Herts Falcons’ wins on Sunday moved them up to second place in the NBL standings to set up an almighty encounter with the London Mets. It is arguably the biggest game of the NBL season so far – first against second. A sweep for Herts will move them into joint first place with the Mets, however if the Mets prevail they will open up a 3 or even a 4-game gap between them and the next team in the chasing pack, which would virtually secure an automatic postseason spot for the Mets.

The Londoners are still unbeaten this season (8-0) reminiscent of the invincible Mets of 2008 who went on to win the NBL title. The Southampton Mustangs went close to ending their winning streak two weeks ago taking them into extra innings but eventually losing 1-0. 3 weeks ago the Herts Falcons travelled to Finsbury Park and also came close but lost 4-2. That game proved to be a fiery affair. There isn’t any specific history of ill-feeling between the two teams. It has just been a case of the two teams fired up in what is proving to be a very competitive and exciting season.

In their first meeting the pitching matchups were Julian Summers (Mets) versus Darrin Ward (Falcons) in game one and Pietro Sollecito (Mets) versus Robbie Unsell (Falcons) in game two. Sollecito has been sensational leading the League in ERA (0.78) so he is a certainty to start one of the games, but beyond this it is difficult to predict the pitching matchups for this Sunday as both managers are spoilt for choice with large number of other starting pitching options.

Sunday’s clash is also a meeting of what are considered to be the two largest baseball clubs in Great Britain. Below we have put together a chart comparing various aspects of the two clubs. In terms of infrastructure and facilities they are more or less equal. The two organisations are also equal in terms of the number of their affiliated teams, with 7 teams each. However, the London Mets have a superior championship-winning record with 6 league titles, while Herts have 2.

Statistically this season the Mets have been outstanding so as expected they rank higher in all main categories with the exception of home runs where the Falcons have a slight advantage after home runs by Cris Hiche and Ryan Bird so far this season.

Herts will have home field advantage this Sunday and they will count on their loyal supporters to come out in force and help the team end London’s run. (click here for address and directions to Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead). Game starts at 1pm.

Two other top-of-the-table games from the BBF Single-A League will be played on the same day at Grovehill Ballpark. The Herts Eagles host the Richmond Dukes at 10am while the Herts Raptors will play the Essex Redbacks immediately after that from around 2pm.

written by Cristobal Hiche

NBL (Game 1) Herts Falcons 2 Southampton Mustangs 0 (click to view box scores)

If last week games were close, these games were literally down to the wire. Both games were decided in the last 2 innings. The first game was a pitching duel between injured Robbie Unsell and Gary Davison for Southampton Mustangs. The duel was so good that Robbie ended up with 10K and Gary with 5K. Clearly not much was happening on the field and solid defence on both sides kept more or less the bases empty. Both teams had a few men on base. While Mustangs tried playing small ball to advance the runners, Falcons were looking for line drives to spark a rally. In the bottom of the 6th, Falcons 2nd batter Phil Clark managed to walk and all indicated Falcons should try to play small ball and advance the runner. However the dilemma for manager Lee Manning was that the heart of the order (3rd-5th batter) was coming up. Ryan Bird solved this dilemma by hitting the 1st pitch deep into RF. A blast that put Herts 2-0 ahead and psychologically KO’ing Southampton. They couldn’t do anything on top of the 7th with Robbie striking out the last 2 batters. A solid, much-needed win for a Falcons that didn’t have the starting line-up. Dave House, Jordan Farkas, Dave Tretheway, and Xavi Gonzalez were all missing this afternoon. However, AAA call-ups Louie Hare and Mike Cattlemore, and the season debut of Kevin Niedringhaus and Felix Perez did a tremendous job to minimise the absence of the regular players.

NBL (Game 2) Herts Falcons 4 Southampton Mustangs 3 (click to view box scores)

The second game was no different. Mustangs were able to score 1 run in the top of the 1st and Falcons couldn’t get anything going in their favour. But in the bottom of the 3rd all of a sudden Falcons looked like the team we used to see last year. Everybody started to hit or being selective at the plate, drawing walks. The result was 4 runs in one inning which we haven’t seen since the game against Nationals a few months ago. Michael Osborn, who before this game had a lifetime record of 5-0 against Southampton, was keeping their bats quite with his nasty curveball. The curveball was impressive as seen from the press box but that meant that Michael’s arm was getting a bit tired and Mustangs managed to score a run thanks to a solo HR by Alberto Rodriguez. Falcons allowed the Mustangs to load the bases but Osborn used his remaining energy to induce ex-Falcons player Kimiyoshi Saionji to a pop-fly to end the inning. Manager Lee Manning took the right decision to bring Robbie Unsell who was sitting on the bench due to his injury to come and close the game. It was a gamble since Robbie had already pitched 7 innings and Mustangs knew what to look for. Southampton managed to have men on 1st and 3rd thanks to a dropped 3rd strike that Lee Manning couldn’t properly handle. The reason was that Lee had just come into the game due to (again!) a minor injury to starting catcher Dave Westfallen and Robbie’s slider was wicked all day long. Lee didn’t expect that big drop at the end of the pitch. However, in a very strange decision that will leave many Mustang fans puzzled, Justin Frosina who was 1-3 in the game, was sent to try the squeeze play not once, not twice, but 3 times and that meant he bunted foul with 2 strikes which is an automatic strikeout. And to add drama to this ending, another nasty slider meant Lee had to block the ball which escaped just a few feet down the 3rd base side. Alberto Rodriguez decided to take the risk and steal home and in a very close play at home he was tagged out by Robbie Unsell who went to cover the plate. Unfortunately he re-injured his ankle. This meant it wasn’t much of a victory celebration as all teammates went to home plate to check on him. He had to be carried off the field and in a class act, all Southampton players clapped to wish Robbie all the best in his recovery.

Lee Manning said after the game: “Our pitching and defence were amazing today. We got some timely hitting but our hitting still needs to improve a bit.” Asked if it’s still a worry that Falcons are not scoring many runs, Falcons manager replied: “[Given the amount of injuries] I’m not too worried about the lack of hitting. Once we get our 9 starters I think our hitting will pick up. Now it’s a matter to win enough games to get us into the post-season. These 2 victories take us a bit closer to that goal.” On the other side of the field we were given a similar analysis: “[Both games] were hard fought. I think for both sides they were not bad games. These two low-scoring games went against expectations given the offensive power we both have shown in the past. We’re obviously not happy with the two losses and with the amount of runs that we scored”.

Both games were fantastic and as a reporter I will allow myself to give an opinion. Although I agree with both managers that these have been very good offensively teams in the past and the box scores for today clearly shows a lack of that, I think they were not just good games. I think they were MLB type games. I think this does not reflect that hitting was missing but rather that pitching has greatly improved. As a reporter who has covered many leagues around the world, it is always the case that pitching is always behind hitting. You just need to look no further than lower-tier leagues here in the UK where most games end up with 20+ runs. The average MLB game is only about 8 runs. Thus to me these games were better quality, still with some offensive action (2HR, one in each game by each team), close plays, close calls, and every single error by all those involved in the field can make a big difference. What does this mean? Better quality baseball in the UK and an open invitation to all fans to come down support Herts Falcons knowing you’ll have a great experience at the ballpark!

written by Cristobal Hiche

It’s hard to fully describe these two games. They were very good, and more importantly, very close games. There was very good defence, good hitting, good pitching but nothing out of the ordinary. Giovanni’s triple for the Arrows was probably the only big hit of the day. John Bloise’s tremendous diving catch in CF was probably the only web gem of the day. There were just very few errors made by both teams but nothing that probably affected the games. If there’s a way to describe it, I would say they were “vanilla games” but probably the best vanilla you have ever eaten in your life! Why?

The answer is pretty simple. Two games that went to the wire will always be a good game to watch. In these types of games, players and managers are battling it out there and giving their 100% the entire game because there’s no chance to get relaxed since that can cost you dearly. Any small mistake can swing one way or the other and one pitch could make the difference.

The first game started with Arrows scoring a run in the 2nd but the Falcons were able to score a run in the next 3 innings. By the top of the 5th inning it was 3-1 for the Falcons but they could never mount a rally to give themselves some room to breathe. Barry Wiles was pitching a solid game. Although at times he would put a few men on base, Essex Arrows also couldn’t start a rally. By the 6th inning it was 4-2 and both teams were just trying to produce a run playing small ball and getting the fundamentals right because it was going to be a close game ‘til the end. However, Herts was able to score a few more in the 7th and was 6-2 for Herts in the bottom of the 7th. A Herts fan would have thought that was definitely enough to win it, but they would have been wrong. Essex managed to get some timely hits and make it 6-5 before Ryan Bird came to close the game. With a man on 3rd and 2 outs, an unrostered new Essex player had just entered the game and with limited baseball experience he had to face one of the fastest pitchers in the league. Somehow, and credit to him, he was able to put the ball in place with a slow chopper down the middle and in a rare error by the dynamic Xavi-Robbie duo, they both couldn’t get to the ball and make the final out. Game tied. The Falcons responded well by scoring 3 runs in extra innings and shutting down the Arrows in the bottom of the inning to seal a 9-6 win.

The bad news of that first game was the injuries to both Xavi (hamstring) and Robbie (ankle) which meant they both sat out the second game. Without their 1-2 batters and the defensive duo, Herts still went to battle and tried to get that 2nd win. Darrin Ward and and Lance Louw got into a pitching duel taking a 1-1 score into the bottom of the 6th. Arrows again were able to start a small rally and were able to score 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th to put a dagger into Herts. Herts showed some heart (pun intended) and looked to repeat the scenario from the first game. They scored a run and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. A single would tie the game, but Lance Louw showed composure and struck out Carlos Velazco-Carus to end the game and give the victory to the Arrows.

Manager Lee Manning said after the game: “In the first game we played the way I expect us to play. Second game we didn’t hit the way I expected us to hit. Not taking anything away from Essex but we seem to be struggling with all these weeks off not playing.” Asked if the injuries could have affected the outcome of the second game, he added: “I think any team in the league would suffer if they lose their middle infielders, and in our case we feel our middle infielders are the best in the league, so their absence is bound to affect us. The guys that filled in did an amazing job but that meant we left holes in other parts of the field.” Essex Manager Steve Simmons summarised the day by saying: “I’m very pleased the way we played all day long. Unfortunately [in the first game] we ran out of pitching and they managed to score.” And then added “…[Second game] we played basics ball, we played fundamentals, ran the bases well, clutch hitting and didn’t make any critical errors.”

The season is getting quite interesting with all teams close together and the London Mets look like they are running away with it at the moment. This is the stage of the season where the fans can have a big impact. The Falcons are playing against a tough Southampton team at home next Sunday, May 26. An opportunity to come down to the ballpark and make some noise to try to grab two necessary wins against their immediate opponents.

written by Cristobal Hiche

A Herts fanatic would try to find many excuses to justify two painful losses suffered this Saturday afternoon in Finsbury Park against the London Mets. The fact is London Mets won two hard fought games with determination.

They led every inning in both games besides the 1st inning of the 1st game because Falcons scored 2 runs in top of the 1st and looked poised for another high scoring Falcons victory. However Mets fought back in the bottom of that opening inning, tied the game, and slowly but surely kept scoring thanks to timely hitting throughout the game. By the 3rd inning it was 8-2 for the Mets. Offensively Herts looked nothing like previous outings but they looked to make a comeback in the 5th with 2 runs. Mets had none of that and scored 5 runs in the bottom of the inning. Herts wouldn’t give up scoring another 3 in the 6th, yet Mets made sure not to give a window of opportunity to mount a rally, and scored another 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th to leave the score 16-7 (final score). Mets manager Erick Henson said: “The Herts team is always a great opponent. We just hit the ball really well. I need to look the stats with more detail but it felt that with even 2 outs and men on base, we were able to bring them in”.

Click to view game 1 stats

The 2nd game was quite the opposite with great pitching from Robbie Unsell and Pietro Sollecito. Although Robbie pitched a great complete game (7 innings) and gave up only 2 earned runs, it was Mets veteran Pietro who stole the show. Not having overpowering pitches and facing the best offensive team in the league, Pietro not only kept Falcons bats quiet but was throwing a perfect game until the top of the 5th and pitched a shutout until the top of the 7th. Up to this point, he just worked both sides of the plate, hitting the corners, and making sure Herts batters hit the pitches he wanted them to hit. Like any great pitching performance, defence also played its part making great catches to some solid hitting by Falcons players.

With the score 4-0 in the top of the 7th and the top of the order coming up, Herts took the approach to score at least 1 run to avoid the shutout for the 1st time in 2 years. This gave them the focus to be aggressive at the plate and on the bases. Before you knew it, it was 4-2 with man on 3rd and 2nd base with 1 out. Herts manager Lee Manning put pinch-hitter Ben Marques for Darrin Ward and Mets manager Erick Henson made the tough decision keeping Pietro on the mound with a reliever ready in the bullpen. Pietro didn’t disappoint his manager and induced the next 2 batters to hit fly balls and keep the runners on base. Great ending for a great game.

Click to view game 2 stats

It’s an unusual outcome for the Falcons who got swept for the 1st time in 2 years and didn’t look sharp all day long. As usual, it’s hard to tell if the loss was a product of the Falcons poor performance or Mets just playing better. Probably it was a combination of both. As manager Lee Manning mentioned in the post-game conference, “We hit very poorly. We didn’t field properly. Our pitching was good”. Regardless, expect 2 very good games next time they meet as the Falcons look to avenge these losses and the Mets try to confirm they didn’t get the Falcons on a poor day but rather they’re the team to beat this year.

These two wins for the Mets take them to the top of the NBL standings with a perfect 4-0 record, while the Falcons (5-3) are now in third place, a game back on the new leaders. Herts rest next week. They return to league action on 19 May as they travel across the county border to play against rivals Essex Arrows (2-4).

written by Cris Hiche

The 9-0 in the 1st inning of the first game and 14-0 by the 2nd inning summarises the difference Falcons showed against the 2-time NBL champions Harlow Nationals throughout the day. A lot can be said about the game and both teams will draw their own conclusions. The fact is Falcons did everything perfect. Pitching was great, hitting was great, defence was great, and running was great. With such a high score, there’s bound to be great highlights and there were. Cris Hiche blasted the first home run of the season for the Falcons to right field. The defensive and impressive duo of Robbie Unsell (2B) and Xavi Gonzales (SS) was up to the highest level once again. John Bloise (LF), Barry Wiles (3B), Phil Clark (1B), and Dave House (C) were solid. However, Dave Tretheway (RF) stole the show with a tremendous diving catch.

It is important to note that Nationals looked awful out there and they’ll be the first to admit it. They committed an unusual amount of easy errors from experienced players and their bats were too quiet. Credit to winning pitcher Jordan Farkas, who although didn’t have the velocity of previous outings, managed to control the game. Nevertheless, Nationals is always a dangerous team and was able to score some runs to end up with a more “decent” final score of 16-8 for the Falcons. Pitcher Jordan Farkas said after the game: “My arm was dead since the first inning and didn’t have the speed. So I used my control to outsmart the always dangerous Nationals lineup. I got the run support which is always great for a pitcher.”

And if you thought the second game would be much closer and hard-fought, well it wasn’t. It was a deja-vu with again solid defence, running, hitting and pitching by the Falcons. The player of the match was without a doubt pitcher Darrin Ward who with his vast experience shutdown their lineup once again. It was so one-sided that by the bottom of the 7th it was still 8-0 with 2 outs and no man on base. ‘Wardie’ relaxed a bit and walked the next batter. Of course baseball is about momentum and the Nationals used that little window of opportunity to score one run to spoil Darrin Ward’s perfect day and avoid a shutdown (Final score 8-1).

Some of the highlights of the game were some good defensive plays by several Nationals players (trying to stop the numerous Falcons hits) and as imagined, little can be said of the Falcons defence because they were barely challenged. Yet the only time the Nationals could have done something with man on second and one out with a deep fly ball to center, a ‘textbook, MLB style’ 8-6-5 relay was performed to execute the double play and finish the inning. Cris Hiche mentioned after the game: “I really enjoyed that double play. It was beautiful all the way and I love throwing people out like that. I enjoyed it more than the HR in the first game.” Manager Lee Manning summarised the day: “Two great games and is fantastic to sweep the Nationals. Our team played excellent in every aspect of the game and this gives us confidence that we can achieve our goal this year.”

With the next games on Saturday 4th of May at Finsbury Park against the London Mets, I really encourage all adults and youth players of the Herts family and those from other organisations to come watch two great teams battle each other and see these exciting Falcons try to make it 7-1 for the season.

(NBL) FALCONS @ NATIONALS (Harlow, 1pm start)

We are only into week 3 of the National Baseball League (NBL) season so it is too early to build-up games as pivotal, but it would be fair to say that Sunday’s encounter between last year’s top two teams is the biggest game of the NBL season so far.

The reigning champions from Harlow (1-1) didn’t play last Sunday due to waterlogged field so they find themselves 1 game back on the joint-leaders, Herts Falcons (3-1), but they will know that two wins on Sunday and they will jump over Herts.

In the encounters between the two teams last year the Nats came out on top with 3 wins and 1 loss. The new faces in the Nationals’ roster this season compared to 2012 are right-handed pitcher Matt Gilbert who moved over from the Arrows, Dominican catcher and infielder Ambiorix Hurtado who joined from the Latin Boys, pitcher Ben Powell from Leicester, as well as South African, Gary Snyman.

George Lintern and slugger Edwin Alcantara who were influential in 2012, do not feature in the Nationals active roster at the moment.

HERTS TEAMS IN ACTION

This is the first week in which all 5 Herts teams are in action. Fans travelling to see Herts teams in action this Sunday should note the irregular start times of some of the games:

NBL, Herts Falcons @ Nats (1:00pm, venue: Harlow)

AAA-League, Leones at Herts Ravens (1:30pm, venue Grovehill Ballpark, Herts)

AA-League, Hove at Herts Hawks (1:00pm, venue: Grovehill Ballpark, Herts)

A-League, Herts Eagles at Coyotes (2:00pm, venue: Milton Keynes)

A-League, Herts Raptors at Leicester (12:00pm, venue: Leicester)

Herts Baseball Club has announced the departure of one of its most loved members, Kimiyoshi Saionji. He has just completed his transfer from the Herts Falcons to NBL rivals, Southampton Mustangs.

Kimi joined Herts in 2005 recruited thanks to another Herts legend, second-baseman, Shunji Kakutani. He made his debut for the Falcons on Opening Day of the 2005 season as the team made its debut in the Premier League (AAA-class) at the Shropshire Panthers after earning promotion in 2004.

Since then Kimi has been an ever-present figure at the club giving everything on and off the field through the ups and downs of relegation to AA in 2006 and then two consecutive promotions which included winning the AAA National Championship and promotion into the NBL in 2008 and finishing as NBL runners-up last season.

In 2006 Kimi suffered a horrific injury fracturing his jaw after a brave play as second baseman covering first base and colliding with an oncoming Richmond batter. That didn’t deter him. He was back within a few months better than ever.

In his 8 years with the club Kimi’s outstanding performances were recognised with a long list of awards, including the 2010 Falcons Most Valuable Player (MVP), three-time Infield Gold Glove Winner (2006, 2007, 2008), Batting Champion (2008), Home Run Champion (2010), Most RBIs (2008, 2010).

Kimi may have been one of the smaller players in the NBL but he has a big heart and the power of a giant.

Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning, said: “I’m sad to see Kimi leave but I will hold onto the great moments we had together on the field. I will never forget the image of Kimi with his trademark battle cry at second base every time he hits a double to start a rally.” He added “I and everyone connected with the club is grateful to Kimi for always playing hard and for sticking with the club during the dark years. Kimi will always be one of Herts Baseball’s greatest legends”.

His Herts Falcons team mates and members of the front office tried their best to convince him to stay, but the club will ultimately have to accept and respect Kimi’s decision.

Before his departure Kimi had a message for the club’s members: “Thank you for your kindness for nine years as a member of Herts Baseball Club. I love Herts and all the members. I want to wish the Falcons and all the Herts teams good luck this season. Please don’t feel sad. I will see you soon.”