Category: Falcons

Herts Falcons qualify for Europe
by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Falcons qualify for Europe

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By virtue of reaching the NBL Final, and regardless of the outcome of the Final, the Herts Falcons have qualified for European club competitions in 2019.  Players were not told by Manager, Cris Hiche, until after the two Playoff wins on Sunday that reaching the NBL Final would secure a place in Europe. In their post-game interviews we put a few questions about playing in Europe next year to Cris Hiche and Conner Brown both of whom have played under professional contracts with European clubs in the last two seasons – Hiche in Austria with the Dornbirn Indians and Brown in Germany with the Cologne Cardinals.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Falcons reach NBL National Final and will play in Europe next year

Against all the odds, the Herts Falcons are through to the National Baseball League Final after a dramatic day of NBL Playoffs.

HERTS FALCONS 18 SOUTHAMPTON MUSTANGS 17

At the start of the day, not even the most optimistic Herts baseball fans would have expected the Falcons to pull it off. Their first hurdle was the Southampton Mustangs, a team that had the best record in the NBL Regular Season, but had to go through the Playoffs because of an off-the-field infringement. Hopes of an upset were dwindling early on as Southampton took a 9-2 lead after just two innings. Self-belief and energy levels can drain away very quickly from a team in such a predicament. Whether it was something that was said by the manager or a player, or perhaps the team is made up of players with superior inbuilt perseverance, the Falcons somehow managed to turn the game around. Their offence was alive again and they were getting productive at-bats from 1 to 9 in the batting order. It took a big collective effort to tie the game up first at 9-9 and then 13-13 before taking a 16-13 lead with just two innings left to play. There is always a risk of losing some of the momentum from the feeling of relief after coming back from the dead twice. The Mustangs struck back in the top of the final inning to take a 17-16 lead. The pressure was back on the Falcons. They had only three outs left and they needed to score in order to avoid elimination. 17-year-old Tyler Badenhorst was the lead-off batter. He is arguably one of the club’s most promising young talents but he has been on the disabled list in recent weeks which is why he was brought into the game from the bench. Heavy weight on young shoulders but he did what was required of him and got on base with a walk. Walter Bates and Moise Vasquez also walked. Southampton responded by getting two outs against the third and fourth batter in the Falcons batting order. There was no room for error now. With the bases loaded Dany Bueno was hit by a pitch and that brought in the tying run and a sigh of relief among Herts fans. It all came down to Phil Clark whose walk-off hit started Herts’ celebrations with a final score of 18-17.

The psychological pressure of trailing 9-2 in this game must have been enormous and after the game player-manager, Cris Hiche, felt that keeping the belief within the team was going to be critical. “We knew to expect a high-scoring game and I think that helped to maintain the belief in those difficult periods of the game when Southampton had a big lead” said Hiche.

HERTS FALCONS 5 LONDON CAPITALS 3

There was no time for celebrations or a breather. The London Capitals were waiting patiently, fresh and ready to face the Falcons for a place in the NBL Final. With their pitching staff depleted from the first game, player-manager, Cris Hiche, was the Herts starting pitcher. He has not had many pitching outings in his career prior to this season, but, with pitchers missing due to international call-ups and injuries, he has been converted into a pitcher and has proved to be one of the team’s most effective pitchers this season. Unlike the earlier high-scoring game, the pitchers were controlling this encounter from the start. Apart from the quality pitching, both teams showed good defence including a 6-4-3 double play turned by Carlos Casal Jr and Moise Vasquez. Carlos Casal also contributed with the bat as he and Dany Bueno drove in a run each to put Herts into a 2-1 lead.  After five innings the Capitals tied the game up at 2-2.

In the top of the sixth inning the Falcons came up with a big 3-run inning, which included a sacrifice fly from Hector Miguel who was looking to redeem himself after being ejected in the first game.  Capitals responded again but their rally was limited to one run thanks to a diving catch at the wall by left fielder, John Blose, for the final out of the inning stranding two runners who would have scored if it wasn’t for that spectacular play which prompted all his teammates to run to left field to congratulate him. With a 5-3 lead, Cris Hiche maintained his composure in the bottom of the final inning to shut down the side in order and start another field invasion by Herts players, coaches and fans.

“It’s a big relief to reach the Final” said Falcons catcher, Conner Brown, and added that “After some ups and downs this year, it’s nice to see the team come through today and hopefully get some recognition that we are a good team”.

Regardless of the outcome in the NBL Final, reaching it implies that the Falcons will be playing in Europe next year. This is the first time that a Herts team has managed to qualify for European Club Competitions. The players were not aware that they were also playing for a European place today and manager Cris Hiche gave them the news only after the final out.

 

The focus now turns to the Final against the London Mets. It will be a best-of-3 series with Game One on Saturday, 8 September, at Farnham Park in Slough. Cris Hiche was under no illusion about the size of the challenge ahead of them. He said: “The Mets are a good team, and we go in the Final as the underdogs, as evident from the regular season standings, but we enjoyed the battle today and hopefully we can do it again next weekend”. The only previous time that the Herts Falcons have reached the NBL Final was in 2012 when they lost to the Harlow Nationals in Game Seven. Follow Herts Baseball on Twitter for more information about the Final and build-up ahead of the games.

by Zack Longboy

Resilient Falcons Fall Just Short

Without two of their top starting pitchers and three middle of the order hitters, the Falcons knew it would be a battle – tooth and nail – in the two-game set against top-ranked Southampton. Sunday was a day of crafty pitching, solid defense, Griffey-like, back-to-back production from a father-son duo, and above all, resilience from a Falcons side who refused to quit.

Wade Lynch got the start for Herts in game 1, fresh off a busted nose in the Falcons’ winning effort against the Birmingham Bandits last week. The crafty veteran pitched well, allowing only 1 run over the first three frames, and showcasing a varied mix of off-speed pitches.

While Lynch continued to keep the Mustangs hitters off-balance, a series of weak contact hits put runners in scoring position, before the middle of the Southampton order drove them in. In all, the flurry of Mustang bats amounted to 5 runs in the bottom of the 4th (Despite being played at Grovehill, the game was technically a home for Southampton due to scheduling).

ABOVE: Veteran 2B Moises Vasquez watches the opposing pitcher intently. After a pinch-hit single in his only at-bat of Game 1, Vasquez was moved up to the four-hole for Game 2 where he tacked on a long double.  

On the other side of the rubber, Southampton’s Chris Gregory kept the Falcon’s hot bats in check, allowing only 3 runs over 6 innings and striking out 9. After another flurry of hits by the Mustangs in the 6th, led by Giovani Escalona and Ambiorix Hurtado, the score stood at 9-3 Mustangs with 3 innings to play.

The Falcons managed to add two runs in the 7th with back-to-back singles from John and Brian Morgan, a father-son duo making their Griffey-esque, Falcons debut. RF Adrian Achitei also added two hits in the effort. However, with reliever Walter Bates on in relief of Lynch, the Mustangs tacked on 3 more in the bottom of the frame, bringing the score to 12-5 Southampton.

The score would stay this way until the top of 9th, where the Falcons, with only three outs remaining, proved that they wouldn’t go down easy. With production up and down the order, the Falcons batted through the lineup against reliever Callum Vinall, dinging him for six runs. With the chance to tie, the bases were loaded with two outs and the Falcons’ best hitter of the day, Walter Bates (3-6, 2 RBIs) was at the plate. After working the count full, Vinall executed a perfect pitch down in the zone and retired Bates, stemming the bleeding and giving the Mustangs the 12-11 win.

It was a brilliant comeback effort from the resilient Falcons, although the final out was a microcosm of the team’s struggles in Game 1. Three times, the Herts side left the bases loaded with less than two outs, not capitalizing on run-scoring situations. Despite this fact, all 11 players who came to the plate for the Falcon’s in Game 1 had a least one hit. This was one of the many positives that Manager Cris Hiche took from the game. “Game 1 was a difficult game in which we were behind the entire time,”

Hiche said. “I’m gutted we fell short after a 6-run 9th-inning rally, however, I’m very happy how the team never gave up and fought till the very end.”

Game 2, slated as a 7-inning contest, hoped to be more promising for a Falcons side with all the momentum from the recent late-inning comeback.

The Falcons bats added one run in each of the first three innings, however, left men on base each time against the young, inexperienced Mustangs pitcher.

On the other side of the ball, Zack Longboy got the start for the Falcons, blanking Southampton side over the first three innings and striking out 6 over six frames. A hard double by Vinall and a two run-shot by big first-baseman Oswaldo Rodriguez drew the score even at 3-3 after 4 innings.

Despite adding another run in 6th, on C Andy Roberts’ first home-run in a Herts uniform, the Falcons couldn’t muster any more firepower. Gary Davison had come on in relief in the fourth inning, and his mix of breaking balls kept Herts hitters flummoxed over the second half of the contest. Davison ended with 7 K’s. Meanwhile, two misplayed balls, and doubles by Davison and Alberto Rodriguez, gave the Mustangs some insurance. Final score: Southampton 7, Herts 4.

“I’m disappointed we fell short on Game 2 as [Longboy] pitched another brilliant game and kept us always in the game [sic],” Manager Hiche said. “As a team, we are hitting over .300 but somehow we couldn’t score more than 3 runs against a weak pitcher” in the first three innings. We need to do better in those circumstances if we want to win more games.”

WHAT’S NEXT

The homestand continues for the Falcons, doubleheader versus the top tier London Mets up next on Sunday, 1 July.

Game 1: 11:30 a.m.

Game 2: 15:00 p.m.

Location:

Grovehill Ballpark,

Washington Avenue,

Hemel Hempstead,

Hertfordshire, HP2 6NH

by Rob Jones

Happy Hawks hang on, Falcons bounce back

The Herts Hawks travelled to the riverside venue of Richmond to take on the London Marauders in the AA-division (don’t ask why). They were looking to build on last week’s wins and cement their position as a force in the AA-division this year. 

Game 1 started out as a pitching duel and it was scoreless through three innings. London took a one-run lead in the fourth, then the Hawks struck back with hits from catcher, Bryn Coughlan, and Darrin Ward to lead 2-1.

 It stayed that way until the final inning, when shortstop Gilberto Medina hit a triple to drive in three runs. Pitcher Leigh Coke held the Marauders to just one in reply to finish off his complete game, and secure a 5-2 win.

 The second game was tight too, but more high-scoring. Ward also pitched a complete game for Herts and they won 14-13, surviving more final inning drama by stranding what would have been the tying run on second base.

Defense was key to their success, with an amazing diving catch in the outfield by Anthony Lavender, and several fine plays at shortstop by Medina.

 In the NBL, the Herts Falcons were in Birmingham to face the newcomers to the league, the Bandits. Their day was dogged by some personnel troubles, but they battled through.

Wade Lynch was hit in the face during batting practice, but had to soldier on and play. (He would later need stitches). Starting pitcher Rob Ackerman did not arrive until near game time so the Falcons started off with reliever Walter Bates on the mound.

The two teams exchanged runs in the early going, with the Bandits 4-3 up after two innings. Ackerman then came in and was able to close down the Birmingham bats.

Rob Ackerman (file photo)

Meanwhile, up and down the lineup, Herts were hitting well and they won comfortably, 18-5. Carlos Casal Jr made his 2018 debut for the team after a transfer was completed during the week. 

The second half of the double-header was a closer affair. The roster went down to 9, meaning Lynch had to stay on and Ackerman tried to squeeze some more innings out of his arm.

Manager Cris Hiche again pitched well as a reliever, and another burst of runs from the Herts bats helped the cause. It was 7-2 after three innings, but the Bandits chipped away, closing the gap to 7-6 before Herts put it to bed with 4 runs in the top of the seventh.

The Falcons secured the victory, 11-7. Alex Deacon got his first NBL hit, and Hiche was proud of how his team had battled throughout a tiring day.

In Single-A, the Herts Raptors got a walkover win against the Old Timers, who couldn’t get enough players to Grovehill for a full team. The two sides still played a game with the people they had got, and won that too — and everyone had a good time in the Hemel Hempstead sunshine!

That meant that Herts won five out of five games, the second time this year the club has secured a full sweep on a Sunday.

 

by Zack Longboy

Falcons’ hot bats, strong pitching spoiled by resilient Capitals

On a sunny day at Grovehill Ballpark, Game 1 of a double dip with the London Capitals was off to a good start for the Herts NBL side.

Despite taking place at Grovehill, the Falcons were the away team throughout the two-game set, as a result of scheduling difficulties with London’s home field. Led by CF Walter Bates, who went 6-7 on the day with 3 BB, the Falcons’ offense exploded for 17 hits. Adding to Bates’ dominance was  C Conner Brown, who followed up Bates’ no-doubter HR in top of the 4th with a solo shot of his own. 3B Phil Clark added a solo shot and 1B Cris Hiche an RBI double to chase Capitals starter, Timmy Ssali after only 4 innings.

CF Walter Bates and C Conner Brown Hit Back-to-Back HR in the 4th.

On the mound for Herts, Zack Longboy was dominant early in his return from university in the U.S. Buoyed by strong run support, Longboy held the hot-hitting Capitals to three runs over the first six frames.

In the 7th however, a walk, HBP and another walk caused manager Cris Hiche to turn to young reliever Aaron Witter. With the Falcons up 10-3, the Capitals’ DH, Adam Gelman(who had already hit a two-run bomb in the bottom of the 2nd) dug in to face the young righty. With the bases loaded, Gelman hit a grand slam home run over left field, narrowing the score to 10-7. It was a brand new ballgame.

Back in the game, Capital’s manager turned to David Bedard who held the Falcon’s lineup in check over the last three innings of the game. Hiche on the other hand, went with closer Conner Brown for the potential 9-out save.

Both teams traded zeros until the bottom of the 9th, when the Capitals began to mount a comeback. With runners on, a double by Bedard pulled the score tied and a walk and a passed ball put the wining run only 90 feet away.

In a move that caught everyone in the ballpark by surprise, heavy-hitting 1B Ben Marcal laid down a squeeze bunt, scoring the winning run from third, and giving the Capitals an 11-10 walk off win.

“We played a great game in all aspects and we deserved the win,” said Manager Cris Hiche.”I made some errors in my managerial decisions which proved costly… but credit to the Capitals who fought back, got some very timely hits, and executed the squeeze play to perfection.”

Despite the swing in momentum, Falcons’ bats started hot again in Game 2. With singles from Bates, RF Tom Carson, and a double by 2B Moises Vasquez plating 3 runs in the top of the first.

The bottom of the 1st however, proved eventful as the Capitals’ bats sprang to life. When all was said and done, the London side had plated 8 runs and Herts starting pitcher Wade Lynch had been ejected from the game. Hiche came on to relieve, after Lynch recorded only 1 out in the first.

After the flurry of early runs, both sides traded goose eggs in the middle innings. It was a particularly masterful performance by Hiche, who took the ball reluctantly but finished with a dominant line of 5.2 innings pitched, zero earned runs, and only 3 hits allowed.

A late rally with another Brown laser shot over left (his second home run of the day), and a single from Witter plated two runs, bringing the score to 8-5. However, the Falcons’ hitters couldn’t capitalise with runners in scoring position (most notably a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the top of the 6th, and the game would end 8-5 to the Capitals.

“The Capitals started full blast [in Game 2], said Manager Hiche. “I think we were a bit down from the result of Game 1.. the Capitals took full advantage of it in the first inning and that made all the difference.” Hiche added, “The positive I take out, which I’m extremely happy to see, is that we never gave up and fought back until the end. This hasn’t happened [over] the last few years!”

The two loses, 11-10 and 8-5, to the Capitals bring the Falcons record to 4-8, which despite having 1 more win than the fourth place Essex Arrows, places Herts fifth in the NBL standings. However, despite the two losses, the Herts side played well throughout the day. Two stellar performances by Longboy and Hiche, as well as the flurry of offense all the way through the lineup (with standout performances from Bates and Brown) are definite positives for a team looking to improve in the second half of the season.

WHAT’S NEXT

For the Falcons, a long road trip to Birmingham awaits, where the they will play a double-header versus the bottom-seeded Bandits on Sunday, 10 June.

Game 1: 11:30 a.m.

Game 2: 15:00 p.m.

Location: Birmingham Bandits Field, Marston Green CC, B37 7EL.

by Rob Jones

Falcons fight back, while Hawks lose their way

The Herts Falcons had suffered a frustrating day at home to the London Capitals in their National Baseball League matchup (on Sunday May 13th).

In the first half of the double-header, they fell into an early hole, and couldn’t quite fight their way out.  When they went 8-2 behind in the second game, things looked bad.

Falcons’ John Blose at bat

But they dug deep. As manager Cris Hiche put it, “the bats came alive”. NBL rookie Tom Carson was one of those making his presence felt. He came off the bench to get two hits, including a double.

Tyler Badenhorst had started sharply on the mound, but then struggled with his control and the relief corps stepped up. Aaron Witter and Walter Bates held firm, and Conner Brown contributed three innings of “phenomenal” relief pitching. The Falcons won it 14-8.

The first game had ended 7-4 to London, but that is only part of the story.

London had scored 6 in the first inning – with 2 home runs inching over the short fence in right field.  Rather than turning into a blowout, this one was tight. On the mound, Herts’ Rob Ackerman made adjustments after the early shelling, to pitch a complete game.

A tough-luck loss for Rob Ackerman

Hiche hopes his team can ride the momentum from their comeback and continue improving. They are now at .500 on the season.

Across Grovehill on the other baseball diamond, the Herts Hawks had an unusually error-strewn game against Sidewinders in the AA-league. It was a top of the table clash, and the Herts side will be disappointed with their performance.

The first exchanges were tight. But then they gave up 5 runs in the top of the second, with batters getting to veteran pitcher Darrin Ward and the defense unable to help him out.

Hawks were able to rally back to 11-6, and loaded the bases more than once. They got hits from new boy Leigh Coke and returning hero Kimiyoshi Saionji.

Unmistakeably – and irreplaceably – Kimi

But they could not keep Sidewinders in check. More mistakes allowed more runs, and in the end the visitors took it 19-11.

The Hawks manager Mike Cresswell was clearly frustrated but looked quickly towards rebounding in the coming weeks: “We bring our heads up high, and move on to the next”, he said. “And nobody can be upset when we witnessed the return of Kimi!”

The Herts Raptors had to sit out the week’s action, but still ended up with a victory. The Old Timers were hampered by injury and had to postpone their planned game in Single-A.

They felt unable to turn this week’s fixture into a double-header so the Raptors win by forfeit, and move to 2-1 on the season.

 

by Rob Jones

Break out the brooms: Herts sweep at home

Five games. Five wins. On a Bank Holiday weekend which saw the best sunshine of the year so far, the sun also shone on the three Herts adult teams.

Moise Vasquez shows the way for the Falcons

The Hawks started bright and early on a packed day at Grovehill, kicking off their double header against the Bracknell Inferno at 10am.

Darrin Ward went the distance on the pitching mound in this one. Backed by the bats of Hunter Devine and Jon Lewys, Herts jumped out to a 3-1 lead.

Anthony Lavender hit a double and hosed a runner from the outfield to help the home side to a 7-3 lead in the middle of the fourth, and Herts ran away with it from there. It ended 14-4, and another win for Ward.

The second game saw the Hawks give debuts to some new recruits. Adam Huxley, Leigh Coke and Bryn Coughlan all contributed to an even more convincing victory, 14-0. Coke pitched a one-hit shutout for the W.

The Hawks now move to 4-1 on the season and can be very happy with how things are shaping up.

Darrin Ward of the Hawks

Over on the other diamond, the Herts Falcons were hosting the new boys in the National Baseball League (NBL), the Birmingham Bandits. This was a fixture rearranged from the Opening weekend washout, and the weather couldn’t have been more different.

In the first half of the double-header, solid hitting helped the home side back up Wade Lynch. He pitched 5 strong innings with 5 strikeouts. Walter Bates went 4-for-4, while a 2-run double from Moise Vasquez was one of the highlights.

The Falcons blew Birmingham away in the bottom of the fifth to secure a mercy rule 17-7 win.

Game 2 was a tighter affair, with Birmingham fighting back after a good start from the Falcons. It was 7-5 to Herts in the middle of the sixth.

But the home side was able to finish it off, Vasquez going 3-for-4 and Dany Bueno contributing 4 RBIs. As the shadows started to lengthen, the Falcons wrapped up a 13-7 win with a catch deep in the left field corner. Aaron Witter, Charlie Mayhew and Phil Clarke combined with the pitching.

Falcons manager Cris Hiche puts some work in

In the Single-A league, the Herts Raptors were hosting the Bracknell Phoenix and going in search of their first win of the season.

A couple of strikeouts by starting pitcher Lee Manning couldn’t stop the lead off batter getting round to score. But he threw a chair to the number 6 hitter and closed the door on any more runs.

Then the Herts bats went to work. Bracknell would probably kick themselves that were unable to make some plays, but the Raptors did what they had to do and put the ball in play to make things happen.

There were hits for Giuseppe Basilea and Paul Barton, while James Emblow hit a fine double. By the time it was over, Herts had scored 12 runs to take a stranglehold on the game.

It did all settle down a bit from there. Phoenix hitters got tougher at the plate and chipped back some runs – 2 in the second, 4 in the fourth to make it 20-7.

But Herts were determined not to take their foot off the gas on this day. Manager Matt Jackson scored a run every time he came up, while the only out which Michael Johnson made was a booming fly ball caught near the fence in centre.

Giuseppe Basilea pitching (file photo)

Defensively, Herts were sound too, turning a double play to help contain Bracknell. Substitute second-baseman Arnie Longboy took a ground ball up the middle, stepped on the bag and threw on to rookie Tim Bohknecht at first base.

Giuseppe Basilea came on to pitch two excellent innings of relief. And then in the bottom of the fifth Herts needed two for a mercy rule win.

Barton scored the first of them on a groundout, leaving the bases empty. Then Longboy manufactured the winner all by himself with a walk, a steal, a steal and an overthrow.

Raptors celebrated a 24-9 win to go 1-1 on their young season and secure Matt Jackson’s first league victory as manager. Manning got the W as pitcher.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Arrows, Mets, Hawks and Musketeers win the 2018 HSL titles

 

In the NBL Division the Essex Arrows and Birmingham Bandits were the favourites going into the final weekend of the 2018 Herts Spring League (HSL). Despite losing to the Herts Falcons, the earlier win over the London Mammoths was enough for the Arrows to clinch first place.  The Birmingham Bandits had two shots at overtaking them but first the London Mammoths and then the Southampton Mustangs took the wins in closely fought games.

Their strong performance in the second week was enough for the London Mets U19 to win the HSL Triple-A title. The rain on Saturday scuppered the eagerly awaited encounter between them and the Lakenheath Regulators which was built as the title-decider in the Triple-A bracket.

In the Double-A Division the Herts Hawks’ record of three wins and no losses secured first place for them.

In the Single-A Division calculators were needed to break the tie between the London Musketeers and the London Archers. The Musketeers clinched it thanks to conceding fewer runs per inning, 0.111 compared to the Archers’ 0.556 runs per inning.

The 2018 Herts Spring League proved to be a major struggle in the face of sub-zero temperatures and snow in week one and torrential rain on the final Saturday which flooded both diamonds. These certainly were the worst weather conditions in the 11-year history of the HSL, but, despite this, 21 games were played which is 53% of the original schedule.

View HSL scoreboard

View HSL standings

We saw home runs, spectacular defence, lights-out pitching, many players who will be making their BBF league debuts in 2018 and a whole lot more over the last three weeks of the HSL.

With Spring Training completed, British baseball teams up and down the country will hope that this will be their year. The NBL teams will open the 2018 season next Sunday, 8 April, while the other three leagues start later in April. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for a comprehensive coverage of the 2018 baseball season.