The 2021 Hunlock Series Draft was completed on Tuesday night. The managers of the teams had a plethora of talent to choose from with 72 players drafted over 18 rounds.

THE FIRST ROUND PICKS

On a toss of a coin, the Black team had the first pick. Manager, Matt Bell, selected Herts Falcons catcher, Lee Manning (pictured above).

Next up was the turn of Blues manager, Mike Wakelam. With his first pick he selected Herts Falcons outfielder and first baseman, Michael Cresswell.

The third team to make their pick were the Greys managed by Brad Charalambous. He went for Herts falcons pitcher and infielder, Will Zucker.

Reds manager, Aspi Dimitrov, picked catcher Bryn Coughlan (pictured above right) who will be making his long-awaited return to baseball after injury.

FREE AGENTS AND TRADES

The full team rosters determined at last night’s draft are shown here. As more players sign up to play they will be able to join the teams as free agents. We will keep you updated about free agent signings and trades over the course of the Series.

New players aged 14 or above, regardless of whether they are members of Herts or another club or completely new to baseball, can be added to the teams at any point. To be added to the teams or for more details contact Herts Baseball Club.

OPENING DAY

The Series commence on Sunday, 26 September. The first games start at 12:30pm at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. Admission is free. For complete Series schedule click here.

We are counting down to the 2021 Hunlock Series Draft which will take place this Tuesday, 14 September at 8:00pm. Players and fans can follow the Draft picks here as they happen. Participants will also be able to interact and chat about the Draft on the Herts Facebook Page and Herts Twitter as the managers make their picks. We understand the Draft may also be streamed live and viewers will be able to listen in on the discussions between the managers. If so, we will post an update with the live stream link.

Five teams go into this year’s competition. The mystery team, Formosa Islanders, were announced a few days ago and there will be four other teams. The managerial appointments have just been announced.

• Mike Wakelam – Blue team
• Brad Charalambous – Grey team
• Matt Bell – Black team
• Aspi Dimitrov – Red team
• Formosa Islanders – (manager to be confirmed)

Fans will see some new faces in the Hunlock Series this year who have joined the club in the last few weeks, so there will be an element of surprise in Tuesday’s Draft. Some of them may be new to Herts fans but they are not new to the game. The Hunlock Series could be a glimpse at some of the new players who will be wearing the Herts uniform for the first time in 2022.

HOW TO REGISTER

All Hunlock Series players will be drafted into teams. To be eligible for the Draft players will need to update their availability for all the Hunlock Series dates in the online Clubhouse by 6pm on Tuesday, 14 September. If you miss the deadline or the first one or two weeks of games, don’t worry. New players will still be eligible to play but will have to be assigned as free agents after the Draft.

If you already have a Clubhouse account you can update availability by logging on with your existing username and password. Click here to go to the Clubhouse.

If you do not have a Clubhouse account but wish to play in the Hunlock Series, please register here and select “Play Hunlock Series” in the membership category list. After registering you can log on and mark your availability.

To be eligible to play in the Hunlock Series, players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2021.

ENTRY FEE
2021 club members do not have to pay an entry fee as the Hunlock Series is part of their membership package. If you don’t have a Hunlock Series team shirt, you can buy one before your first game. The cost is £6.

New players or players from other clubs can play by paying the £12 entry fee which includes a free Hunlock Series shirt of the team which has drafted them.

The opening day of the 2021 Hunlock Series is approaching and it has just been announced that a mystery team named the Formosa Islanders has entered the Series.

What do we know about them? We have very little information but a quick search on the internet indicates that The Republic of Formosa was a republic that existed on the island of Taiwan in 1895 between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki and its being taken over by Japanese troops. That’s as much as we have at the moment but our investigative journalists are on the case and we will keep you updated as we find out more but we may have to wait until the Hunlock Series games to get a first look at the Islanders.

The LIve Draft is next week
For those who are new to the Hunlock Series, in the days leading up to the Draft, the 100+ Herts players (aged 14 and over) and newly registered players are listed as available to pick in the Hunlock Series Draft. The team managers then take turns picking players one by one over 20 or so rounds of the Draft. It will be interesting to see which players among the club’s 100+ players will be picked in the first round and who will be the very first pick.  In previous years, that honour has gone primarily to Conner Brown. Who will it be this year? The Draft will be done live on Tuesday evening, 14 September.  We will provide more details in due course.

Make sure you are in it
Historically the Herts adult league team managers have used the Hunlock Series games to evaluate current and new players in preparation for the new season, to populate their rosters and positions and to decide which leagues the Herts teams should go into in 2022.

HOW TO REGISTER

All Hunlock Series players will be drafted into teams. To be eligible for the Draft players will need to update their availability for all the Hunlock Series dates in the online Clubhouse by 6pm on Tuesday , 14 September. If you miss the deadline or the first one or two weeks of games, don’t worry. New players will still be eligible to play but will have to be assigned as free agents after the Draft.

If you already have a Clubhouse account you can update availability by logging on with your existing username and password. Click here to go to the Clubhouse.

If you do not have a Clubhouse account but wish to play in the Hunlock Series, please register here and select “Play Hunlock Series” in the membership category list. After registering you can log on and mark your availability.

To be eligible to play in the Hunlock Series, players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2021.

ENTRY FEE
2021 club members do not have to pay an entry fee as the Hunlock Series is part of their membership package. If you don’t have a Hunlock Series team shirt, you can buy one before your first game. The cost is £6.

New players or players from other clubs can play by paying the £12 entry fee which includes a free Hunlock Series shirt of the team which has drafted them.

The 2021 BBF league season will soon be coming to a close, but arguably the best part of the season is still to come.

Every year, just when the MLB season enters its most exciting stage, players come to Grovehill Ballpark for a competition in memory of Herts Baseball Club’s number 36, the late Kyle Hunlock.

This is the fifteenth year of the Hunlock Series. In its inaugural year in 2006 two teams were involved, the Falcons and the Hawks. Herts Baseball Club has been growing rapidly since then and the format of the competition has evolved. As players sign up over the next few weeks we will know how many teams will enter the Series this year.

SERIES FORMAT

This year’s competition will be played over three Sundays. The opening games will be played on 26 September. The second round of games will take place on 3 October, with the final round scheduled for 10 October.

In 2014 we introduced “The 9th Inning Games” where games are played over a single inning. We will be doing this again this year. This format recreates the tension and drama of the ninth inning. Can the teams manufacture the all important go-ahead run? Can they deliver the walk-off hits? Can the pitchers and defence execute with the game on the line?

THE DRAFT

As in previous years, the teams will be selected by the team managers during the Hunlock Series Draft. Who will be the first round picks? How will minor league players and newcomers perform alongside NBL players?

Over the years we have seen how decisions made during the Draft can shape the outcome of the Series before a pitch has been thrown. The managers will have to make carefully calculated decisions if they are to put together a team which can compete for the Hunlock Series title, otherwise they face miserable few weeks.

With all of the club’s managers and coaching staff observing these games, players who have been pushing for promotion to a higher league team will have the perfect opportunity during the Hunlock Series to make a claim to play on the bigger stage in 2022. The club has also received enquiries from many potential new members over the last few weeks and this event is the ideal opportunity for them to come and play.

HOW TO REGISTER

All Hunlock Series players will be drafted into teams. To be eligible for the Draft you will need to update your availability for ALL the Hunlock Series dates in the online Clubhouse by Tuesday, 14 September. If you miss the deadline or the first one or two weeks of games, don’t worry. You will still be eligible to play but will have to be assigned as a free agent after the Draft.

If you already have a Clubhouse account you can update availability by logging on with your existing username and password. Click here to go to the Clubhouse.

If you do not have a Clubhouse account but wish to play in the Hunlock Series, please register here and select “Play Hunlock Series” in the membership category list. After registering you can log on and mark your availability.

To be eligible to play in the Hunlock Series, players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2021.

ENTRY FEE
2021 club members do not have to pay an entry fee as the Hunlock Series is part of their membership package. If you don’t have a Hunlock Series team shirt, you can buy one before your first game. The cost is £6.

New players or players from other clubs can play by paying the £12 entry fee which includes a free Hunlock Series shirt of the team which has drafted them.