plate – several passed balls and dropped third strikes, as well as an error tagging a runner at home (author’s note: in my completely unbiased opinion, we got hosed on that call). 

 

Irrespective of the defensive shakiness, Hare maintained his concentration, shutting down Richmond in the last 3 innings. At the same time, the bats started to come alive, helped by some jitters in the Richmond defense.  John Oliver and Louis Hare were their usual outstanding selves, with some great efforts by the rest. The outstanding batter, however, was Dave Hamilton, who not only brought in the first run for the Hawks, but was able to perform some jedi mind-tricks on the defense, which allowed him to go from home plate to second virtually every time. 

 

Despite rallying in the last 3 innings, all that Hawks were able to do was to make the score a bit more respectable. The final score was 12:9 to Richmond Dragons.

 

Special thanks have to go to both Jon Lewys and Ilya Dimitrov (manager Carlos Casal had called them in, the former as a back up sub, the latter as a scorer), but when push came to shove, they stood up and were counted (if Jon lays off pitches higher than his head, he would be an even better batter, but that is just in the form of constructive criticism).  The reason for the inclusion of Lewys and Dimitrov was the fact that without them the Hawks would have had 7 players.

 

The two that were expected were Humberto and Luis Goncalves.  However, at approximately 13:15 (with the game scheduled to start at 14:00) they called in to check how long they had, as they were “pretty close to Doncaster already”.  To the bemusement of the manager, they explained that they were following their SatNav to Riverside Drive (which is indeed the street where the Richmond field is located).  After some deliberations it was clarified that poor Humberto and Luis got suckered by the SatNav (which provides several options for Riverside Drive, one of which is indeed near Doncaster – see attached map).  By the third inning they had made it back down to Northampton and probably got home around the time the game was finishing. They were extremely unfortunate and wasted their time, but it makes a good Nob-out award candidate.

 

 

Herts Hawks at Richmond Dragons
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Herts Hawks 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 1 3 9 12 3
Richmond Dragons 5 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 12 9 8

Richmond Dragons 12, Herts Hawks 9
Richmond Dragons Herts Hawks
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Player 1 p 4 4 1 0 Ross Asquith lf 6 3 3 1
Player 2 c 4 2 2 1 Kal Dimitrov c 5 0 1 1
Player 3 1b 5 2 2 1 Louis Hare p 5 1 1 1
Player 4 2b 5 2 2 5 John Oliver 1b 5 1 3 0
Player 5 3b 4 2 1 1 Carlos Casal 3b 4 1 1 0
Player 6 ss 3 0 0 1 Nick Russell ss 5 0 1 0
Player 7 lf 3 0 1 2 Dave Hamilton cf 4 2 1 0
Player 8 cf 3 0 0 0 Jonathon Lewys 2b 5 1 0 0
Player 9 rf 4 0 0 0 Ilya Dimitrov rf 4 0 1 1
TEAM TOTALS 35 12 9 11 TEAM TOTALS 43 9 12 4

E: Player 4(4), Player 6(2), Player 5, Player 2, Carlos Casal(2), John Oliver. LOB:
Richmond Dragons 5, Herts Hawks 10. 2B: Carlos Casal, Kal Dimitrov. HR: Player 4. SB:
Player 1(3), Player 5(2), Player 7(2), Player 2, Player 3, Player 6, Player 8, Player
9, Ross Asquith(3), Kal Dimitrov, Louis Hare. SF: Player 7.

Richmond Dragons IP H R ER BB SO
Player 1 9.00 12 9 1 3 8
Herts Hawks            
Louis Hare 8.00 9 12 7 4 7

HBP: by Louis Hare (Player 5). . . . . . WP: Player 1. PB: Kal Dimitrov(2). T: 3:00.
A: 25.

by AspiDimitrov

OP-EXTRA: OLD TIMERS’ RESPOND (Letter to the Editor)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Herts Baseball legend and current Old Timers' ace, PAUL RAYBOULD, gives his vews on umpiring, field standards and other topics raised in the “Welcome to the Show” Column in the wake of the clash with the Raptors on '08 Opening Day.

With reference to “Newswire Game 1 Recap”, although I understand the criticism made of the umpire and the field conditions at Enfield for the Raptors game against the Old Timers, unfortunately these limitations have to be accepted as a part of the British game.

 

During my 23 years playing for a variety of BBF teams, I’ve been to some quite scary baseball fields around the country. The field in Tonbridge in Kent backed onto an archery range so you took your life in your hands when retrieving a foul ball. Meanwhile, the Tonbridge outfield had deep tractor treads gouged across it so attempting to gather a ground ball was something of a lottery. At the home field of the Leeds City Royals, I remember having to take great care when trying to catch a fly ball to deep right field. The flimsy plastic fence was little protection from the steep ravine on the other side. The Sutton Braves field in south London had a nice level infield. However, once past second base, the ground sloped downhill. From home plate, all you could see on the horizon was the caps of the outfielders!

 

Many members of the Herts Baseball Club know of my feelings in respect of the Grovehill field. Although Kal, Aspi, and others go to great efforts to keep it in shape, when the cut-out area gets dry, every footprint leaves a giant crater in the soft sand. I’m surprised that nobody has been seriously injured by a hard hit ground ball bouncing up out of one of those divots.

 

The Enfield diamond that the Old Timers share with the Sidewinders was once one of the best in the land. This was back in the days of the almighty Enfield Spartans. The majority of Spartan players lived locally and regularly maintained the field. None of the Old Timers live anywhere near Enfield. We come from all over the country. I don’t think the Sidewinders live local either. So, we have to rely on the uneducated and disinterested Enfield Council ground keepers to look after the field. They cut the grass and that’s about it.

 

There are several rolls of that orange plastic fencing in the changing rooms behind the Enfield diamond. The Old Timers should have erected it as a home run fence before the game and I will have a word with the old gits before the next home game. That doesn’t mean that I will be able to get them off their lazy asses.

 

Very, very Old Timer John Thomas umpired the game on the day. John is a lovely character with a great Liverpudlian sense of humour and in terrific shape for his age. He tells some wonderful stories including playing ball with Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown. I know he didn’t but he’s nearly old enough for it to be true.

 

In the top of the first inning of that game, I was playing second base. Being left-handed, it’s not a position I’ve played very often but as we say in the Old Timers, we are all utility players which means we’re not very good at any position. I was looking over our pitchers shoulder towards home plate (as you do) and noticed that the umpire was calling some very low strikes. When we came in to bat in the middle of the inning, I mentioned the low strike zone to Mike Harold, our shortstop. He agreed and called to our other players to watch out for the low zone.

 

I was batting sixth in the order and came to bat in the bottom of the first with the bases loaded and nobody out. Jacob’s first pitch to me was on the inside corner and I fouled it behind. I then took a couple of balls before swinging like an idiot at a pitch that was high and inside. With a 2-2 count, Jake threw a fastball over the plate but at my ankles so I left it. “Strike 3!” shouted the ump. Sometimes I should listen to my own advice.

 

The point I am trying to make is that John Thomas may not be the greatest umpire around but at least he is consistent and that’s what really matters. He may be a member of the Old Timers club but I didn’t notice any bias on the day. He got many calls wrong for both teams.

 

When the Old Timers requested to join the BBF league, we also asked for some special conditions. We asked for a reduced Membership Fee as many of the players are pensioners. We also asked if we could continue to use metal bats and a “runner” if any of our less-able players got on base. The BBF kindly agreed to all of our requests.

 

Although our games count as far as the standings are concerned, the Old Timers cannot get promoted. We will try to win but don’t want the stress of playing in a higher division. And when teams play us, we don’t mind if they want to use their metal bats or break any other stupid BBF rule. We just want to play baseball and poke fun at each other.

 

I started this contribution by saying that British baseball has to accept the limitations of sub-standard umpiring and field conditions. I don’t actually agree with that statement but over the last 23 years, I have not seen any great effort by the governing body to make things better. Don’t criticise the teams. Ask BSUK why they don’t spend some time and money on umpiring, coaching, player, and field development. Rumour has it that they’ve got loads of money.

by AspiDimitrov

CRUNCH TIME FOR GROVEHILL BALLPARK DEVELOPMENT

In July 2007 Herts Baseball Club started to put together a plan for improvements of Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead and the creation of a second baseball diamond to accommodate the growing number of baseball players and teams in and around Hertfordshire.

 

The club carried out an extensive consultation process with relevant organisations and authorities including Dacorum Borough Council, Herts Sports Partnership, Dacorum Sports Network, Awards for All and others.  In January 2008 Herts Baseball Club presented the plans, which if realized would make Grovehill Ballpark one of the best baseball facilities in the country. 

 

Large part of the project is to be funded by a government grant with the rest of the funds provided by the club and its members.  The Awards for All grant application has been submitted but in order to make a decision whether or not to approve the grant, Awards for All and everyone connected with Herts Baseball Club and British baseball is awaiting a decision from Dacorum Borough Council.

 

Provided that Dacorum Borough Council gives the go-ahead for the project, this would result in well over £10,000 being invested in improving Grovehill Playing Fields, which certainly would be fantastic news for users of the facility and local residents alike, who undoubtedly have noticed the vigour which Herts Baseball Club has brought to what is considered to be a neglected part of Hemel Hempstead.

 

Club President, Aspi Dimitrov, said: “Many see Grovehill as a developing area in Hemel Hempstead, and for those of us connected with our baseball club this is our home and we want to make it better.  If we achieve our targets, in 5 years’ time our club expects to have 5 adult teams and 16 Little League teams with a total of 400 adult and youth players.  But we need to develop our baseball facilities if we are to accommodate this unprecedented growth in baseball in Hertfordshire”.  Dimitrov added: “Over the years Dacorum Borough Council have been fantastic to our club and we hope they will recognize the positive effect which our club has on the local community.”

 

While awaiting a decision from Dacorum Borough Council, Herts Baseball Club has been working hard to raise funds for the second stage of development which will involve the resurfacing of the turf designated for the second baseball diamond.  The head of sponsorship at the club, Marty Cullen, has already signed a contract for the club with BMW and MINI as official sponsors of Herts Baseball Club and the Herts Baseball Little League, respectively.  The value of the sponsorship is a four-digit sum which has brought the club closer to reaching the target for stage 2 of development.

 

Additionally, a Fundraising Forum has been established by members and volunteers connected with the club and this is already bearing fruit with various fund-raising events already scheduled this year.

 

These are exciting times for Herts Baseball Club and for the local community with a rising number of residents getting involved.  To accommodate this growth the club is relying on receiving a go-ahead from the local government.  Members of the club are holding their breath in anticipation of the decision from Dacorum Borough Council.

 

by AspiDimitrov

FAULTLESS FALCONS EXTEND WINNING STREAK

Report by Herts Baseball Newswire reporter, ROD NAGHAR

 

This Sunday's double header was played against the Windsor Bears whom the Falcons last met at the Croydon Tournament last summer which ended in a Falcons win. The game was played at Grovehill, Falcons home ground, where things got off to a wet start as the heavens unleashed a 2 hour rainstorm before play could begin. The Falcons were on a 2 win opening streak, characterised by a very strong defense but weaker offence – something Manager Jason Greenberg was looking to improve upon.
 
Starting Pitcher Nick Goetz (1-0, 3.86 ERA) took the mound for the Falcons after his win the previous week, but got off to a shaky start giving up 1 walk and 4 singles. However, the solid Falcon's infield laid to rest any Windsor hopes for an early rout, and with a strong final K from Goetz, Windsor only managed a 1 run lead.
 
Hopes were raised for a stronger Falcons offense to dispell nay-sayers that they were a purely defensive side. In the bottom of the first, those hopes were exceeded when 7 runs were scored, achieved by a combination of big hits and some Windsor infielding errors. At that point Windsor's weak infield began a trend, which progressed to be the norm by the end of the day.
 
Unfortunately, to manager Greenberg's chagrin, the Falcon's offence then reverted to type, and most of their remaining runs were achieved though Windsor errors.
 
Nevertheless, spurred on by the big early lead, Nick Goetz went on to pitch superbly, shutting out the Bears until the 5th inning where he gave up 2 back to back single home-runs. However, by that stage the score was 10-1 to the Falcons and it didn't affect his form.
 
The game ended 11-3 to the Falcons, with pitcher Peter Kikel (a promoted Hawks player) confidently closing out the final inning.
The Falcon's made no fielding errors during the game, and with an excellent Bullpen, had little to fear from the Windsor side.
 
 
The second game began where the last game ended, this time with Darrin Ward (1-0, 1.29 ERA) at the mound for the Falcons. He opened with 3ks giving up only 1 walk and 1 hit, which proved to be one of the better Windsor offensive innings.
 
A trickle of runs came from the Falcons until the 4th, where a combination of a tiring Windsor pitcher and further infield errors led to 5 runs and an 8-0 lead. The demoralised Windsor side came back the next inning with a last ditch attempt to get some runs on the board, but managed only 3 hits with no runs.
 
The game ended 10-0 to the Falcons.
 
Much praise must go to Darrin Ward who had another incredible appearance at the mound shutting out the struggling Windsor side, putting 7ks under his belt, and only giving up 2 walks the whole game.
 
Today the Falcons proved that their impressive opening wins against Essex was no fluke. Their staggering pitching staff and impenetrable defensive lineup, justifying their promotion from the 1st division yet again. With no defensive errors in either games, an impressive win followed by a shut out, no team in the AAA can possibly look forward to playing them.
 
Next week the Falcons play at home against Baseball Milton Keynes. That is the time the Falcons hope to finally dismiss the batting drought which they find themsleves in, which will undoubtedly position them as the force to be reckoned with in this years hotly contested AAA division.

GAME 1

 

Windsor Bears at Herts Falcons
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Windsor Bears 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 9 6
Herts Falcons 7 0 1 2 1 0 0 11 6 0

Herts Falcons 11, Windsor Bears 3
Herts Falcons Windsor Bears
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Lee Manning lf 4 1 1 2 Player 1 cf 4 0 0 0
Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b 4 2 3 1 Player 2 c 3 1 0 0
Andy Cornish ss 3 2 1 1 Player 3 ss 4 1 2 1
Jason Greenberg c 3 1 0 0 Player 4 3b 4 1 4 2
Peter Kikel 3b-p 2 1 1 1 Player 5 1b 4 0 1 0
Dan Kerry cf 3 1 0 1 Player 6 p 3 0 1 0
Darrin Ward 1b 2 1 0 1 Player 7 2b 3 0 0 0
Nick Goetz p-3b 1 2 0 1 Player 8 lf 2 0 1 0
Rodney Naghar rf 3 0 0 0 Player 9 rf 2 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 25 11 6 8 TEAM TOTALS 29 3 9 3

E: Player 3(3), Player 7(2), Player 4. DP: Windsor Bears 1. LOB: Herts Falcons 4,
Windsor Bears 8. 2B: Kimiyoshi Saionji(2), Andy Cornish. HR: Player 3, Player 4. SB:
Kimiyoshi Saionji(2), Nick Goetz, Player 2. CS: Lee Manning. SB: Peter Kikel.

Herts Falcons IP H R ER BB SO
Nick Goetz W 6.00 8 3 3 3 4
Peter Kikel 1.00 1 0 0 0 1
Windsor Bears            
Player 6 L 6.00 6 11 5 6 5

HBP: by Player 6 (Dan Kerry). . . . . . . WP: Nick Goetz, Player 6(2). PB: Player 2.
T: 2:30. A: 50.

GAME 2

Windsor Bears at Herts Falcons
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Windsor Bears 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4
Herts Falcons 2 1 0 5 2 10 7 0

Herts Falcons 10, Windsor Bears 0
Herts Falcons Windsor Bears
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Lee Manning 1b 4 1 1 1 Player 1 p 3 0 2 0
Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b 2 2 1 3 Player 2 c 3 0 1 0
Andy Cornish ss 3 2 2 1 Player 3 1b 2 0 1 0
Dan Kerry cf 3 1 1 0 Player 4 2b 3 0 2 0
Jason Greenberg c 3 0 1 0 Player 5 3b 2 0 0 0
Nick Goetz 3b 3 0 0 0 Player 6 ss 2 0 1 0
Darrin Ward p 0 3 0 0 Player 7 lf 2 0 1 0
Aspi Dimitrov lf 1 1 1 0 Player 8 cf 1 0 0 0
Rodney Naghar rf 3 0 0 0 Player 9 rf 2 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 22 10 7 5 TEAM TOTALS 20 0 8 0

E: Player 6(3), Player 4. LOB: Herts Falcons 6, Windsor Bears 7. 2B: Andy Cornish,
Player 2, Player 7. SB: Lee Manning(2), Kimiyoshi Saionji, Dan Kerry. CS: Player 1.
SB: Aspi Dimitrov.

Herts Falcons IP H R ER BB SO
Darrin Ward W 5.00 8 0 0 2 7
Windsor Bears            
Player 1 L 4.33 7 10 6 6 1

PB: Jason Greenberg. T: 2:30. A: 50.
by AspiDimitrov

(VIDEO) HERT-BREAK FOR RAPTORS

Video highlights created by Raptors Manager, JAKE KIKEL

Herts Raptors at Essex Arrows
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Herts Raptors 3 0 3 5 1 0 1 2 4 19
Essex Arrows 2 2 0 1 0 1 3 0 10 3 20

 

Going into the bottom of the 8th inning Herts Raptors could smell their first win of the season.  An 8-run lead was exactly what the Raptors wanted at such a late stage of the game against local rivals Essex Arrows.

 

But then the Raptors suffered a collapse which could even rival the Herts Hawks collapse against Southampton in 2006.  They conceded 10 runs in the bottom of the 8th and were now trailing 17-15.

 

In the top of the 9th manager Jake Kikel managed to rally his troops again putting 4 runs on the board and once again taking a lead, 19-17.  The pressure was on.  Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for Hertfordshire newest league team – they lost 19-20. 

 

Despite the demoralising loss, the team can take a lot of positives from this game.  The Raptors’ bats are really coming along.  The pitching and defence showed improvement from the previous game with some outstanding plays from Hunter Devine, Andrew Slater and catcher Andy Ringrose.  Rod Ariss and Jim Hyde will certainly be a tremendous boost for the club.  They marked their debuts with a triple and a homer, respectively.

 

The team will need to pick themselves up quickly and start again next Sunday on the Road at the Braintree Rays.  The Raptors are hoping to have several key players return for that game, including Mark Hoffman, Rob Jones, Jonathon Lewys, Pete Cox, Paul Hawes and also Rob Crouch who is gradually getting back to 100% fitness after a freakish Spring Training injury.

by AspiDimitrov

HAWKS WIN AGAIN. GONCALVES HITS FIRST HERTS HOMER OF 2008.

Posted on behalf of Herts Newswire Correspondent, DAVE HAMILTON

 

The Hertfordshire Hawks extended their winning start to the season on Sunday, putting in another strong defensive performance to defeat the Brentwood Stags 6-3 and retain their place on top of the British AA League standings. 

In a game that had a little of everything, including disputed umpiring calls and a rain delay, it was a three-run home run by Humberto Goncalves that ultimately made the difference and drove the Hawks to another hard-fought victory. 

Manager Carlos Casal praised the team performance saying “we have a strong squad this year and we’re playing some good aggressive baseball.  It’s still early and we have a few things to work on in training but it’s great to start the season with two wins.” 

The Hawks knew they would be in for a tough contest, travelling to a Brentwood side who had beaten the hotly tipped Bournemouth Sharks in their season opener.  However, they managed to keep the same defensive discipline they had produced in their first game, and the score remained at 1-1 after four innings. 

That is not to say the game was what baseball afficionados would call a ‘pitching duel’ as both sides managed to consistently threaten only to have their chances snuffed out at the crucial moment.  Hawks pitcher John Oliver showed composure under pressure to keep the Stags off the scoreboard, ably supported by some solid infield defense, with the Hawks showing the benefits of their more intensive pre-season training to turn two double plays in the early innings.

Despite the low score the game was proving very eventful, with players from both sides questioning some debatable umpiring decisions, and several runners being caught out on the base paths.  The most surprised of these was Oliver, who expected his hit to be caught, only for two Stags outfielders to collide and miss the ball.  Looking to capitalise on this mistake, he raced for second base but was then thrown out by a perfect throw from the recovering fielder.

The Stags edged into a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning but this finally stirred the Hawks’ struggling offense into life.  With two outs, Ross Asquith used his speed to turn a weakly hit ball into a run scoring single and cut the gap to one.  This brought Humberto Concalves to the plate, who blasted the ball over the left field fence for the Hawks first home run of the year, much to the delight of the vociferous travelling supporters. 

Now holding a 5-3 lead, Hawks’ relief pitcher Stuart Boast kept the Stags at bay as Brentwood remained unable to find the crucial hit with runners in scoring position.  The Hawks added an insurance run in the eighth inning, before a rain delay threatened to bring the game to a premature end.  Luckily though the April shower abated and the Hawks retained their focus to close out the victory.

The Hawks now travel to play regular rivals the Richmond Dragons over the Bank Holiday weekend.  Looking forward to the encounter, catcher Kal Dimitrov commented “they gave us some tough games last year, so it will be tricky but hopefully we can get the bats going and score a few more runs”.  The Herts Manager is certain to be urging his hitters to go on the offensive as the Hawks look to avenge their pre-season defeat and extend their unbeaten run. 


Herts Hawks at Brentwood
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Herts Hawks 1 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 6 12 3
Brentwood 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 11 4
Herts Hawks 6, Brentwood 3
Herts Hawks Brentwood
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Ross Asquith rf 5 1 3 1 Player 1 p 5 2 3 0
Humberto Goncalves 2b 5 2 2 3 Player 2 c 4 0 2 0
John Oliver p 3 0 3 0 Player 3 1b 4 1 2 1
(b5) Stuart Boast p 2 0 0 0 Player 4 2b 5 0 1 0
Louis Hare 1b 5 1 1 0 Player 5 3b 5 0 1 0
(t1) Carlos Casal 3b 4 1 1 0 Player 6 ss 5 0 0 0
Kal Dimitrov 3b-c 4 0 1 1 Player 7 lf 2 0 1 0
Luis Goncalves ss 4 0 0 0 Player 8 cf 3 0 0 0
Tim Elkins lf 4 1 1 0 Player 9 rf 2 0 1 0
Dave Hamilton cf 3 0 0 0
(b6) Nick Russell cf 1 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 40 6 12 5 TEAM TOTALS 35 3 11 1
E: Stuart Boast(2), Luis Goncalves, Player 6(3), Player 5. DP: Herts Hawks 1. LOB:
Herts Hawks 8, Brentwood 11. 2B: Player 1. 3B: Player 3. HR: Humberto Goncalves. SB:
Louis Hare(2), Tim Elkins(2), Ross Asquith(2), Carlos Casal, Player 4(3), Player 1,
Player 3, Player 2, Player 9. CS: John Oliver. S: Player 7.
Herts Hawks IP H R ER BB SO
Stuart Boast W 5.00 3 0 0 4 1
John Oliver 4.00 8 3 1 1 4
Brentwood            
Player 1 L 9.00 12 6 5 1 8
WP: Stuart Boast. T: 3:00. A: 30.

 

by AspiDimitrov

GAME 1 RECAP

Well it’s been a while since I updated this,and for good reason. The HSL did not end well for me. Snowed out games andhorrific stomach bugs led to some serious frustration at the lack of baseball Iwas playing.

 

However, opening day finally arrived andwith it the chance to, not only play baseball for the first time in almostthree weeks, but help start a new team, in it’s first season, off on the rightnote, as well as prove myself as a player.

 

Nothing really went the Raptor’s way on theday though…

 

After arriving at the field and meeting upwith our skipper, I was warned straight away that the infield was not in thebest condition. Erm… a huge under statement.  When the infield gravel has more weeds and flowersgrowing on it than the outfield… you have to wonder exactly how old these ‘OldTimers’ are. But, as I later learned, youth is no substitute for experience(and metal bats).

 

Down by four in the second inning, the gamewas still in the balance, as I stepped up for my first at bat in the season.When I was batting last year I just couldn’t connect with the ball for somereason, it’s not like I don’t have an eye for a ball so I guess it was a mentalissue. Maybe I was thinking about it too much. At spring training I tried a fewthings out and was connecting with the ball but hitting them right at fielders,so I had decided before the game to just go up and not try to do too much. Iled of the inning off with an infield single which was a huge relief to kickthe season off in the right way.

 

However, in my mind, I wasn’t done yet. Iwanted to get us a run ASAP, so I proceeded to steal second and then third, butwasn’t greeted by Jake with the praise I was hoping for, and rightly so. It’svery important to remember this on the base paths, do not steal unless you’retold do so. I hadn’t really thought about it at the time, I’d just wanted toget us a run and get back in the game, but if you steal when the batter doesn’tknow you are going to then there is a very good chance they could get a pop upand then you’re both out. I could’ve actually hurt the team more, but luckilyit worked out and we sent on to score two in the inning. I won’t be doing thatagain though.

 

The game progressed and we had kept the scorecloser than in any game we’d played so far at 5-3. However, it was the fourthinning where we collapsed. I refuse to accept that it was Jake’s pitching thatlet us down. I respect umpires; their call is the final one. But, I’m sorry,when you are being so obviously biased and it results in 12 runs then I kind ofput my respect for you on the shelf. For starters the Old Timers had been usingmetal bats all game and Jake had done well to keep them in check, but then hisstrike zone seemed to get smaller and smaller until he was basically forced tothrow down the middle of the plate and of course metal bats turn little hits inbig ones. The defence messed up completely as well with bad throws to first,but that was the single most frustrating inning I have ever played in my life.

 

I went up to my next at bat (I’d been 2-2 onthe day so far with a wooden bat) and was determined to use a metal bat, notcaring what the other team or anybody thought. I was convinced that since I hadtwo singles with a wooden bat, I’d smoke the ball with a metal one. I popped upin the infield. And after that I just wasn’t angry anymore. We had played welland the official had let us down, though I’m not saying that is the only reasonwe lost- though  I think I remember him calling a ball that bounced before the plate a strike…

 

So much more happened in this game that I could talk about.  My first doubles, an awesome hit by Paul that could have been a home run if they'd bothered to set a fence up, another dozen  bad calls… but there would be too much to write about to keep you interested, if you're even  still reading that is.

 

Despite the scoreline, I felt there were lots of positives to takeaway from the game such as our sudden ability to score runs (something we'd struggled to consistently through a game in the past). So, hopefullytomorrow if we’re able to stop the other team scoring as many runs as last week(can it happen two weeks in a row? Surely not…) we can walk away with the firstwin in Raptor’s history.