Author: Herts Baseball News Editor

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Box scores: Herts Ravens 16 Leones de Feltham 4 – AAA League

Herts Ravens at Leones de Feltham
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Herts Ravens 0 7 2 2 1 4 16 10 2
Leones de Feltham 0 1 3 0 0 0 4 4 3

 

Herts Ravens 16, Leones de Feltham 4
Herts Ravens Leones de Feltham
ab r h bi ab r h bi
CASAL Jr Carlos 2b 3 2 1 0 Wilson cf 2 1 0 0
GREEN Liam ss 3 2 1 0 Gabriel rf 3 0 0 0
LEWYS Jonathon lf 4 2 2 2 Danny ss-p 2 1 0 0
KIKEL Petar p 4 1 1 0 Miguel 1b-3b 2 0 0 0
MARQUES Ben rf 4 2 1 0 Jeffy 3b-ss 2 1 2 1
MEDINA Gilberto 3b 3 2 1 0 Eduardo p-1b 2 0 0 0
CATTERMOLE Mike cf 3 2 1 0 Roberto 2b 3 0 1 1
BROWN Conner c 1 2 1 1 Ygon lf 3 0 0 0
SPAULDING Matt 1b 3 1 1 1 Amobres c 2 1 1 0
(t5) EVEREX-ARMSTRONG Tom rf 1 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 29 16 10 4 TEAM TOTALS 21 4 4 2

 

E: CASAL Jr Carlos, KIKEL Petar, Danny, Ygon, Roberto. DP: Leones de Feltham 1. LOB:
Leones de Feltham 4, Herts Ravens 7. 2B: LEWYS Jonathon, GREEN Liam, Roberto, Jeffy.
SB: LEWYS Jonathon(3), CASAL Jr Carlos(2), CATTERMOLE Mike(2), BROWN Conner(2),
SPAULDING Matt, MEDINA Gilberto, GREEN Liam, Wilson.

 

Herts Ravens IP H R ER BB SO
KIKEL Petar W 6.00 4 4 1 5 5
Leones de Feltham
Eduardo L 4.00 6 12 3 9 6
Danny 2.00 4 4 4 2 2

 

HBP: by Eduardo (BROWN Conner). . . . WP: Eduardo(6), Danny(3). PB: Amobres(2). T:
2:00. A: 55.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 1st:
CASAL Jr Carlos walked, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch.
GREEN Liam walked, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch.
LEWYS Jonathon flied out.
KIKEL Petar struck out swinging.
MARQUES Ben grounded out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Leones de Feltham – Bottom of the 1st:
Wilson lined out.
Gabriel lined out.
Danny grounded out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 2nd:
MEDINA Gilberto walked, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on passed ball.
CATTERMOLE Mike singled, advanced to 2nd on passed ball, stole 3rd, advanced to home
on passed ball.
BROWN Conner walked, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on passed ball, advanced to home on
wild pitch.
SPAULDING Matt out by infield fly rule.
CASAL Jr Carlos struck out swinging.
GREEN Liam walked, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch, advanced to home on
error.
LEWYS Jonathon walked, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on error, advanced to home on wild
pitch.
KIKEL Petar reached on dropped 3rd strike w/error, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch,
advanced to home on error.
MARQUES Ben walked, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch, advanced to home on error.
MEDINA Gilberto reached on error, forced out at 2nd.
CATTERMOLE Mike reached on fielder’s choice.
7 runs, 1 hit, 2 errors, 1 LOB.
Leones de Feltham – Bottom of the 2nd:
Miguel struck out swinging.
Jeffy walked, batted forward to home.
Eduardo grounded out.
Roberto doubled, 1 RBI.
Ygon struck out swinging.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 3rd:
BROWN Conner hit by pitch, forced out at 2nd.
SPAULDING Matt reached on fielder’s choice, batted forward to 2nd, advanced to home
on error.
CASAL Jr Carlos singled, advanced to 3rd on error, advanced to home on wild pitch.
GREEN Liam struck out swinging.
LEWYS Jonathon reached on error, advanced to 2nd on error, advanced to 3rd on wild
pitch.
KIKEL Petar struck out swinging.
2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Leones de Feltham – Bottom of the 3rd:
Amobres singled, advanced to home on error.
Wilson walked, stole 2nd, advanced to home on error.
Gabriel struck out swinging.
Danny reached on error, batted forward to home.
Miguel walked, batted forward to 3rd, tagged out going to home.
Jeffy doubled, 1 RBI.
Eduardo walked.
Roberto grounded out.
3 runs, 2 hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 4th:
MARQUES Ben singled, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on wild pitch.
MEDINA Gilberto singled, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch, stole 3rd, batted forward to
home.
CATTERMOLE Mike flied out.
BROWN Conner walked, batted forward to 3rd.
SPAULDING Matt singled, stole 2nd, 1 RBI.
CASAL Jr Carlos flied out.
GREEN Liam struck out swinging.
2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Leones de Feltham – Bottom of the 4th:
Ygon struck out swinging.
Amobres grounded out.
Wilson grounded out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 5th:
LEWYS Jonathon singled, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, batted forward to home.
KIKEL Petar walked, forced out at 2nd.
MARQUES Ben hit into double play.
MEDINA Gilberto grounded out.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Leones de Feltham – Bottom of the 5th:
Gabriel grounded out.
Danny walked, forced out at 2nd.
Miguel reached on fielder’s choice, batted forward to 2nd, tagged out going to 3rd.
Jeffy singled.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 6th:
CATTERMOLE Mike walked, stole 2nd, batted forward to home.
BROWN Conner singled, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch, advanced to home on
wild pitch, 1 RBI.
EVEREX-ARMSTRONG Tom struck out swinging.
CASAL Jr Carlos walked, stole 2nd, batted forward to home.
GREEN Liam doubled, batted forward to home.
LEWYS Jonathon doubled, batted forward to 3rd, forced out at home, 2 RBI.
KIKEL Petar singled, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch.
MARQUES Ben struck out swinging.
4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Leones de Feltham – Bottom of the 6th:
Eduardo grounded out.
Roberto grounded out.
Ygon struck out swinging.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
by Herts Baseball News Editor

Cornish dinger not enough as Hawks are brought down by Spitfires

Andy Cornish hit another of his home runs on Sunday

written by Andy Cornish

Herts Hawks ended up losing 3-15 to a better, and undefeated, Daws Hill Spitfires side this weekend, but there were many positives to take away from the game, with good defence and the Hawks first home run of the year.

The Hawks turned up to the game at Daws Hill with only 9 players, and the ever-present Debra Devine. The pitcher for the Spitfires was Nic Stolz, whose reputation is growing with every game. His fastball and dropping curveball kept Hawks off the board until the third, with Daws hill adding 5 runs over that span. In the third, Andy Cornish, leading off the inning sent a 0-1 pitch towering over the left field wall for the first Hawks homer of the year. In that inning, the Hawks used the momentum to score another 2 runs with John Kjorstad and Paul Auchterlounie crossing the plate.

Solid infield defence by the Hawks kept the score at 5-3 until the 5th. 7 Daws Hill runners crossed home plate in the inning, with only a few errors, finding the holes in the field and a 2-run home run down to right field by left-hander Luis Hernandez. Ilya Dimitrov and Bobby Gould were starting to feel the intensity of the game, both picking up leg injuries. Hawks were not able to come back, and often got fooled by the curveball of Stolz for the rest of the game.

Hawks manager, Andy Cornish, commented “I wanted to come into today and show desire and play hard. We were able to do that in the first 5 innings, but I think that the injuries got to us. I am happy with how the infield played in some very tricky bouncing conditions, but think that we have to work on our hitting. The pitcher was good, but we helped him with swinging at a lot of balls outside the zone. It was always going to be tricky, and to Daws Hill credit, they hit well. I want to focus on the next game, and come out and show how we can hit.”

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts overcome Horsham and are tied with London at the top

The Herts Harriers extended their winning streak to 4 after wins against Leicester Blue Sox and the Horsham Hornets in the BBF U17 League today.

BBF U17 League: Leicester Blue Sox 5 Herts Harriers 15 (click to view box scores)

An improving Leicester team put up a good fight against Herts but went down 15-5. Brodie Caress was the starting pitcher awarded with the win. 3 other Herts pitchers also contributed and their outings will be a useful experience in their development.

Jonny Compton-Weight drove in 2 runs with a double and a picked up a third RBI working a walk to force a run in with the bases loaded. Zack Longboy (2-3, RBI), Jose Morillo (1-1, RBI), Tom Jansson-Wright (1-2, 2RBI) and Carlos Casal Jr (1-3, 2B) also delivered key hits.

BBF U17 League: Herts Harriers 8 Horsham Hornets 5 (click to view box scores)

As expected, the second game of the day for Herts against Horsham proved to be a major test. Zack Longboy was back for Herts. He was greeted with a triple by leadoff batter, Anderson, and two runs scored in that first inning but then settled into a groove striking out 11 over 5 innings (over 2 strikeouts per inning). Horsham’s pitchers allowed only 3 hits in this game but it as the 11 walks which cost them. Herts took full advantage and scored 8 runs. The only hits for the Harriers came from Jose Morillo (2-4, RBI) and Callum Vangundy (1-2).

Horsham came back into the game scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, although under the league rules one of these runs should not have stood. Horsham had withdrawn one of their players and when his turn came to bat, this should have been recorded as an automatic out as per league regulations. This would have been the third and final out of the inning with no further runs coming in. Instead Horsham decided to skip that player’s at bat and the inning continued with four more batters coming up to bat before the “fourth out” of the inning was recorded. Herts were not aware of Horsham skipping the batting order until after the end of the inning, but decided not to dispute this. Would this cost them?

Going into the last inning they had an 8-5 lead. Longboy had reached his 95-pitch limit and was relieved by Brodie Caress. Although Cox reached base on an error, Caress quickly retired Whitton, Molina and Williams with 3 ground outs to end the game and pick up the save.

The win means that Herts (4-1) jump over Horsham (3-2) and are now tied in first place with the London Mets (3-0).

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Box scores: Herts Harriers 8 Horsham Hornets 5 – BBF U17 League

Herts Harriers U17 at Horsham Hornets
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Herts Harriers U17 2 1 0 4 0 1 8 3 3
Horsham Hornets 2 0 0 3 0 0 5 9 3

 

Herts Harriers U17 8, Horsham Hornets 5
Herts Harriers U17 Horsham Hornets
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Carlos Casal Jr ss 2 1 0 0 Anderson ss 3 2 3 0
Zack Longboy p-lf 3 2 0 0 Parsons rf 3 0 0 0
Callum Vangundy 3b 2 2 1 0 Whitton p-1b 3 2 1 1
Conner Brown c 1 1 0 0 Molina c 4 0 1 1
Jonny Compton-Weight 1b 2 1 0 1 Cox 1b-p 4 0 2 3
Jose Morillo 2b 4 0 2 1 Williams cf 4 0 0 0
Warwick Byrne cf 3 0 0 0 Gulliver 2b 3 0 0 0
Brodie Caress lf-p 4 0 0 0 O’Brien lf 3 0 1 0
Charlie Mayhew rf 2 1 0 0 Cowell 3b 3 1 1 0
TEAM TOTALS 23 8 3 2 TEAM TOTALS 30 5 9 5

 

E: Carlos Casal Jr(2), Callum Vangundy, Anderson, Molina, Williams. LOB: Horsham
Hornets 9, Herts Harriers U17 9. 2B: Cox. 3B: Anderson. SB: Callum Vangundy(3),
Carlos Casal Jr(2), Jose Morillo(2), Charlie Mayhew(2), Jonny Compton-Weight, Zack
Longboy, Conner Brown.

 

Herts Harriers U17 IP H R ER BB SO
Zack Longboy W 5.00 9 5 4 3 11
Brodie Caress 1.00 0 0 0 0 0
Horsham Hornets
Whitton L 3.33 1 6 2 9 4
Cox 2.67 2 2 2 2 4

 

WP: Cox(3), Whitton(2). PB: Molina(2). T: 2:00. A: 110.
Herts Harriers U17 – Top of the 1st:
Carlos Casal Jr walked, stole 2nd, forced out at 3rd.
Zack Longboy walked, batted forward to 3rd, stole home.
Callum Vangundy reached on fielder’s choice, batted forward to 2nd, advanced to 3rd
on error, forced out at home.
Conner Brown walked, advanced to 2nd on error, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to
home on wild pitch.
Jonny Compton-Weight walked, batted forward to 2nd, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch.
Jose Morillo reached on fielder’s choice, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch.
Warwick Byrne walked.
Brodie Caress struck out swinging.
2 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Horsham Hornets – Bottom of the 1st:
Anderson tripled, batted forward to home.
Parsons struck out swinging.
Whitton singled, advanced to 2nd on error, batted forward to home, 1 RBI.
Molina reached on error, batted forward to 3rd.
Cox singled, batted forward to 2nd, 1 RBI.
Williams grounded out.
Gulliver grounded out.
2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Herts Harriers U17 – Top of the 2nd:
Charlie Mayhew walked, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on passed ball, stole home.
Carlos Casal Jr grounded out.
Zack Longboy grounded out.
Callum Vangundy walked, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch.
Conner Brown grounded out.
1 run, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Horsham Hornets – Bottom of the 2nd:
O’Brien reached on error, batted forward to 2nd.
Cowell struck out swinging.
Anderson singled.
Parsons struck out swinging.
Whitton struck out swinging.
0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Herts Harriers U17 – Top of the 3rd:
Jonny Compton-Weight struck out swinging.
Jose Morillo singled, stole 2nd, batted forward to 3rd.
Warwick Byrne struck out.
Brodie Caress struck out swinging.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Horsham Hornets – Bottom of the 3rd:
Molina struck out swinging.
Cox struck out swinging.
Williams struck out swinging.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Herts Harriers U17 – Top of the 4th:
Charlie Mayhew grounded out.
Carlos Casal Jr walked, stole 2nd, advanced to home on error.
Zack Longboy reached on error, batted forward to home.
Callum Vangundy walked, batted forward to 3rd, stole home.
Conner Brown walked, hit by fair ball, called out.
Jonny Compton-Weight reached on fielder’s choice, stole 2nd, batted forward to home,
1 RBI.
Jose Morillo singled, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on passed ball, 1 RBI.
Warwick Byrne struck out swinging.
4 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Horsham Hornets – Bottom of the 4th:
Gulliver grounded out.
O’Brien struck out swinging.
Cowell singled, batted forward to home.
Anderson singled, batted forward to home.
Whitton walked, batted forward to home.
Molina singled, batted forward to 3rd, 1 RBI.
Cox doubled, 2 RBI.
Williams struck out swinging.
3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Herts Harriers U17 – Top of the 5th:
Brodie Caress reached on error, batted forward to 3rd.
Charlie Mayhew bunted out.
Carlos Casal Jr grounded out.
Zack Longboy struck out swinging.
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Horsham Hornets – Bottom of the 5th:
Gulliver grounded out.
O’Brien singled, batted forward to 2nd.
Cowell bunted foul on 2nd strike.
Anderson intentionally walked.
Parsons called out.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Herts Harriers U17 – Top of the 6th:
Callum Vangundy singled, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch, advanced to home
on wild pitch.
Conner Brown walked, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch.
Jonny Compton-Weight reached on interference, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch.
Jose Morillo flied out.
Warwick Byrne struck out swinging.
Brodie Caress struck out swinging.
1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Horsham Hornets – Bottom of the 6th:
Whitton grounded out.
Molina grounded out.
Cox reached on error.
Williams grounded out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
by Herts Baseball News Editor

Box scores: Leicester Blue Sox 5 Herts Harriers 15 – BBF U17 League

Leicester Blue Sox U17 at Herts Harriers U17
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Leicester Blue Sox U17 0 0 3 0 2 5 2 3
Herts Harriers U17 5 0 5 5 0 15 6 3

 

Herts Harriers U17 15, Leicester Blue Sox U17 5
Herts Harriers U17 Leicester Blue Sox U17
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Carlos Casal Jr ss 3 1 1 0 Adam Grogan 1b 3 1 2 0
Zack Longboy lf-rf 3 2 2 1 Max Oxley cf 3 0 0 0
Callum Vangundy 3b-p 2 1 0 0 Charlie Oxley p 3 1 0 0
Conner Brown c 0 3 0 0 Alf Dunton ss 3 0 0 0
Jose Morillo 2b 1 3 1 1 Joe Blant 3b 2 1 0 0
(t5) Drew Mayhew lf 0 0 0 0 Robbie Spencer 2b 1 1 0 0
Jonny Compton-Weight 1b 1 3 1 3 Harry Lee rf 0 0 0 0
Warwick Byrne cf-3b-p 1 1 0 0 Joel Upton lf 2 0 0 1
Tom Jansson-Wright rf-cf 2 0 1 2 James Mee c 1 1 0 1
Brodie Caress p 0 0 0 0
(t2) Charlie Mayhew p-rf 1 1 0 0
(t5) Alex Guthrie 2b 0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 14 15 6 7 TEAM TOTALS 18 5 2 2

 

E: Jonny Compton-Weight(2), Zack Longboy, Robbie Spencer, Harry Lee, Joel Upton. LOB:
Herts Harriers U17 5, Leicester Blue Sox U17 9. 2B: Jonny Compton-Weight, Carlos
Casal Jr. SB: Conner Brown, Jose Morillo, Zack Longboy, Charlie Mayhew, Adam Grogan.

 

Herts Harriers U17 IP H R ER BB SO
Charlie Mayhew 2.67 1 3 0 6 5
Brodie Caress W 1.33 1 0 0 0 3
Callum Vangundy 1.00 0 0 0 1 2
Warwick Byrne 0.00 0 2 2 3 0
Leicester Blue Sox U17
Charlie Oxley L 2.00 6 15 5 12 1

 

HBP: by Warwick Byrne (Joe Blant). WP: Charlie Mayhew(3), Charlie Oxley(5). PB:
Conner Brown, James Mee(8). T: 1:50. A: 110.
Leicester Blue Sox U17 – Top of the 1st:
Adam Grogan singled, stole 2nd.
Max Oxley struck out swinging.
Charlie Oxley struck out swinging.
Alf Dunton struck out swinging.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts Harriers U17 – Bottom of the 1st:
Carlos Casal Jr flied out.
Zack Longboy singled, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch, batted forward to
home.
Callum Vangundy walked, batted forward to home.
Conner Brown walked, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on wild pitch.
Jose Morillo singled, batted forward to 2nd, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch, advanced
to home on passed ball, 1 RBI.
Jonny Compton-Weight walked, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch, advanced to 3rd on passed
ball, batted forward to home, 1 RBI.
Warwick Byrne walked, advanced to 2nd on passed ball, batted forward to 3rd.
Tom Jansson-Wright singled, 1 RBI.
5 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Leicester Blue Sox U17 – Top of the 2nd:
Joe Blant grounded out.
Robbie Spencer struck out swinging.
Harry Lee walked.
Joel Upton grounded out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts Harriers U17 – Bottom of the 2nd:
Charlie Mayhew struck out swinging.
Carlos Casal Jr flied out.
Zack Longboy reached on error.
Callum Vangundy popped out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Leicester Blue Sox U17 – Top of the 3rd:
James Mee walked, advanced to 2nd on passed ball, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to
home on error.
Adam Grogan singled, advanced to 2nd on error, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to
home on error.
Max Oxley struck out swinging.
Charlie Oxley reached on error, batted forward to 2nd, advanced to 3rd on error,
advanced to home on wild pitch.
Alf Dunton grounded out.
Joe Blant reached on dropped 3rd strike w/error, batted forward to 2nd, advanced to
3rd on wild pitch.
Robbie Spencer walked, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch.
Harry Lee walked.
Joel Upton struck out swinging.
3 runs, 1 hit, 2 errors, 3 LOB.
Herts Harriers U17 – Bottom of the 3rd:
Conner Brown walked, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on passed ball, batted forward to
home.
Jose Morillo walked, stole 2nd, batted forward to home.
Jonny Compton-Weight doubled, advanced to 3rd on passed ball, advanced to home on
error, 2 RBI.
Warwick Byrne reached on error, advanced to 2nd on error, advanced to 3rd on passed
ball, advanced to home on wild pitch.
Tom Jansson-Wright lined out.
Charlie Mayhew walked, advanced to 2nd on passed ball, stole 3rd, advanced to home on
passed ball.
5 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Leicester Blue Sox U17 – Top of the 4th:
James Mee reached on error, picked off.
Adam Grogan walked, picked off.
Max Oxley walked, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch.
Charlie Oxley reached on dropped 3rd strike WP, advanced to 2nd on wild pitch.
Alf Dunton grounded out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Herts Harriers U17 – Bottom of the 4th:
Carlos Casal Jr doubled, batted forward to home.
Zack Longboy singled, advanced to 2nd on error, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to
home on passed ball, 1 RBI.
Callum Vangundy flied out.
Conner Brown walked, batted forward to 2nd, advanced to 3rd on passed ball, advanced
to home on wild pitch.
Jose Morillo walked, advanced to 2nd on passed ball, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch,
batted forward to home.
Jonny Compton-Weight walked, advanced to 2nd on passed ball, batted forward to 3rd,
advanced to home on wild pitch.
Warwick Byrne walked, batted forward to 2nd.
Tom Jansson-Wright walked, 1 RBI.
5 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Leicester Blue Sox U17 – Top of the 5th:
Joe Blant hit by pitch, batted forward to home.
Robbie Spencer walked, batted forward to home.
Harry Lee walked, batted forward to 3rd, tagged out going to home.
Joel Upton walked, batted forward to 2nd, 1 RBI.
James Mee walked, 1 RBI.
Adam Grogan struck out swinging.
Max Oxley struck out swinging.
2 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
by Herts Baseball News Editor

8 Herts teams in action this weekend

SATURDAY

The baseball weekend begins with games from the BBF U17 League and the Herts U11 Series at Grovehill Ballpark. The U17 teams of Herts, Horsham and Leicester will clash in a repeat of their round-robin day played on 18 May.

U17 League: 10:30 Leicester Blue Sox vs Herts Harriers (6 innings)

U17 League: 13:00 Horsham Hornets vs Leicester Blue Sox (6 innings)

U17 League: 15:30 Herts Harriers vs Horsham Hornets (6 innings)

 

At the same time on the Old Diamond the U11 Series between the Herts Dodgers and the Herts Giants continues. After last week’s game, the Giants lead the series by 1 game. This Saturday the teams will play two games, a chance for the Dodgers not only to tie the series but maybe even jump ahead of the Giants.

U11 League: 10:00 Herts Dodgers vs Herts Giants (4 innings)

U11 League: 12:00 Herts Dodgers vs Herts Giants (4 innings)

 

SUNDAY

Rei Martinez (right) is expected to start one of the games against the Falcons this Sunday. He also leads the Blazers in home runs.

NBL

The Herts Falcons (10-4) travel to the impressive Bracknell Blazers (7-7) this Sunday looking to keep their momentum after 4 edge-of-the-seat wins against the Mustangs and the Mets who were ahead of the Falcons in the standings before these encounters. Herts are now tied in first place with London, however they will know that a slip-up could undo all the good work of the past few weeks and give London and Southampton the advantage again.

They are coming up against a Bracknell team which has rebuilt very well after a disappointing 2012 season which they finished with 6 wins and 16 losses (win-loss % .273). Their pitching staff is considered one of the best in the NBL and they have already proven that they are capable of beating anyone. Jordan Edmonds, Rei Martinez and Henry Collins are the likely starting pitchers.

The Falcons go into the game with injury worries once again. Catcher, Dave Westfallen, was added to the list of injured players after he aggravated an old knee injury against the Mets last Sunday.

AAA -EAGUE

There were some heated moments, last time the Leones were in town (photo by Will Baxter)

It has been confirmed that this Sunday’s AAA-League doubleheader between the Herts Ravens and the Leones de Feltham has been moved to Grovehill Balpark. The games was originally scheduled to be played at Glebelands Field near Heathrow (West London), but the Leones have had ongoing problems with their field this season with many of their home games played at the venue of their opponents. The Ravens will still be considered the visitors in this game (i.e. batting first). The first game starts at 12:00 at the Old Diamond.

AA-LEAGUE

The Hawks travel to RAF Daws Hill where they will meet the unbeaten Spitfires (6-0). The last encounter between the two teams in 2012 ended with two wins for the Hawks which secured a playoff spot for them. The tables have turned to a certain extent as Herts expanded into 5 teams with many of last year’s Hawks moving up into AAA, while the Spitfires have reinforced well and have notched up 6 convincing wins to make them the favourites for the AA-League title.

A-LEAGUE

The Herts Raptors come up against the Leicester 2Sox looking to stay top of the table. They won convincingly when the two teams met in Leicester on Opening Day. However, since then the Sox have been playing .500 baseball picking up 2 wins against the Old Timers and a heart-stopper 19-18 win against the Blackjacks. The game starts at 12:00pm at the New Diamond of Grovehill Ballpark, in Hemel Hempstead.

The Eagles travel to the Haverhill Blackjacks with a .500 win-loss record so far. They were outplayed by the Richmond Dukes last Sunday, so Manager Duncan Hoyle will need to pick up his players and get back to winning ways. A win on Sunday could see them go top of the standings depending on other results.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

AUDIO: Herts is BBC 3 Counties Radio’s club of the week

Last week BBC 3 Counties Radio confirmed that Herts Baseball Club  has been selected as “Club of the Week”. Herts Board member, Joe Gray, was invited to appear on Mike Naylor’s Saturday Sports Show at the weekend and they had a chance to cover a wide range of baseball subjects including a preview of last Sunday’s NBL top-of-the-table encounter between the Herts Falcons and the London Mets, the growth of baseball in our region and in the UK, the potential return of baseball and softball to the Olympics in 2020, the upcoming Little League World Series and a chance for youngsters from Herts, North-West London and the surrounding regions to take part in this massive international competition, and more. To listen, play the video below.

 

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Raptors win but lose key player to injury

Raptors stayed at the top of their division with a 30 to 12 win over the Essex Redbacks this past Sunday. However the win was bittersweet as recently called up Dan Bartram suffered a hamstring injury at the now infamous first base on the old diamond at Grovehill Ballpark.

Starting on the mound was veteran and former Eagles pitcher of the year, Theo Scheepers. Straight from his week long holiday in France, Theo held Essex to just one run despite a Raptors fielding error and some walks. In typical fashion, Raprtors bats started slowly and managed only 3 runs in their bottom half of the first. But Raptors offense erupted in the next two innings scoring both 10 and 11 runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings. Although Raptors bats came alive, they were assisted by Redbacks fielding errors and aggressive base running. Leading the pack in stolen bases were Dan Bartram with 5 and Charlie Mayhew with 4. Hampered by leg injuries from previous games even Jeff Witter added to the total with 2 steals but led all with 6 RBI’s.

On the defensive front Scheepers blanked the opposition in innings 2, 3, and 4, using a combination of crafty pitching and some smart Raptors fielding. The Redbacks managed runs of 3 and 2 in the next innings. But then in the top of the 7th inning with 8 players on the field due to Dan’s injury and some sloppy fielding Redbacks scored 6 before Raptors once again found their grove for a final score of 30 to 12.

Raptors manager, Arnie Longboy, who led in hits with 3, said “I like the momentum we’re building as we reach the mid-point of the season. We still have Herts rivals the Eagles in two weeks but can’t look past the Leceister 2Sox this weekend. It’s also a shame Dan got hurt as he has contributed greatly in the two games he’s played for us. But maybe his younger brother Andy will be able to step up.”

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Box scores: Herts Ravens 0 London Mets II 12 – AAA League

Herts Ravens at London Mets II
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Herts Ravens 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
London Mets II 1 5 2 4 0 12 15 0

 

London Mets II 12, Herts Ravens 0
London Mets II Herts Ravens
ab r h bi ab r h bi
DIX Jamie 3b 3 0 2 2 CASAL Jr Carlos 2b 2 0 0 0
WALKER cf 4 2 3 2 VANGUNDY Callum 3b 2 0 0 0
Juan ss 4 1 2 2 GREEN Liam ss 2 0 0 0
FLOOD Rory 1b 4 0 1 1 LIPSTOCK Seth lf 2 0 0 0
PETERS Jack c 3 1 1 0 CATTERMOLE Mike cf 2 0 0 0
Diego 2b 2 2 2 0 EVEREX-ARMSTRONG Tom rf 1 0 0 0
Dexter lf 2 3 1 0 DIMITROV Aspi 1b 2 0 1 0
Taichi rf 3 2 2 2 DIMITROV Kal c 2 0 0 0
Matt p 3 1 1 1 DIMITROV Ilya dh 0 0 0 0
RUSSELL Nick rf 0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 28 12 15 10 TEAM TOTALS 15 0 1 0

 

E: GREEN Liam(2), RUSSELL Nick, LIPSTOCK Seth. LOB: Herts Ravens 2, London Mets II 7.
2B: DIX Jamie, WALKER, Juan, Diego. SB: Juan(2), WALKER, PETERS Jack, Dexter, Taichi,
Matt. CS: DIMITROV Ilya. SF: DIX Jamie.

 

London Mets II IP H R ER BB SO
Matt W 5.00 1 0 0 2 9
Herts Ravens
RUSSELL Nick 4.00 15 12 6 1 2

 

HBP: by RUSSELL Nick (Diego). . . . T: 1:45. A: 89.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 1st:
CASAL Jr Carlos struck out swinging.
VANGUNDY Callum grounded out.
GREEN Liam struck out looking.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
London Mets II – Bottom of the 1st:
DIX Jamie flied out.
WALKER singled, stole 2nd, batted forward to home.
Juan doubled, 1 RBI.
FLOOD Rory lined out.
PETERS Jack grounded out.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 2nd:
LIPSTOCK Seth struck out swinging.
CATTERMOLE Mike struck out looking.
EVEREX-ARMSTRONG Tom walked.
DIMITROV Aspi grounded out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
London Mets II – Bottom of the 2nd:
Diego ground rule doubled, batted forward to home.
Dexter reached on error, batted forward to home.
Taichi grounded out.
Matt singled, stole 2nd, batted forward to home, 1 RBI.
DIX Jamie sacrifice flied, 1 RBI.
WALKER doubled, batted forward to home, 1 RBI.
Juan singled, stole 2nd, stole 3rd, batted forward to home, 1 RBI.
FLOOD Rory singled, batted forward to 3rd, picked off, 1 RBI.
PETERS Jack singled, stole 2nd.
Diego hit by pitch.
5 runs, 6 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 3rd:
DIMITROV Kal grounded out.
DIMITROV Ilya walked, caught trying to steal 2nd.
CASAL Jr Carlos struck out swinging.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
London Mets II – Bottom of the 3rd:
Dexter walked, stole 2nd, batted forward to home.
Taichi singled, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on error, batted forward to home, 1 RBI.
Matt reached on error, batted forward to 3rd.
DIX Jamie ground rule doubled, 1 RBI.
WALKER popped out.
Juan struck out looking.
FLOOD Rory struck out looking.
2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 4th:
VANGUNDY Callum struck out looking.
GREEN Liam struck out swinging.
LIPSTOCK Seth struck out swinging.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
London Mets II – Bottom of the 4th:
PETERS Jack reached on error, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on error.
Diego singled, batted forward to 2nd, advanced to home on error.
Dexter singled, advanced to 3rd on error, batted forward to home.
Taichi singled, advanced to 2nd on error, batted forward to home, 1 RBI.
Matt flied out.
DIX Jamie singled, batted forward to 3rd.
WALKER singled, batted forward to 2nd, 1 RBI.
Juan grounded out.
FLOOD Rory popped out.
4 runs, 5 hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB.
Herts Ravens – Top of the 5th:
CATTERMOLE Mike grounded out.
EVEREX-ARMSTRONG Tom struck out swinging.
DIMITROV Aspi singled.
DIMITROV Kal flied out.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
by Herts Baseball News Editor

Win slips through Ravens claws as they leave 15 runners on base

The Herts Ravens travelled to Finsbury Park in the hope of pushing into the playoff race of the AAA League and they had the opportunity to do so, but failed to execute when the game was presented to them on a silver platter on numerous occasions.

AAA League Game 1: Herts Ravens 3 London Mets II 6 (click to view box scores)

The Mets II took a 6-1 lead in the first game of this doubleheader. Their pitchers Taichi and Rory Flood were doing very well to limit the Herts Ravens offense to 2 hits only but they were allowing too many walks (12). They allowed the bases to be loaded in 4 of the 7 innings most of which were with less than 2 outs. The Mets pitchers and defence somehow managed to get out of trouble with well executed double plays or strikeouts.

Despite this the Ravens will know that they missed a golden opportunity to pick up a win. They managed only 2 hits in 7 innings and left 15 runners on base, compared to 4 left on base by the Mets. They can take some positives though with Liam Green having a good outing and appearing to be recovering well after an arm injury earlier in the season. Green allowed only 1 earned run on 4 hits and, most importantly, no walks. Jake Caress also did well behind the plate catching a good game and working well with the pitchers to limit the Mets to 5 hits.

AAA League Game 2: Herts Ravens 0 London Mets II 12 (click to view box scores)

The Ravens had the opportunity to redeem themselves in the second game of the day, but came up against London’s pitcher, Matt, who dominated throughout. He struck out 9 and walked 2 in 5 innings of work. Going into the final inning he managed to get two quick outs and needed just one more to record an impressive no-hitter, but a 2-out line drive single to left centerfield took that away from him.

The Mets II clinched the win with a convincing 12-0 scoreline. Over the course of the two games only two Herts players managed to get a hit and the team as whole went 3-for-41, a batting average .073. Ravens Player-Manager, Carlos Casal, who is on the disabled list didn’t want to dwell too much on the outcome of this doubleheader. He said “It is best if we put this game behind us, put it out of our heads, recharge the batteries and come back strong next weekend against the Leones de Feltham”.