Category: Eagles

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

Eagles withdraw from the Triple-A League

Herts Baseball Club has announced that it will be withdrawing the Herts Eagles from the BBF Triple-A League.

The club clarified that they have lost a number of players since last season and although they have added a good number of new players this is not going to be enough to field four teams in the BBF adult leagues.

In 2015 the Herts Eagles were made up predominantly of students some of whom are also members of the various Great Britain National Teams. This resulted in severe shortage of players during the school holidays and during the weeks when players are called up to the GB Teams or have upcoming exams.

A club spokesperson said “We have six or seven fewer players compared to this time last year and we really needed to have three or four more than last year to be able to overcome the seasonal player shortage later in the year during the weeks when students are away.”

Given the unpredictable nature of player recruitment over the course of the season the club may suddenly find itself with too many players for three teams, but we understand that they are already considering ways of ensuring that the club can integrate all newcomers who decide to join the club in the coming months.

The last time the club had to go down from four league teams to three was in 2011. That step back was followed by two or three steps forward over the subsequent seasons as larger and stronger rosters bring many advantages which Herts will be hoping to benefit from in the coming season.

 

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts announce 2016 HSL details

The Herts Spring League (HSL) has confirmed the game dates for the 2016 edition of the competition*.

HSL (Week 1)
Sat, 19-Mar-16
Sun, 20-Mar-16

HSL (Week 2)
Sat, 26-Mar-16
Sun, 27-Mar-16

HSL (Week 3)
Sat, 2-Apr-16
Sun, 3-Apr-16

Spring is the time when managers put together their teams and aim to turn them into winning machines ahead of Opening Day. Similar to the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in MLB, the HSL provides a competitive edge to spring training. This is the ninth year of the HSL. Every year this competition keeps growing. The geographic spread of participating teams seems to be expanding as well. For more details visit the HSL site.

LEAGUE FORMAT

Teams will be placed in two or more divisions (HSL Majors and HSL Minors) based on the teams’ ranking going into the new season. The exact format will depend on the number of teams entering the HSL and the availability of venues, therefore full details will be published when the league line-up is confirmed.

TEAMS

Over the years the HSL has featured teams from the National Baseball League (NBL), Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A Leagues, as well as international teams such as the GB Under-19 and Under-16 National Teams and the ASL Eagles.

“The number of team entries has been going up every year. Last year we somehow managed to fit all of the entrants, however in 2016 we have to be mindful of the fact that we may once again reach our full capacity and we may have to restrict team entries when we reach that level again.” said HSL Commissioner, Aspi Dimitrov.

The addition of U19 and U17 league teams in previous years has worked very well. The high standard of most of the BBF U19 and U17 League teams will certainly enable them to comfortably compete at the level of adult teams from the Double-A and Triple-A League teams, or perhaps even the NBL.

Teams from around the United Kingdom will be submitting their entries over the next few weeks and the HSL lineup and games schedule is expected to be published in early March.

* – The HSL dates are based on the indication that the BBF league season will start on April 3 for NBL teams and on April 10 for all other leagues. If these dates change the HSL may make adjustments where necessary.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Raptors and Eagles appoint managerial duos

At its Annual General Meeting Herts Baseball Club confirmed several managerial appointments ahead of the 2016 season.

CARESS DUO AT THE HELM

The Herts Eagles will have a father-and-son managerial duo in 2016. Jake Caress managed the team last year and this season he will be joined by his father, Mark Caress. Mark is already fully immersed into the role as he has been performing many of the duties supporting Jake in 2015 therefore this appointment formally confirms his role with the team.

The Eagles picked up only 3 in the whole of last year so they will be looking to improve their record this time around. The team is blessed with many young talented players who are just a year or two away from being able to challenge for the playoff places so there is great optimism that this group of young players will become a dominant force in the BBF Triple-A League. The main uncertainty is the likelihood that some of their top performers may receive a call-up from the Herts Falcons and that may affect the team’s competitiveness.

RAPTORS APPOINT CRESSWELL AND BARTON

Michael Cresswell and Paul Barton are the new joint managers of the Herts Raptors. They take over from Rob Jones and the late Kal Dimitrov who managed the team last season.

Michael Cresswell has been a key and ever-present member of Herts since 2012 and has already had managerial experience acting as stand-in co-manager of the team in the second half of last season.

 

Paul Barton made his league debut for the Raptors in 2015 and his tremendous performances were recognised as his teammates voted his as the Raptors’ Most Valuable Player.

The team ended the 2015 season on a high with a run of four wins in their last six games. If they can maintain this form they would be a major contender for the Single-A League title in 2016.

The managers will take their players through their first Spring Training session of 2016 this Sunday, 7 February.

 

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts adult and youth baseball league teams start pre-season training this Sunday

Herts Baseball Club published details of its Spring Training schedule. Both adult and youth teams will return to training for the first time in 2016 this Sunday 7 February. The only exception being the Under-8 programme which starts later in the year.

In the first few weeks preparations will take place indoors at JFK Catholic School. On 27 February the adult, under-19 and under-17 teams will have their first outdoor training session at Middlesex University on the 3G artificial grass playing surface. The under-15, under-13 and under-10 age groups will also get their first taste of outdoor baseball on 5 March.

The Herts teams will return to Grovehill Ballpark for the first time on the weekend of 12 and 13 March.

A week later Herts Spring League (HSL) pre-season games commence. The Show begins in April as the Herts teams get their 2016 league seasons underway. The Herts Falcons are expected to open their season on Sunday, 3 April, while the Herts minor league teams are expected to start on 10 April.

As always around the middle of March the Herts adult team managers will announce their preliminary rosters ahead of the HSL. Of course these preliminary rosters are likely to change as we get closer to Opening Day and managers promote those who impress in Spring Training. The movement of Herts players up and down the Herts league teams is usually an ongoing process.  We have witnessed players start the season with the fourth team in the Single-A and end up making their NBL debut later in the year.  We will follow players’ progress over the course of Spring Training and during the league season.

SPRING TRAINING SCHEDULE (more events may be added)

 

DAY

DATE

TEAMS

DETAILS

LOCATION

Sun

07-Feb-16

U15, U13. U10

Spring Training

JFK Catholic School

Sun

07-Feb-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Spring Training

JFK Catholic School

Sat

13-Feb-16

U15, U13. U10

Spring Training

JFK Catholic School

Sun

14-Feb-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Spring Training

JFK Catholic School

Sat

20-Feb-16

U15, U13. U10

Spring Training

JFK Catholic School

Sat

27-Feb-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Spring Training

Middlesex University

Sat

27-Feb-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Batting Practice

Middlesex University

Sat

05-Mar-16

U15, U13. U10

Spring Training

Middlesex University

Sat

05-Mar-16

U15, U13. U10

Batting Practice

Middlesex University

Sun

06-Mar-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Spring Training

Middlesex University

Sun

06-Mar-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Batting Practice

Middlesex University

Sat

12-Mar-16

U19, U17, U15, U13. U10

Spring Training

Grovehill Ballpark, Herts

Sun

13-Mar-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Spring Training

Grovehill Ballpark, Herts

Sat

19-Mar-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Herts Spring League

Grovehill Ballpark, Herts

Sun

20-Mar-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Herts Spring League

Grovehill Ballpark, Herts

Sat

26-Mar-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Herts Spring League

Grovehill Ballpark, Herts

Sun

27-Mar-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Herts Spring League

Grovehill Ballpark, Herts

Sat

02-Apr-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Herts Spring League

Grovehill Ballpark, Herts

Sun

03-Apr-16

AAA, AA, A, U19, U17

Herts Spring League

Grovehill Ballpark, Herts

Sun

03-Apr-16

NBL

League Game Day

TBC

Sun

10-Apr-16

NBL, AAA, AA, A

League Game Day

TBC

 HOW TO TAKE PART?

Existing players who have not reactivated their registration for the 2016 season can do so here.  New players can register for the new season here or contact us for more details.

 

by Greg Bochan

2015 Hunlock Series

The 2015 BBF league season is about to reach its conclusion,  but the best part of the season for everyone connected with Herts Baseball Club is yet 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 ninth year of the Hunlock Series. In its inaugural year in 2006 only two teams were involved, the Falcons and the Hawks. Herts Baseball Club has been growing rapidly since then and the number of teams in the Series has been increasing every year. As players sign up over the next few days we will know how many teams will enter the Series this year.

SERIES FORMAT

This year’s competition will be played over 3 Sundays. The opening games will be played on Sunday, 27 September.  The second round of games will take place on Sunday, 4 October with the final round scheduled for Sunday, 11 October.

After its success in the 2014 we will see the return of “The 9th Inning Weekend” where games are decided over one inning only. 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 2015 Hunlock Series managers will select their teams via Draft. Who will be the first round picks? How will minor league players 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 monitoring these games, players who have been pushing for promotion to a higher league team will have the perfect opportunity to make a claim on the big stage in the coming weeks of the Hunlock Series.

PLAYERS LOOKING TO REGISTER AHEAD OF THE DRAFT

Herts players are currently signing up ahead of the draft. New players and players from other clubs can also sign up by contacting Herts Baseball Club.

There has already been interest from non-Herts players located in other regions of the United Kingdom and overseas. Just like last year, the Hunlock Series could provide a glimpse at players who could be wearing the Herts jersey in 2016.

To be eligible for selection during the live draft, players must register and enter their availability details online by 7pm on Wednesday, 17 September. If you miss this deadline, don’t worry. Players would still be eligible to take part but would be added to teams as free agents. Players who wish to register for the 2015 Hunlock Series should contact Herts Baseball Club. To be eligible to play in the Hunlock Series, players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2015.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

4 Herts players get GB U19 team call-up for European Championships

Great Britain under-19 National Baseball Team Head Coach Will Lintern and the BBF have announced the roster of 17 players that will represent GB at this summer’s European U19 Championships. The squad includes four players from Herts – Conner Brown, Carlos Casal Jr, Zack Longboy and Will Zucker.

The week-long 10-team tournament will take place from 13-19 July in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where Team GB have been drawn in a pool with the reigning U19 European Champions Italy, as well as Spain, France and Germany. This will be the first time in 10 years that Great Britain has competed in the European U19 Championships. GB booked their place in the tournament with a silver medal finish at last summer’s European U19 Championship Qualifier in Croatia.

The 2015 GB U19 team has to be one of the most well-prepared national teams that GB has sent to a summer competition. The past winter included both Academy and National Team practices, and the second year of the High Performance Academy (HPA). The HPA programme, which is funded by Sport England and supported by Major League Baseball, enabled eligible athletes in England to receive greater levels of support during the off-season. A second HPA venue was added, with practices taking place in Worthing and Wembley, and with players who lived farther afield were supported through a distance learning programme.

Efforts by the GB programme and by BSUK (which runs the HPA and Academy) to develop talent have been noticed by others, as two GB players were selected to play on the European All-Star team in the MLB Academies Tournament earlier this year: Jacob Dean, an outfielder/pitcher from Horsham and Johnny Fretheim, a catcher/outfielder from the London Mets.

Finally, a training camp will be run in the Czech Republic immediately before the European U19 Championships, with half of the players at the camp and the other group in Kutno, Poland representing the UK in the European Little League Big League Qualifier.

SCHEDULE

GB’s round-robin schedule at the European U19 Championships will be as follows, with the home team listed first:

Monday 13 July – GB v Germany (5.00 pm)
Tuesday 14 July – France v GB (3.00 pm)
Thursday 16 July – Spain v GB (11.00 am)
Friday 17 July – GB v Italy (5.00 pm)

Semi-finals will be played on 18 July and the final on Sunday 19 July.

GB Head Coach Will Lintern said, “We have a very strong team. This is the one of the most prepared group of young men we have ever had, and their commitment and dedication puts us in a great position to perform well.”

ROSTER

The players selected for GB for the European U19 Championships are:

PLAYER

POSITION

CLUB

Luke Armstrong

P / INF

Cartmel Valley Lions

Elliot Berger

IB / P

Zurich Barracudas

Conner Brown

C

Herts Baseball Club

Dexter Bohn

OF

London Mets / LYBL Bulldogs

Rich Brereton

INF / P

Darien (Conn) High School, USA

Carlos Casal

UTIL / P

Herts Baseball Club

Rory Chandler

OF

Leicester Blue Sox

Jacob Dean

P / OF

Bracknel l/ LYBL Bulldogs

Johnny Fretheim

C / INF / P

London Mets / LYBL Bulldogs

Eli Hackney-Rose

P / OF

London Mets

Laura Hirai

P

London Mets

Andrew Lee

IF / OF

LYBL Bulldogs

Zack Longboy

P

Herts Baseball Club

Fred Mosier

UTIL / P

London Mets

Miguel Rodriguez

INF / P

Bracknell / LYBL Bulldogs

Matteo Sollecito

P

London Mets

Will Zucker

P / INF

Herts Baseball Club

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hawks win Herts Derby. Eagles still have playoff hopes after win over Brighton.

With the Herts Falcons resting at the weekend attention turned to the other three Hertfordshire teams. Two of them, the Herts Hawks and the Herts Raptors, clashed together in an eagerly anticipated derby game. The Hawks were top of the Single-A League table after winning all eight of their league games, while the Raptors were bottom of the table, still looking for their first win. There was no upset as the league-leaders secured a comfortable 16-6 win. Raptors batters found it difficult to deal with the repertoire of pitcher Nic Goetz.  Andrew Slater and Ken Pike came in relief to shut down the underdogs despite a mini rally in the late innings which brought the Raptors to within 6 runs. Ilya Dimitrov hit his second home run of the season. This time an inside-the-parker down the left field foul line.

While the Hawks are on course to reach the playoffs, the Raptors urgently need to start winning games if they are to stay in the race. Their next game is away at the Essex Archers this Sunday, 5 July.

In the Triple-A League the Herts Eagles were looking to bring their playoff hopes back to life in their home doubleheader with third-placed Brighton Bulldogs. These series saw Grovehill Ballpark’s biggest crowd of the season as the fans from the Herts Derby made the short walk to the main diamond to join other Herts and Brighton watching this game and enjoying the barbequed food which was on offer. The aroma of barbequed meat in the air seemed to spur the Herts Eagles on as they won the first game of the series by a quite unbelievable score line of 34-10. Brodie Caress (pictured above) pitched a complete game for the win and he had fantastic run support from his team which included a home run by Will Zucker. In the second game Brighton responded winning 14-3. There was a brief glimmer of hope for the Eagles in that game after Jon Lewys hit a towering home run over the left centerfield wall. That was only one of four hits for the Eagles as Brighton pitcher Angus Cowell shut down Herts’ bats. One of the runs scored by the Bulldogs was a solo home run by Sebastian Molina who plays for Brighton in the Triple-A League and for Herts in the under-19 League which prompted a round of applause from the home fans as Molina is very much a part of the Herts baseball family.

Next Sunday, 5 July, is going to be decisive for the Herts Falcons as they travel to the surging Southampton Mustangs. The Falcons have lost their last six league games while the Mustangs have won their last two. The Falcons will need to win at least one of the two games in the series to keep their playoff hopes in their own hands.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons unable to stop unbeaten Mets despite Azcuy record-breaking home run

(photo by Paul Holdrick)

The Herts Falcons were unable to end the unbeaten run of the London Mets on Sunday, losing both games of the doubleheader. There was a consolation for them as Maikel Azcuy hit career home run number 36 to become the all-time home run leader in the history of the National Baseball League (NBL).

 

In game one the Mets took a 4-run lead in the first inning, but the visitors from Hertfordshire showed determination to stay in the game and fight back. A towering 2-run home run to dead centerfield by Maikel Azcuy brought the Falcons back in the game in the sixth inning. The historic significance of that home run may not have been fully appreciated by Azcuy at that moment as he must have been more excited about the fact that he gave his team a lifeline to come back in this massive game in the NBL title race. However, in the coming days and weeks he will realize that he has set a major milestone in British baseball. He has overtaken the legendary Simon Pole (35 home runs) as well as other big names like Alan Bloomfield (31), Roddi Liebenberg (31), among others. Furthermore, he has many more years to add to his home run tally. Youngsters coming through the youth leagues will face an uphill task if they are to equal or better his achievement.

 

With the game finely poised at 4-2 ,the Falcons had one final inning to stay in the game, but it wasn’t to be. Their starting pitcher Jose Sosa did extremely well to shut down the Mets completely from the second inning onwards, but the best batting lineup in the league could not bring in the runs it needed to bring down the NBL’s best defence.

The second game seemed like a repeat of game one. The Mets took an early 4-0 lead. This included a home run by Grant Delzoppo – 26th of his career, which puts him in fifth place in the all-time NBL home run list. The Falcons fought back temporarily after a solo home run by Edwin Alcantara who has been outstanding this season. This was his third home run of the season which makes him this season’s home run joint-leader in the NBL alongside Maikel Azcuy. Unlike the first game, the Mets didn’t allow any late inning drama and moved up a gear to score seven runs and seal an emphatic 11-1 victory.

After a promising start of the season winning five of their first six games, the Herts Falcons have now suffered four defeats in a row, but manager, Lee Manning, remains positive about his team’s chances. “The four defeats have been difficult for our team to take, but there is a lot of baseball still to be played and we are in a strong position. We have a team of experienced players who have been through tougher situations in their careers and they enjoy playing when the pressure is on” said Manning.

In the Triple-A League, the Herts Eagles missed an opportunity to get back in the playoff chase after they suffered two defeats against bottom team Essex Redbacks who have now leapfrogged the Eagles. The only team from Hertfordshire to win this weekend were the Herts Hawks in the Single-A League. Their win against the Essex Archers extends their unbeaten run to six. The game included a home run by Bobby Graham on his home debut. The fact that this was only the second game of his life brought back memories of Dan Kerry who in 2007, in his very first at bat of his life hit a home run in the same location over the left-centerfield wall at the Old Diamond of Grovehill Ballpark against pitcher Darrin Ward who was playing for the Milton Keynes Hurricanes at the time.

Next weekend the Falcons travel to Croydon for games against the South London Pirates and the Southampton Mustangs.  Both of their opponents are currently below them in the standings and they cannot afford another slip up if they are to stay in the playoff places. Herts Hawks have a home game against the high-flying Guildford Mavericks (10:30am start). This game is followed by the Herts Raptors clash with the Bracknell Inferno at around 2:30pm.

Also this weekend, in the youth leagues the Herts Harriers and Herts Cardinals will play in the Under-19 and Under-15 UK qualifiers with winners progressing through to the European qualifying stage of the Little League World Series.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons breathing down Mets necks

 

A win for starting pitcher Robbie Almanzar in Game One (photo by Paul Holdrick)

The Herts Falcons picked up two wins on Sunday against the South London Pirates which keeps the pressure on the current leaders, London Mets, who are one game ahead.

The Falcons conceded 15 runs in their season-opening game against the South London Pirates to win narrowly 16-15. This time around there was no late-inning drama. Both wins were secured comfortably with final scores of 18-4 and 15-1. Jose Sosa has been outstanding on the mound this season, but manager Lee Manning decided to give his arm some rest and instead the starting pitchers were Robbie Almanzar in the first game and Mike Osborn in the second. Both were outstanding. Osborn struck out 9 Pirates over 4 innings. Almanzar also pitched 4 innings striking out 4 with allowing no earned runs. In fact the starters and relievers, Jose Sosa and Matt Gilbert, allowed only 1 earned run over the two games. The step up by the pitching staff comes at a perfect time as the team prepares for several crucial games including the big clash with the Mets.

Andy Cornish hit his first home run of the season (photo by Paul Holdrick)

Offensively the team continues to terrorize opponents with a team batting average of .356 and slugging average of .579. There was no home run from record-chasing, Maikel Azcuy, but the number of Falcons players with a home run to their name this season has increased to seven with Andy Cornish and Jose Sosa being added to the list on Sunday. Moises Vasquez came close to being the eighth home run hitter when his shot bounced off the top railing of the home run wall.

Herts fans also had an unexpected surprise on Sunday when two-time NBL Most Valuable Player, Ryan Bird (pictured right), made the trip from the USA for his first game for the Falcons since 6 April 2014. He picked up where he left batting 2-for-3 (2B, RBI).

View box scores of Game One

View box scores of Game Two

The Herts Falcons next game is at home against the Bracknell Blazers on 31 May. It is expected to be a difficult game. On Sunday the Blazers showed how dangerous they can be when they came close to beating the table-topping Mets.

In the other leagues, the Herts Eagles were involved in a closely-fought game with the Essex Redbacks. They lost the first game 6-4, but bounced back to win the second 4-2. This pushes them up one place into sixth position in the Triple-A League standings. In the Single-A League the Herts Raptors loaded the bases in the final inning against the Brighton Redhawks which put the tying run on second base and the go-ahead run on first base, but their late rally ended there with the score 18-20. They are the only Herts team in action next Sunday, 24 May, as they go on the road again searching for their first win of the season this time against the Guildford Mavericks.