Author: Herts Baseball News Editor

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts starts plans to form 4th adult league team and invites applications for manager

WAITING LIST FOR NEW SINGLE-A AND DOUBLE-A PLAYERS

Every year in January Herts Baseball Club assesses the number of players registering to play in the upcoming season and on that basis determines how many teams to enter in the various leagues of the British Baseball Federation (BBF). The assessment this January indicated that the club would have enough players to enter three teams in the BBF adult leagues and entered the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League, Herts Hawks in the Double-A League and Herts Raptors in the Single-A League.

The Herts Raptors and Herts Hawks roster sizes have reached the maximum limit

Since January Herts has seen an enormous number of new players joining the club’s adult league teams – a much faster growth compared to previous years. For the first time in the club’s history it has reached a point where the roster size of its Single-A and Double-A teams is too large and the managers would struggle to give players sufficient playing time if it increases any further. For example, Herts Raptors had 12 players sitting on the bench in a recent league game. On the basis of this the club has announced that any new players applying to join the Herts Hawks (Double-A) and Herts Raptors (Single-A) will be placed on a waiting list until a place opens up in one of those teams. There are still places available in the Herts Falcons (NBL) roster so that team will continue to welcome new players who meet the NBL criteria.

PLAYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYERS ON THE WAITING LIST

The club has pointed out that it will do everything possible to offer enjoyable and fulfilling baseball experience to new players while they are on the waiting list, including:

• The club is about to announce the launch of the Herts Recreational League, which will be played on Saturdays. This is an exciting announcement the timing of which is perfect.

• Players can register as Non-Roster members which entitles them to take part in Midweek Evening Baseball sessions and selected tournaments such as the Hunlock Series played in September and October.

• For those who are interested in playing softball while they wait for a place to open up in the Single-A or Double-A League teams, the Herts Softball programme can offer regular league and tournament play.

Players who have already been placed on the waiting list or have just contacted the club and are interested to find out more about the above playing opportunities, can contact the club for more details.

FORMING A 4TH HERTS ADULT LEAGUE TEAM

Herts Baseball Club  has started to plan the formation of a fourth Herts adult team to enter the BBF Single-A League. This will most likely happen in 2018, but the club has also submitted an official request to the BBF to be kept updated if another BBF Single-A team withdraws from the league with a view to taking their place to complete their 2017 league schedule, as soon as Herts is ready to enter a fourth Herts team.

HOW TO APPLY AS MANAGER OF THE 4TH HERTS TEAM?

The first step in this planning process is to invite candidates to apply for Manager of the fourth Herts adult league team. For more details about the role, including financial terms click here.

If you wish to apply for this role or if you have any questions, please contact the club.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Hawks breathing down Latin Boys’ necks after win over Marauders

Herts Hawks kept their winning streak going with a win against the London Marauders on Sunday and it is fair to say that this was their toughest test so far this season in the Double-A League.

Herts Hawks co-managers Andrew Slater and Greg Bochan were both away and they asked Andy Cornish to step into the manager’s role. Cornish is very familiar with being the manager of the Hawks having co-managed the team alongside Greg Bochan three years ago so there was no change of management style for the team.

The game saw the official league debut of father and son, Ernie and EJ Ayala, both of whom are major additions to the team this year. In the absence of starting pitchers Bochan and Slater, Ernie Ayala was given the responsibility of starting on the mound.

When you have not tasted defeat for 19 months there is a risk of becoming complacent, but the Hawks didn’t have time for much complacency as the Marauders struck in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. All winter the Hawks have been looking forward to the greater challenge of playing in the higher league, so in a strange way this early blow didn’t faze them and instead whet their appetite. Ernie Ayala took control from the mound and over the next four innings did not allow any London runs.

After being shut down in the bottom of the first, the Herts offense scored runs in each of the next six innings.  Michael Cresswell and Gilberto Medina had another good day at the plate. Herts took the lead in the third inning and extended it in the sixth, but the Marauders stayed in touch.  In the fourth inning the visitors brought in pitcher Billy Atkinson-Warne, a familiar face for Hawks fans having faced him in the epic 5-4 win in the Single-A League National Semi-Final last September when he was a member of the London Musketeers.  Atkinson-Warne proved to be just as effective as he was last year so it was something of a surprise that he didn’t start the game, especially given the fact that prior to this game he had not allowed any runs or hits so far this season. He also had a great day at the plate batting 3-for-3 with two doubles and 3 RBI which gives him a season batting average of 1.000 and season slugging average of 2.000.

After six innings of outstanding work, Ernie Ayala’s job was done. For the final 3 innings Louis Hare stepped onto the mound with a task of keeping the lead.  The Marauders certainly didn’t give up and stayed in the game right to the end thanks to some fine defensive plays including a Play of the Year nomination from Chris Gregory after a diving catch in left field. Hawks fans would probably say that the spectacular leaping catch by Dan Bartram or game-ending sliding catch by Ilya Dimitrov on opening day against the Daws Hill Spitfires were better, but it has to be said that there was much less margin for error in Chris Gregory’s head-first diving play.

Louis Hare shut the door on the Marauders in the final inning fittingly ending the game with a reflex catch on a line drive back to the mound and a final score of 14-9.

 

This was the visitors’ first loss of the season, but they shouldn’t be too worried as on Sunday’s display they will certainly be involved in the playoff race.

Next for the Hawks is an away game at the Guildford Mavericks this Sunday, 7 May. The game starts at 2pm. Can they keep their winning streak going and stay in touch with the East London Latin Boys who are also unbeaten and half a game ahead of the Hawks.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hawks’ winning streak still intact despite late Dragons surge

by Andrew Cornish at Grovehill Ballpark, Hemel Hempstead
photos by Rob Jones

I am here to tell you about a story that occurred on Sunday 23rd April, St George’s Day, between the unbeaten Herts Hawks and Richmond Dragons. The last time that the Hawks lost a game was in 2015, but with promotion to a higher league, would it be too much for the Hertfordshire-based team?

The start of the game was delayed due to traffic issues which affected the visitors from Richmond. When the game started Herts wasted no time in building a lead. Herts players were aggressive and their fielding and pitching were solid, which has been characteristic for the team throughout their winning run. After just three innings they were leading 12-1.

Richmond were able to pull back a few runs in the top of the fourth and again in the top of the sixth inning, reducing the lead to 7-14. The bottom of the sixth saw an interesting incident which prompted some quick decision-making. With one down and the bases loaded, Andy Cornish launched a towering pop-up, which eluded the Dragons shortstop. With Mike Cresswell tagging-up and breaking from third base after the ball had landed he reached home safely to score while Jon Lewys was forced out at second. The consistent and fair umpire called time and after a brief discussion with the managers, much like the top MLB umpires, corrected the initial call to ‘Infield Fly’ which meant that batter Andy Cornish was called out and the runners were sent back to their original bases, with no runs scored in that play. With two outs Gilberto Medina drove the second pitch of the at-bat for a double, which brought in two more runs and a total of four runs for Herts in that inning.

After completing 6 innings and throwing 91 pitches, Herts Manager Andy Slater was spent and decided to go to the bullpen, calling on Aspi Dimitrov to close the game out with the score at 18-7. Richmond bats came alive, the hits starting to land in gaps and errors from the normally consistent Herts fielders meant that Richmond pulled back an impressive 10 runs in the top of the seventh inning, with only 3 runs charged against Dimitrov. Herts were not able to reply in the bottom of the seventh, and the score remained 18-17. It was getting tense. The top of the eight was a more settled affair, with Herts able to hold Richmond scoreless to get back on track. The Hawks scored 2 runs in the bottom of the eight inning to increase the lead and Dimitrov was able to lock them down in the top of the 9th with a final score of 20-17.

View Box Scores

The game was exciting, with only one inning causing Herts some trouble but the team was able to regroup and finish off the game against a tricky and strong batting side. Extra credit should be given to the Richmond pitcher, Ben Carter, who seemed to have a rubber arm, throwing an amazing 196 pitches, as well as Hunter Devine for overcoming some extreme working conditions behind the plate.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

VIDEO: Herts Hawks open the 2017 season with a win over the Champions


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The Herts Hawks opened their 2017 season with a win away at the reigning BBF Double-A League Champions, Daws Hill Spitfires.  This was a major upset as the Hawks had just gained promotion from the Single-A League and were not expected to be able to compete against the champions. The game was played at Farnham Park and the final out was captured from a camera high up in the sky (see video).

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons, Hawks and Wildcats win the HSL titles after 23 games in the sun and the longest coin toss in history

After 23 games over 3 weekends in perfect Florida-weather the teams are ready for the 2017 British baseball season. In the HSL Majors Division, Herts Falcons came out on top with a 100% record. In second place were the Taunton Tigers, who will feel a little hard done as they also had a 100% record but missed out on first place due to having played fewer games and thus ending up half a game back on the Falcons. When they entered the HSL we advertised them as the team from Taunton playing in the South West Independent Baseball League, but since then we have learned that this is a brand new team based in Taunton which will be playing in the BBF Triple-A League. They have an array of international talent including several GB Under-23 National Team players. It will be interesting to see how they will do in their debut season going straight into the third league tier of British baseball.

The biggest shock in the HSL came just hours before the first games when rumours started circling around that the South London Pirates are about to withdraw from the National Baseball League. In fact there will be no Croydon-based teams at all as their second team will not be playing in the BBF leagues either. The hope of everyone in British baseball is that this famous baseball club will manage to somehow get back on its feet, especially as it has such a rich history and a high standard baseball venue. It would be a big loss if Roundshaw Playing Fields disappears.

Dennis Grogan on the mound for the impressive Birmingham Bandits

In the HSL Double-A Division the Birmingham Bandits and Herts Hawks ended up at the top of the standings with identical record of 3 wins and no losses. The HSL rulebook came into action as one tie-break rule after another could not separate the teams. They even had the same 0.815 runs per inning conceded over the course of the competition which meant that the winner had to be decided by a toss of a coin. It proved to be the longest coin-toss in history, 3 hours and 21 minutes to be precise. With the final HSL game day coinciding with MLB Opening Day, the HSL organisers announced that the New York Yankees opening day game at the Tampa Bay Rays would be used instead of a coin toss. A 7-2 win for the Rays meant that the Herts Hawks were awarded first place. In fairness, Birmingham Bandits looked impressive throughout the HSL and they wouldn’t have been out of place in the HSL Majors Division.

Herts fans who think they have seen this pitching delivery before, are not wrong.

The HSL also revealed that former Herts Falcons pitcher, Pete Kikel, will be making his come-back in the British leagues but this time with the Essex Redbacks as he has relocated and is no longer close enough to Hertfordshire. He looked impressive making a major contribution in the Redbacks 6-7 loss to the Birmingham Bandits which was arguably the best game of the 2017 HSL.

In the HSL Single-A Division Tonbridge and Herts Raptors finished at the top of the standings with identical records of 2 wins and 1 loss. First place was awarded to Tonbridge on the tie-break rule as they had beaten the Raptors in the head-to-head matchup. This was an exciting division as the top 4 teams in the table were divided only by half a game at the end.

On the final weekend umpire Dr. David Jones set a HSL record umpiring 42 innings at the plate over a 48-hour period. We must tip our caps to him and all the umpires without whom the Herts Spring League would not be possible.

View HSL scoreboard

View HSL standings

With Spring Training completed, British baseball teams up and down the country will hope that this will be their year. The NBL teams already opened their 2017 season, while the other three leagues commence this Sunday, 9 April. Follow us on twitter and facebook for a comprehensive coverage of the 2017 baseball season.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

HSL to use New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays game instead of coin toss to break tie for first place

The Herts Spring League issued an announcement that it will use today’s MLB Opening Day game between New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays instead of a “coin toss” to break the tie for first place in the HSL Double-A Standings between Birmingham Bandits and Herts Hawks. See the full statement below.

STATEMENT

The final games of the 2017 Herts Spring League took place this weekend. Birmingham Bandits and Herts Hawks both finished with a 3-0 record and are tied for first place in the HSL Double-A standings. The first, second and third tie-break rules did not break the tie as both teams conceded 0.815 runs per inning over all of their HSL games. The fourth and final tie-break rule stipulates that the tie will be broken by a toss of a coin.

As today is Opening Day in MLB, it has been decided not to toss a coin and instead the New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays game will be used to break the tie. It has randomly been determined that a win for the New York Yankees would imply that the Birmingham Bandits have won the coin toss, while a win for Tampa Bay Ray would mean that the Herts Hawks have won.

The Yankees @ Rays game commences at 6:10pm UK time and can be watched on BT Sport or on MLB.TV.

Commissioner
Herts Spring League

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Two-time NBL champion joins Herts Falcons in time for Opening Day

With only three days before the start of the 2017 National Baseball League (NBL) season, the Herts Falcons have added two-time NBL Champion, Jarrod Pretorius. The 31-year-old slugger was a key member of the Harlow Nationals team which dominated the NBL winning it in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Many would argue that if Pretorius was not with the Nationals, the Falcons would have become NBL Champions in 2012. In Game 6 of the NBL Final it was Jarrod Pretorius’ 3-run home run after a memorable at bat versus pitcher Ryan Bird which proved to be the difference in the Nationals’ 6-3 title-clinching win.

In that year the South African was also voted as the NBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). In 2013 he was once again instrumental when the Nationals eliminated the Falcons in the NBL Semi-Final at Farnham Park.

A look at the NBL archives from the 2012 and 2013 season shows Pretorius leading in various statistical categories, including best batting average (.500) and slugging average (.760) in 2012, NBL Third Base Gold Glove in 2012 and First Base Gold Glove in 2013.

Safe or out? Cris Hiche (left) and Jarrod Pretorius (right) in one of the many titanic battles between the Falcons and Nationals in 2012.

In 2015 he signed for the Tubingen Hawks in the German Bundesliga. In a key game he suffered a serious arm injury. This kept him out of the game for a lengthy period, but he is ready to make his comeback now and Herts fans can look forward to seeing him in a Herts jersey. It may take some time for him to get back to full fitness but even at less than 100%, he is a formidable force and his energy is expected to add enormous value to the club on and off the field. His arrival adds to the large number of South Africa-born players who will be wearing the Herts jersey this season including Duane, Josh and Tyler Badenhorst, Robert Smith, Darren Meintjes, Iain and Dylan McCrimmon.

Jarrod Pretorius is expected to make his debut this Sunday, 2 April, as the Falcons start their NBL season with a home doubleheader versus Brighton Jets. The first game starts at 1pm at Grovehill Ballpark.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts teams announce preliminary 2017 HSL rosters

The managers of the Herts teams which will be playing in the 2017 Herts Spring League over the next 3 weeks have announced their preliminary rosters. We understand that these rosters are not fixed and it is very likely that there may be movement between teams over the course of the HSL. Some players may be asked to play for more than one team as managers look to evaluate players ahead of the announcement of the 2017 Opening Day rosters.

New players are registering every week, therefore some new names may be added over the course of the HSL and into the league season.

HERTS FALCONS

Aaron Witter

Andrew Fulford

Andy Cornish

Cristobal Hiche

Darren Meintjes

Jake Caress

Jamie Warren

Jeremy Lengyel

John Blose

Jonathon Lewys

Lee Manning

Louis Hare

Mario Escobedo

Robert Smith

Tyler Badenhorst

HERTS HAWKS

Andrew Slater

Andy Cornish

Aspi Dimitrov

Dan Bartram

Duane Badenhorst

Ernest jr Ayala

Ernie Ayala

Gilberto Medina

Greg Bochan

Hunter Devine

Iain Mccrimmon

Jamie Lang

John Kjorstad

Jonathon Lewys

Louis Hare

Matthew Gentry

Michael Cresswell

Rod Naghar

Simon Langton

Sonam Lama

Tim Elkins

HERTS RAPTORS

Adam White

Andrico Patsalides

Arnold Longboy

Ben Sinclair

Clive Johnson

Darren Butterworth

Darren Priest

James Emblow

Jim Arnott

Joseph Osborne-brade

Martin Rooney

Matthew Jackson

Michael Johnson

Mitchell Taylor

Nick White

Paul Auchterlounie

Paul Barton

Rahie Rahman

Rich Brown

Rob Jones

Tim Lawrence

Tom Carson

William Belbin
by Herts Baseball News Editor

Countdown to HSL – first chance to see the teams ahead of the 2017 British baseball season

The biggest pre-season baseball competition in Britain is back. Commencing on March 18, the Herts Spring League (HSL) will see 16 teams compete over the 3 weeks of the HSL. Organised by Herts Baseball Club, it is Britain’s very own version of MLB’s Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues currently under way in the US, and it signals that the season is just around the corner.

FORMAT

The 16 teams will be entered into three HSL tiers. The top teams in the country from the National Baseball League and Triple-A Leagues will play in the HSL Majors. The HSL-AA is the second tier of the Herts Spring League. It will feature predominantly British Double-A League teams. The third tier is the HSL-A consisting mainly of Single-A teams.

The organisers considered the possibility of a tournament format, but ultimately adopted a league format in the same way as the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in MLB. “The objective of the HSL is to enable the teams to prepare for the new season and we have noticed that teams are increasingly starting to approach the HSL in the same way as MLB teams approach the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues” said HSL Commissioner, Aspi Dimitrov. He added “we have taken this into account when formulating the schedule putting greater emphasis on the preferences and preparatory requirements of the teams over the format of the competition”.

The teams finishing at the top of their respective division will win the HSL. The “games-back” column in the standings will be critical, but undoubtedly some teams will end up with the same record and so it may go down to the number of runs conceded per game to break the tie.

THE VENUES

The action will take place at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, the home of Herts Baseball Club.

SCHEDULE

23 games are scheduled to be played on the two diamonds. The competition begins on March 18 with a clash between the Bracknell Inferno and the Kent Mariners in the HSL Single-A bracket. The HSL Majors commences on the same day when the London Mammoths will face the Lakenheath Lancers while the HSL Double-A division will open with an encounter between the Essex Redbacks and the London Marauders.

In the final weekend of the HSL the schedule will include the National Baseball League season opener between the Herts Falcons and the Brighton Jets. It will be interesting to see if the attendance at Grovehill Ballpark will be higher than that at Farnham Park on the same day for the other NBL clash between the London Mets and the Southampton Mustangs.

Click to view full 2017 HSL schedule

EXCITEMENT BUILDING UP

The Herts Spring League adds a competitive edge to Spring training. It’s the time for managers to work out their winning formula going into the BBF league season. It is an opportunity to evaluate existing and newly recruited players. Which players will earn a spot in the pitching rotation and who will be batting where in the batting order? Who will make the first team and who will have to work their way up with the minor league teams? Not forgetting, it’s a chance to size up your rivals for the year ahead. It’s the first big challenge and the first big excitement of the baseball year. Don’t miss it.

GET IN THE GAME

For more details about the event or if you are interested to give baseball a try in this competition contact Herts Baseball Club.