Author: AspiDimitrov

by AspiDimitrov

CONGRATS TO MAGNIFICENT GB BASEBALL TEAM

Hertfordshire Baseball Club wishes to congratulate our Great Britain National Baseball Team who took the Silver Medals at the 2007 European Championship in Barcelona.

Apart from the silverware, this achievement has very exciting implications for British Baseball. By virtue of finishing second, the GB Team has qualified for the World Championship and the final qualifying stage for the 2008 Olympic Games.

This incredible achievement against some of the giants of European baseball also means that Great Britain may be invited to the next World Baseball Classic, which is the showpiece event of international baseball including some of the biggest stars of Major League Baseball some of whom earn more than David Beckham.

Special congratulations go to the GB Head Coach, Stephan Rapaglia, who over the years has been very supportive of the Hertfordshire Baseball Club.

by AspiDimitrov

HAWKS BACK IN THE SERIES

The Herts Hawks put on a solid performance to take a surprise 17-7 win against the Herts Falcons in game 3 of the Kyle Hunlock Series.  Play of the day, and of the Series so far, was Pete Kikel’s Grand Slam in the third inning which put the game beyond the Falcons.  Their lead in the Series has now been reduced to 2-1. 

 

In the Little League game, the Blue Jays won a dramatic 15-13 game.

 

Sunday’s festivities also included the 2007 Hertfordshire Home Run Derby.  38 participants entered the competition including mums and dads of the Little League kids.  Hall of Famer, Stuart Boast, won the 2007 Derby with 5 Home Runs.  In joint-second place were Dan Kerry (3 HR) and the sensational Andy Ringrose (3 HR).  It was Andy who turned out to be the star of the show.  He had never played baseball before and his preparation for the competition was to watch and learn from his children, Alex and Georgia, who are members of the Little League programme.  There were other parents who showed a lot of enthusiasm and indicated interest in giving baseball a try with the Hertfordshire adult teams for the start of the 2008 British baseball season.  This would be fantastic news for the club as it continues the great club tradition of having parents and their children playing for the same club.

by AspiDimitrov

SOARING FALCONS SHOT DOWN BY PILOTS

[ BOX SCORE ]
[ PHOTO GALLERY ]
[ POST-GAME VIDEO RECAP ]

The Herts Falcons lost 8-5 to the Humber Pilots in the Final of the British Baseball’s Division 1 and missed out on the title.

After five months of exciting baseball clashes across the country, the 2007 British Baseball Season culminated with its showpiece event, the Final4. The Herts Falcons reached the Final after crushing their opponents in the Southern Section of Division 1. The Northern Section was won by the Humber Pilots who also managed to beat the Milton Keynes Hurricanes in a classic Semi-Final game winning 2-1.

Expectations were high in the Falcons camp ahead of the big game, but they were visibly stunned by the Pilots as early as the first inning when they found themselves trailing 5-0. It took the team from Hertfordshire several innings to regain their composure. In the 5th inning they managed to hit back with 4 runs making the score 6-5. All of a sudden a miraculous come back seemed to be within the Falcons’ grasp.

A game which started in a disastrous way for them, could now turn out to be one of the most memorable comebacks in the club’s history. But it wasn’t to be. The Falcons lost in the end 8-5. Credit has to be given to the Humber Pilots who played the game with great desire and in the right spirit.

Due to the very high expectation which the Falcons put on themselves this was a very disappointing end of the season for them and their travelling fans, but overall this was a great year for the team. The Club now awaits confirmation from the British Baseball Federation that the Falcons have been promoted and will be back in the British Baseball Premier League in 2008.

At the Premier League level, the title was won by the Richmond Knights who beat the Essex Arrows in the final, while the National League (Great Britain’s top baseball league) was won by the London Mets who beat the Croydon Pirates.

by AspiDimitrov

SEPTEMBER BASEBALL FEVER IN HERTFORDSHIRE

The 2007 British Baseball Regular Season may be over, but we have a great lineup of Postseason baseball coming up this September.  It will include not only the Herts Falcons and the Herts Hawks but also Hertfordshire Little League kids as well.

 

2007 POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

(Events for the kids are shown in red)

 

Saturday, 1 September

·         11:00 6th Little League Summer Camp

·         12:00 Herts Falcons vs Strathclyde, Semi-Final, Division 1 Final 4

 

 

Sunday, 2 September

·         14:00 Herts Falcons vs Milton Keynes Hurricanes or Humber Pilots (if Falcons win on Saturday), Final, Division 1 Final 4

 

Sunday, 9 September

2007 Kyle Hunlock Series Weekend

·         10:00am to 12:00pm Little League exhibition game(s).  All Little League kids and parents are invited.  (No need to pay Summer Camp fee.  Participation is FREE)

·         12:00 Photocall – Falcons, Hawks, Little League kids and parents together. 

·         12:30 to 15:00 GAME1 Falcons @ Hawks

·         15:30 to 18:00 GAME2 Falcons @ Hawks

 

 

Sunday, 16 September

2007 Kyle Hunlock Series Weekend

·         10:00 to 12:00pm Little League exhibition game(s). 

·         12:30 to 13:30 HOME RUN DERBY

·         13:30 to 16:00 GAME3 Hawks @ Falcons

·         16:30 to 19:00 GAME4 Hawks @ Falcons

 

Sunday, 23 September

2007 Kyle Hunlock Series Weekend

·         10:00 to 12:00pm Little League exhibition game(s). 

·         12:30 to 15:00 GAME5 Hawks @ Falcons (if necessary)

·         15:30 to 18:00 GAME6 Falcons @ Hawks (if necessary)

 

Sunday, 30 September

2007 Kyle Hunlock Series Weekend

·         10:00am to 12:00pm Little League exhibition game(s). 

·         12:30 to 15:00 GAME7 Falcons @ Hawks (if necessary)

 

Food and Drinks:

Hot dogs and cold drinks will be sold at the halfway point of the kids’ game (11:00) and between the first and the second games of the day’s Falcons vs Hawks Series.

 

Price List: Hot Dog (Price £0.50), Cola or fruit juices (Price £0.50), Beer (Price £TBC). 

by AspiDimitrov

BOAST’S TOWERING BLAST NOT ENOUGH AS HAWKS LOSE TO DRAGONS

[ HAWKS/DRAGONS: GAME 1 BOX SCORE ]
[ HAWKS/DRAGONS: GAME 2 BOX SCORE ]

The Herts Hawks find themselves in a battle to avoid finishing bottom of Division 1 South ‘B’ after losing both games of a double header against the Richmond Dragons.

The Hawks were missing a large part of their regular starting lineup which made their trip to Richmond even more daunting. In the first game the Hawks found it difficult to put together any kind of offensive effort and lost 10-3.

In the second game the Hawks found their rhythm and took the game to the Dragons. Despite falling behind they managed to catch up making it 8-7 in the 5th inning when the Hawks exploded with a 3-run home run by Hertfordshire Baseball Hall of Famer, Stuart Boast.

This wasn’t enough though and the Dragons took the win with a score of 14-10.

With one final weekend of regular season action remaining in Division 1, the Hawks now have a ‘must-win’ game at home against the Bracknell Blazers.

The 2007 baseball season has been wrecked by the bizarre weather conditions and similarly to the cricket season, the British Baseball Federation will now have to somehow deal with a backlog of rained-out games in time for the postseason.

FALCONS HARPOON SHARKS, FINISH REGULAR SEASON WITH IMMODEST 18-2 RECORD

[ FALCONS/SHARKS: BOX SCORE ]

by AspiDimitrov

FALCONS SINK SHARKS, CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH

[ FALCONS/SHARKS: GAME 1 BOX SCORE ]
[ FALCONS/SHARKS: GAME 2 BOX SCORE ]

[ VIEW THE PHOTO GALLERY ]

The Herts Falcons used an impressive offensive barrage to sweep the Bournemouth Sharks by scores of 13-7 and 13-3, clinching the D1A Pennant.

Bournemouth came into the game with the league’s best defence, giving up an average of only 2.5 runs per game.  The Falcons jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning of Game 1.  They were patient at the plate, drawing four walks and they were also aided by two Bournemouth errors. They increased the margin to 9-0 in the second inning.  The five runs were sandwiched around two singles, two walks, and three Shark errors. Bournemouth fought back in the fourth inning, scoring 5 runs on five singles and two walks.  The Falcons were able to escape without any further damage.

Kim Saoinji hit his 3rd home run in the top of the 7th, and the Falcons defence closed it out for a 13-7 victory. The Falcons had nine hits, with Lee Manning leading the team with two.  Catcher Jason Greenberg also had two RBI’s.

In the second game, Nic Goetz was very impressive with a complete game two hitter.  Goetz picked up his fourth victory of the year, and had good control, with only 2 walks and 1 strikeout. The Falcons bats came alive in the first inning, with 4 runs on six hits, including doubles by Lee Manning and Andy Cornish.

They increased their margin to 9-0 in the 2nd.   With one out and the bases loaded, Jason Greenberg hit the teams first Grand Slam HR, and his fourth of the year. The Falcons essentially put the game away in the 3rd as they built up a 12-0 lead.  The first four batters reached base and three runners scored.

The Sharks threatened in the bottom of the fifth with three runs, but rookie right fielder Dan Kerry made a fine catch on a hard hit ball to end the game. The Falcons had 14 hits, including a 3 for 3 performance by Greenberg, who scored 4 runs and added 5 RBI.

With the win, the Falcons qualified for the post season Final 4 and are also in a position to earn promotion to the Premiere League, where they formerly played in 2005-2006. The team closes out the regular season this Sunday with a home game against Bournemouth.  Tickets are available, and can be purchased either online or by calling 1-800-GOFALCONS.

[ HAWKS/PANTHERS: GAME 1 BOX SCORE ]
[ HAWKS/PANTHERS: GAME 2 BOX SCORE ]

The Herts Hawks had a battle for second place in the division with their direct rivals – the Shropshire Panthers.

The first game started badly for the Hawks and went downhill from there – starter Pete Kikel had trouble hitting the strike zone, and when he did, the Panthers managed to either hit it between the fielders or bloop it beyond the reach of the infield. Defensive heroics by catcher Jake Kikel, who was hard-pressed to block the large number of wild pitches but still managed to throw out a runner at second base, did not change the situation. Offensively, the Hawks struggled with the breaking stuff of starter Ashley Rogers, and when they managed to put together several hits in one inning, the Panthers piled on the runs in the next. Overall, a performance that literally anthropomorphizes the saying “there is nowhere to go but up from here”.

The second game was much tighter – Hawks starter Larry Martillo, after allowing an early 4-run lead to the Panthers, managed to hold the game from blowing completely open. However, the Hawks bats continued to be mainly silent – excepting the stellar hitting performance of Ross Davies who went 4-for-4 and the very respectable 2-for-2 of Pete Kikel and Larry Martillo. However, the lack of hitting was compounded by somewhat lackadaisical base-running, which saw several Hawks being picked off or caught off the bases. Despite a late surge in the 7th inning, the Hawks went down 8 – 4.

by AspiDimitrov

HAWKS BROUGHT DOWN BY HURRICANES

[ HAWKS/HURRICANES BOX SCORE: GAME ONE ]
[ HAWKS/HURRICANES BOX SCORE: GAME TWO ]

The Herts Hawks were unable to cause an upset against the Division One leaders from Milton Keynes. The Hurricanes won both games in Sunday’s double header and as a result are assured of a place in the Premier League promotion Playoffs.

The first game saw the return to the mound of Hawks’ young prospect, Peter Kikel, with 7 K’s in 3 innings. He had a very satisfactory outing re-establishing the Kikel-Battery with catcher and father, Jake Kikel, who said: “Peter is back to 100% fitness. He will only need to get over the psychological barrier of holding back after his shoulder problems.” Mark Hoffmann also had a good outing in relief for Peter Kikel. It was largely due to the precision-pitching of Milton Keynes ace, Darrin Ward that the Hawks were left without hope of catching up. The only Hertfordshire player who had any real success hitting against Ward was the rookie, Jonathon Lewys with a double and a triple.

In the second game the Hurricanes took an early lead of 6-0 threatening another blow-out win, but the Hawks came back strongly. 2 runs in the 3rd inning reduced the lead. In the 4th, with runner on first, up stepped debutant, Dan Kerry. Despite having played rugby, cricket and other sports, Dan had never actually played a game of baseball before today. He took a high first pitch which was surprisingly called a strike by the umpire. The second pitch was a hard fastball which hit him directly in his protective cup, and yet the umpire ruled this to be a strike as in an effort to get out of the way Kerry could not check his swing. Following such a violent and loud bang of the ball hitting his protective cup, an experienced baseball player would have been expected instinctively to roll on the ground requesting medical attention in the knowledge that this was a very serious incident which could have resulted in a severe injury. Instead, Kerry maintained a cool composure with a face expression which appeared to send a message to the pitcher saying: “This is strike two. You need to throw one more strike if you want to get me out. Throw the ball again.”

And then the inconceivable happened. The third pitch was a hard fastball up in the zone and with a smooth Tiger Woods-like swing, Kerry launched the ball deep beyond the outfield wall in the deepest part of Grovehill Ballpark in left-centerfield for a towering Home Run. The Hawks’ bench and fans erupted, realizing the magnitude of what they had just witnessed. Dan Kerry’s baseball inexperience was obvious when he rounded the bases to come home in record time when most MLB stars would have taken their time to savour the moment.

He was greeted at home plate not only by the whole Herts Hawks squad but also by a number of Hawks fans who had somehow made their way onto the field. In accordance with baseball tradition the home run ball was taken out of the game and passed onto Dan Kerry.

This two-run shot reduced the Hurricanes’ lead to only one run, but eventually this was not enough and the Hurricanes ended up winning the game 12-7.

by AspiDimitrov

HERTS BESTS RICHMOND RIVERDOGS

[ HAWKS/RIVERDOGS BOX SCORE: GAME ONE ]
[ HAWKS/RIVERDOGS BOX SCORE: GAME TWO ]

Herts Hawks played a double header against the Richmond Riverdogs on Sunday, 29 July. Due to scheduling congestion, the game was played at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead instead of Richmond’s Connaire Field, with the Riverdogs being the home team.

The first game was an extremely tight affair that went into extra innings. The two pitchers, Larry Martillo for the Hawks, and Per Nilsson Eklof for the Riverdogs shared the “good” and “bad” times more or less equally. The Hawks had a 9-0 lead until the bottom of the 4th, when Richmond suddenly put together a string of timely hits (aided by some less than outstanding fielding by the Hawks), and at the end of that inning, the score was suddenly only 9-7 for the Hawks. Martillo bore down and was able to minimize the further damage, but the Riverdogs managed to score two more runs in the next couple of innings, while Per Nilsson completely shut down the Hawks offense. This brought the game into extra innings, and with a runner on second, Rob Jones stepped up with a great hit down the middle to bring in Jon Lewys, which gave Hawks the lead going into the bottom of the 8th inning. This is when the Hawks defense and the outstanding Martillo proved their mettle, leaving two of the Riverdogs runners at 2nd and 3rd base without allowing them to score to win the game.

The second game started well for the Riverdogs, who had a 5-2 lead going into the top of the 3rd. However, an 11 run inning by the Hawks batters put them ahead and they never looked back. The Hawks were trying to finish that long day on a high note, and were able to do it in the form of an unassisted double play by shortstop Ross Davies with the bases loaded and nobody out. The Hawks won the second game with a score of 19 to 7.

by AspiDimitrov

SCHOOL’S OUT… LET’S PLAY BALL!

[ PHOTO GALLERY ]
[ WATFORD OBSERVER ARTICLE ]

Grovehill Ballpark is the home of the two Division One teams, the Herts Falcons and the Herts Hawks, but last Saturday it became the home of the next generation of Hertfordshire baseball players.

Boys and girls aged between 7 and 12 from around Hertfordshire and the surrounding regions joined the first ever Baseball Little League Summer Camp organised by Hertfordshire Baseball Club with the support of BaseballSoftballUK, the development agency for baseball and softball in the United Kingdom which is funded by Sports England, the agency that delivers the Government's sporting objectives.

Eleven coaches from the club and BSUK introduced the kids to the main aspects of the game: batting, throwing, catching, fielding, base running etc. Halfway-through the day players, parents and coaches gathered for an enjoyable picnic together while watching a Home Run hitting display by current Herts Falcons Home Run leader, Andy Cornish.

After the picnic it was gametime! The players were divided into four teams, the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Mets and the Blue Jays and played two games on two separate diamonds. Every youngster who took part received baseball cards of current baseball stars. Throughout the day the players also had the chance to enjoy the MLB Roadshow which came to Hertfordshire to support the event. It included various fun baseball challenges including a pitching tunnel with a radar gun to measure the speed at which the kids were pitching.

The response from the children and their parents was tremendous and the feedback after the event indicates that the kids are already looking forward to next Saturday’s Baseball Camp.

It was very touching that some parents even approached members of the club with an offer to help not only during the Summer Camps but also volunteered to assist in promoting and spreading the news of this Youth baseball programme to help attract as many children as possible in order to achieve the target of creating 4 brand new teams which will take part in the Hertfordshire Baseball Little League planned for 2008.

The next Summer Camp is next Saturday and every Saturday after that until 1 September.

Hertfordshire Falcons Baseball Club wishes to thank BSUK (www.baseballsoftballuk.com), the MLB Roadshow, baseball supplier Forelle (www.forelle.com), Dacorum Council, the Ambulance and Police Departments as well as all of the club volunteers.
www.baseballsoftballuk.com
www.sportengland.org
by AspiDimitrov

FALCONS GO 2-1-1 AT ANNUAL LONDON TOURNAMENT

The Herts Falcons put on a performance this weekend which almost resembled Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” of the 1970s. The team battled through two days of gruelling baseball action to come out with an overall record of 2 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw (time limit).

The International London Tournament has been Great Britain’s biggest baseball annual event for many years. This year there were 16 teams taking part from all around the UK, France and Ireland. 12 of the 16 teams were either in the National League or the Premier League so prior to the event it was fair to say that the Falcons were ranked outsiders. They were also drawn in the most difficult group with the reigning British National League Champions, the Richmond Flames, 2004 and 2005 Champions, the Croydon Pirates, and the 2003 Champions, the Windsor Bears.

The Herts team was a combined squad of Herts Falcons and Herts Hawks players, the two Hertfordshire teams.

In the first game, the Falcons faced the Richmond Flames, and despite a valiant effort, were overwhelmed by Richmond’s pitching and hitting.

The second game proved to be the main event of the day – the Falcons hosted the Windsor bears at the Central Field. The game was played in front of a large audience and had the added benefit of the field PA system, which gave a “Major League” feel. The actual game met and exceeded the fans’ expectations. The Falcons took a firm 4-0 lead, which they took into the 5th inning. However, starting pitcher Aspi Dimitrov was visibly running out of steam, despite leaving the game with a no-hitter for 4 and a 1/3 innings.

Reliever, Lee Manning, came in at a very short notice and performed magnificently to minimize the damage of the two runners left on by Dimitrov. Despite his efforts, the Bears fought tirelessly, driving in 6 runs in the 5th and 6th innings to take a 1-run lead and set up a “grand finale” in the bottom of the 6th. Two singles from Lee Manning and Yuji Endo put both the tying and winning runs on base. Up stepped slugger Marty Cullen, with the eyes of the crowd agog with anticipation. His massive line drive to the left field fence brought the winning run in to end this “classic”, and the crowd erupted.

This win earned the Falcons the coveted 11 o’clock start, avoiding the often (and with good reason) maligned 9:00 am start (under the stringent disciplinarian regime instituted by caretaker manager Jason Greenberg, that would have meant reporting for duty at the field at 7:30 am).

The razzmatazz culminated in the Home Run Derby on day one, which involved sluggers from each of the participating teams. The Falcons representative was hard-hitting Kimiyoshi Saionji, the Falcons’ very own Hideki Matsui. He was able to go through to the second round, and only some sudden wind gusts and dodgy last-minute manipulation of the home plate positioning (to favour righties), robbed him of a place in the final round of the 2007 Home Run Derby. The Falcons management are mulling over submitting an official complaint for the loss of the substantial sums that could have been generated from potential (however unlikely) t-shirt sales and other commercial opportunities.

On the second day, the Falcons faced the Great Britain Juniors (Under 18’s National Team) and the Great Britain Cadets (Under 16’s National Team). In the first game the Falcons held a good lead to the end, only for some clutch GB Junior hitting to tie the game and, due to the time limit rule in force in the tournament, the game ended in a 6-6 draw. This was the worst possible scenario for both teams, as they damaged each others’ chances of winning the trophy.

In the second game versus the GB Cadets, manager Greenberg was able to deploy a squad made up predominantly of Herts Hawks players. The future stars of Great Britain baseball performed creditably and were able to pull back from trailing at the beginning of the game to tie it up in the 5th. However, an astute managerial decision was made to bring in closer, Yuji “Lights Out” Endo, who came in and ended all hopes of a GB Cadets come-back. He struck out 5 batters in his 2 and 1/3 innings of pitching.

The Tournament Final was between the Richmond Flames and the Milton Keynes Hurricanes, with Richmond ending up as the 2007 London Tournament winners. The Frank Brady Trophy went to the Essex Arrows, mainly due to the masterful performance of former Falcon, Paul Raybould.

All in all, this was a great tournament for the Herts Falcons, who now have to put their minds back on the vital remaining League games of the season with promotion to the Premier League at stake

Disclaimer: Any resemblance between the Herts Falcons and the Cincinnati Reds, whether implied in this article or otherwise, is purely coincidental.