Category: Falcons

by Herts Baseball News Editor

7 homeruns in thrilling clash between Falcons and Dbacks. Hometown youngster hits his first NBL homerun

Liam Green launching his first NBL homerun over the centerfield wall

 

Game 1: Lakenheath 13 Herts Falcons 3 (click for box scores and play-by-play)

The Herts Falcons had secured their place in the postseason before Sunday’s home game versus Lakenheath, but they were still in with a chance of overtaking the leaders, Harlow, and finishing the regular season as the top team in the country.

Lakenheath were also certain of a place in the postseason, but they had no intentions of taking their foot off the accelerator. They opened up the game with 3 runs in the top of the first which included a 2-run blast from Leo Perez. Herts answered back with two runs of their own but then Lakenheath’s starter Kevin Carr took control of the game and neutralised the Falcons offense. A solo home run by Herts left-fielder Dave Tretheway in the fourth inning was too little and too late for the home team. The Dbacks continued to put on the pressure with multiple runs each inning capped off with another two-run homerun from second baseman Ryan Riniker. They ended the game after five innings of play with a final score 13-3 as Kevin Carr pitched a complete game for the win. Darrin Ward was saddled with the loss.

Game 2: Lakenheath 6 Herts Falcons 9 (click for box scores and play-by-play)

Game two was a much closer affair with each team having breakout innings. This time Herts were the first to score and after 3 innings of play they were up 8-0. That included big hits from the House brothers. Dave House drove in 2 runs with a double and Jeff House followed that up with a single bringing in another 2 runs in a 5-run fifth inning.

Lakenheath’s Leo Perez was once again in the thick of the action hitting his second HR of the day to put the Dback on the board. Lakenheath then found life in the following inning with a couple singles followed up by back to back homeruns. A three run bomb by Kevin Carr and a solo shot from Ryan Riniker, his second of the day. The Dbacks were trailing by just two runs and threatening to record a memorable comeback. With the game on the line Falcons Manager, Lee Manning brought in lefty pitcher, Ryan Bird. He pitched outstandingly shutting down the Dbacks offence and allowing only 1 hit and striking out 4 to close the game for a 9-6 win for Herts.

Bird had some insurance in the fifth inning when 15-year-old Herts right fielder, Liam Green, hit the first home run in his NBL career launching the ball over the left-centerfield wall. Green started playing baseball in 2007 at the age of 10 as one of the first members of the Herts Little League. He lives just a few minutes away from Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead and Herts Baseball Club has seen him develop into one of the club’s most promising young prospects. He has previously received call-ups from the Great Britain National Team and progressed through the different age groups and adult league teams of Herts until last year when he made his debut with the Herts Falcons in “the Show”. He has two home runs in his career both were inside-the-park homeruns in the Under-17 league but hitting a home run against the best players in Great Briatain’s top league must have been a thrilling moment for him. That was the final run of the game on what was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of baseball in Hemel Hempstead.

Lakenheath Diamondbacks Manager, Ken Reber, said: “You can’t say enough about how fun today was. I’m sure both teams feel that way and you can see the competition between the clubs. But it’s a friendly one with smiles from both sides. This is exactly how we wanted to end the regular season and are looking forward to the playoffs”

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons with NBL pennant on their mind

Falcons Manager Lee Manning (pictured) and his men have secured their place in the postseason (photo by hp2photographic.com)

The Herts Falcons clinched their place in the National Baseball Championship (NBC) with a 11-4 win at the Croydon Pirates last Sunday. Their second game was rained out and unlikely to be played due to the congestion in the schedule caused by the wettest baseball year in living memory.

Despite this, the Falcons still have the NBL pennant on their mind. They host the playoff-chasing Lakenheath Diamondbacks at Grovehill Ballpark this Sunday (12pm start), with the Harlow Nationals just one-and-a-half games ahead in the standings. At this point of the season and a place in the NBC secured, they have to go for it and hope that the Nationals stumble against the Croydon Pirates.

Even if they don’t, there are efforts being made to play the rained out game between Harlow and Herts on 19 August, as both teams are through to the postseason and can use that Playoff Sunday to play the doubleheader. This is an exciting prospect to determine the best NBL team in the 2012 regular season. But first Lee Manning’s men will need to win both games of this Sunday’s doubleheader against Lakenheath, which is not going to be easy. Anything less and the proposed clash with the Nationals on 19 August will be nothing more than a warm-up game ahead of the NBC on the Bank holiday weekend (25-27 August).

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Baseball legend carries the 2012 Olympic Torch

At 4pm on Monday afternoon fans of Herts Baseball Club tuned into BBC to see a true Herts Baseball legend carry the Olympic Torch through the streets of London.

Jason Greenberg joined Herts in 2005 upon his arrival from Seattle. Since then his contribution to the club has been incredible. He has performed countless roles within the club – player, manager, webmaster, board member, youth team coach, radio presenter, event organiser, journalist and many more. It is not a coincidence that the club’s most successful era coincides with Greenberg’s time with the club.

Jason Greenberg (left) with Nic Goetz after winning the 2008 AAA National Championship

He was a key member of the 2007 Falcons who won the AA pennant and were promoted to the AAA League. In 2008 he was appointed Manager of the Falcons and he put in place a structure which even some professional clubs would be envious of. This paid off immediately as the Herts Falcons became AAA National Champions at the first time of asking with a memorable 6-3 win against the Oxford Kings in the Final. The Falcons achieved back-to-back promotions up the leagues which made Jason Greenberg the first manager in Herts Baseball history to take the team to the highest league tier of British Baseball. In the team’s first year in the NBL, Greenberg took the Falcons to the postseason playoffs.

As a player of the Falcons, Greenberg was always one of the team’s top performers winning numerous honours including the highest honour of Herts Falcons’ Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2007.

Jason Greenberg honours as a Herts player

2006, Most Runs, Herts Falcons (AAA)

2007, MVP, Herts Falcons (AA)

2007, Home Run Champion, Herts Falcons (AA)

2007, Most RBIs, Herts Falcons (AA)

2007, AA South Champion, Herts Falcons (AA)

2008, AAA National Champion, Herts Falcons (AAA)

2009, Home Run Champion, Herts Falcons (NBL)

2009, Reached NBL Playoffs, Herts Falcons (NBL)

In 2011 he turned his attention to the Great Britain National Team becoming the General Manager where he has since applied the same professional approach which he adopted at Herts. This has been recognised by the rest of the baseball world and Great Britain was recently added to the qualifying round for MLB’s 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Baseball was taken out of the list of Olympic sports just 3 days after the Games were awarded to London, but with Jason Greenberg carrying the torch it is great to see that the organisers have not forgotten one of the most popular sports in the world. It is extra special for members of Herts, who apart from Jason, have several other representatives like Mark Caress and Nick White who are involved in various other roles in the Olympic Games.

Herts Baseball Club President, Aspi Dimitrov, said: “Everyone was chuffed to bits when we learned that Jason was going to be one of the carriers of the Olympic Torch. It is a fantastic tribute for one of the hardest working members of British baseball. It is a very fitting recognition of Jason’s contribution to Herts, the GB Team and British baseball and softball as a whole”

“Jason will soon be moving to America and everyone will miss him, but there is always the hope that his career will bring him and his family back to this country.” – added Dimitrov.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

The calm before the storm

Grass cut, lines marked, and eerie silence. This was the scene at Grovehill Ballpark on Saturday evening ahead of the NBL Special Event which will take place this Sunday, 22 July 2012.

All 8 NBL teams will be on show. The event opens at 11am with the Herts Falcons versus the Bracknell Blazers. At 12pm is arguably the most anticipated of the matchups as league-leaders Harlow Nationals and the third-placed London Mets do battle.

Subsequent start times will depend on how quickly the first games end. At 3:30pm the Southampton Mustangs will be eager to get a win against the Lakenheath Diamondbacks in the hope of avoiding having to go through the Wild Card Playoff game.

To end the day at 4:00pm the Essex Arrows play the Croydon Pirates. The Arrows are not out of the playoff race, but they will need a win.

FULL SCHEDULE

11:00, Falcons at Blazers (7 innings) (New Diamond)

12:00, Nationals at Mets (9 innings) (Old Diamond)

13:30, Falcons at Blazers (7 innings) (New Diamond)

15:30, Mustangs at Lakenheath (9 innings) (Old Diamond)

16:00, Arrows at Pirates (9 innings) (New Diamond)

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons and Mets take a win apiece in only NBL encounter

Jordan Farkas was back for the Falcons after several weeks out of action and picked up a key win for Herts against their direct rivals (photo by British Baseball Magazine - click image for more)

by Trevor Clissold (this article was first published on hertsbaseball.com)

Game 1: London 5, Herts 2

Game 2: Herts 8, London 5

London had lost some ground on the leading pack in recent weeks and knew they would have to get off to a fast start to keep the visiting Falcons under pressure. The Mets jumped out to an early lead thanks to a two-run home run from Grant Del Zoppo in the bottom of the third inning and, although Herts would tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth, the Falcons struggled to build any offence against Dan McAneney who pitched four and 2/3 innings of two-run ball against a strong Herts lineup despite a recurring blister.

London were quick to respond in the bottom of the fifth and would take the lead for good as they built on a clutch two-run double from Jonathan Cramman to add three runs in the inning. Noah Frankel came in as emergency relief for McAneney and shut Herts down through the final two innings as the Mets closed the game out 5-2.

With Frankel being unexpectedly called in to Game 1 Sam Sproule was given the start for the second game but London could not reproduce their solid defensive plays from the first game allowing five runs in the third inning on the back of two Mets errors and some timely hitting from the Herts bats.

With good offensive support Falcons starter, Jordan Farkas, pitched efficiently throughout as the visitors built an 8-2 lead heading in to the sixth inning. London began to chip away at the lead as they clawed back three runs but it was to prove too little, too late as Farkas settled back in to his rythm to finish the game in the seventh with a classic 6-4-3 double play to take an 8-5 win.

Herts head coach, Lee Manning, had mixed emotions following the games – “we were frustrated at the delayed start and I think we took that in to the first game but both games were well fought and one win each is probably a fair result on the day.”

London manager, Freddy Vibert remarked “both teams played really good baseball today despite the conditions with numerous double-plays home runs a good hitting. I know a lot of the Herts players from our time at Richmond and it felt good to see everyone again. We’ve still got a long road to reach the playoffs but I am sure we will be meeting Herts again in August for what promises to be a beautiful battle”

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

The greatest ever?

by Ken Pike

One of the wonderful things about popular sports is the debate that it causes. No matter whether listening to my girlfriend’s brother discussing the merits of the latest round of walk spoiling (golf), or hearing the commentators of Euro 2012 hailing Spain as possibly the greatest football team of all time, there is endless debate to be had thanks to the endless supply of ways to measure greatness.

Spain have won two world cups and a Euro competition back to back now and entered the record books for most goals in a final and many other reasons too, whereas the magical abilities of Pele et al in 1970 remain football legend over 40 years later. Whether Spain 2012 or Brazil 1970 is the greatest team of all time could only ever be settled by pitting the two sides against each other, but unless time travel is invented and applied to the use of measuring sporting greatness, it is both a sad fact and a beautiful thing that we shall never know.

The simple thing is that winning margins, statistics of accuracy, efficiency etc are all determined not only by the winning team, but by the class of the teams they face. It could be argued that Spain were phenomenal in 2012, but frankly much of their opposition was mediocre at best with their expected big final opponents Germany getting knocked out by the same France side that barely beat a poor England side.

In the world of motor racing, for much of the 90s Michael Shumacher dominated the championships winning race after race by enormous margins. He has records that will likely never be broken over a glorious career. However, his comeback into the sport three years ago have put all of that into question as he now races in a less potent car than the blistering Ferrari, he is regularly out qualified by his young compatriot teammate, and he has failed to get a win since his return. Was his amazing form in the 90s due to having by far the fastest car and weak opposition or was it due to a greatness and spark that he has now all but lost?

There are countless more examples I could go through of seemingly unbeatable records getting smashed: Mark Spitz’s five Olympic golds got ruined by Michael Phelps getting eight, youngest racer to win a grand prix Fernando Alonso got beat by some German lad called Sebastian who might be quite good some day, Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron no longer have their names next to home run records thanks in no small part to medicinal advances helping the likes of Bonds to achieve improbable muscle mass, and so on and so forth. But does that mean the modern versions that superseded them are better, or do they face weaker opposition and are they helped by better sport science (or possibly steroids in some cases – let’s face it, some cases have been pretty clear cut, but even unproven accusations mean that whether Usain Bolt is a force of nature or a force of medicine is likely to be debated long after his career is over and he is just one current example of many such allegations among current sporting excellence.)

So it is rare the be able to unequivocally say that a team or player is the greatest ever. What is more possible is to say that a team is having its greatest year or period ever. The Spanish football team are certainly claiming that one right now, Bolt must be looking at London 2012 with a feeling of supreme confidence and young Mr Vettel can look back at last year as being an early pinnacle in his career that he can aim to surpass in future years.

It gets even harder when you talk baseball. Most wins in a season? 1906 Cubs/2001 Mariners. Most hall of famers? Complicated: as one of the oldest teams Giants have 56 that ever played for them, Yankees have 21 whose names are associated with them primarily, and 1927 Yankees had the most at one time including some blokes called Ruth and Gherig. Some recent current teams, notably the 98 Yankees, have line-ups that include a lot of future hall of famers but they are not yet eligible and can’t be discounted. Biggest winning margins? Again the ‘27 Yankees outscoring opponents by almost 400 runs. Win streaks? Dynasty eras? Overcoming the toughest opposition? Who knows.

Best players, let alone their best years are just as hard if not harder to measure even if you boil it down to position. Would you rather have hall of famers Aaron, Ruth, Gherig, Dimaggio, Young, Ryan, or current greats like Rodrigues, Puyols, Halladay, Hamilton or Lincecum on your dream team? Let’s face it, a large part of your decision making process in this question will be based on what shirt you choose to wear on your days off watching ESPN. Being a D’backs fan I would probably pick some names that would have experienced pundits (and many of you) in fits of laughter.

Some will analyse further looking at the stats, but do these take into account developments in the sport? Hamilton and Lincecum are pitching against the grain with modern sports science helping batters extract every last ounce of speed and power from every hit. Pujols and Rodrigues are certainly more athletic opponents than Ryan or Young faced back in the day. There are other metrics which can’t even be reasonably compared, for example the fastest officially recorded pitch is 105 mps by Aroldis Chapman in 2010 at PETCO ballpark, but anecdotally Nolan Ryan hit that speed regularly.

So what about Herts baseball club? I don’t have access to individual player records so I won’t go into that at this level but throughout the relatively brief (in baseball terms) history of the club, there have certainly been some impressive highs. The Falcons have won the double A league in 2004 and 2007 and the Triple A in 2008. The junior teams have had recent success with the Herts All Stars winning the Under 14s Futures Tournament and the 2010 National Baseball Championship heralding a very bright future. The club has been the largest club in the leagues by membership numbers, and in amateur sports that alone is a measure of success.

This year however, with the playoffs only a few short weeks away, all four senior teams have hit highs that were never expected 12 months ago. The Hawks and Falcons are fighting tooth and nail to gain top spot going into the post season, while in the single A both the Eagles and Raptors are in with a shout of making the playoffs. Admittedly the Eagles are facing very long odds that would require a mixture of other results going their way and some impressive upsets against top of the league teams, the Raptors have one toe in the door with a win against the mid table Mavericks next weekend all but securing their passage to the playoffs and a second win against barrel scraping Richmond sealing the deal.

As a club, rather than four individual teams, the Herts are experiencing a real renaissance after a difficult couple of years. Last year’s departure of many top players thanks in no small part to departing players forming their own team and pulling top class players with them left all three remaining teams struggling to compete at their respective levels. The Falcons finished 2011 with a 4-19 record that was not much to sing about, the Eagles taking a sabbatical from appearing at all thanks to a lack of players, the Hawks marginally bettered the Falcons record with 5-15 and the Raptors had started the season depleted of experience and getting beaten up by teams that should have arguably played at a higher level though they turned around the second half and finished with three wins to their name providing a glimpse of things to come.

The Falcons started the season with a win against Bracknell. Can they keep the momentum going as they face the Blazers again this Sunday?

This year has been a case of night and day. Impressive big name acquisitions in the pre season at the Falcons level had the effect of solidifying all the lower teams, allowing the Hawks and Raptors to cling on to players that might have ordinarily been asked to do their best at a higher league. The Falcons now boast some of the best players in the leagues and as such are fighting a pitched battle with the Nationals and the fading Mets for top spot.

The Hawks led ably by the managing partnership of Andy Cornish and Greg Bochan who both provide hitting power coupled with catching and pitching might respectively, are joint top with the Mammoths and Sidewinders with everything to play for in the last few games.

The Raptors started slightly shakily in their first two games but soon moved up the gears and now play with ever increasing confidence with a stunning win over the Old timers putting their playoff future in their own hands courtesy of a homer from powerhouse Gilberto Medina, 6 for 6 batting by yours truly and a composed and solid pitching performance by young Jake Caress adding to a season accented by the impressive performances of the young additions to the squad. They go into a must win game against the Mavericks knowing that if they can take the Archers to the wire and beat the grumpy men from Enfield, they can bring the fight to anyone in the league.

The newly reformed Eagles settled in to the single A with low expectations placed upon them as supposed training grounds for new and young blood. New manager Duncan Hoyle had different ideas from being the whipping boys though and benefitted from some very talented new players including the defensive powers of pitcher Reagan Wood and offensive abilities of the current Eagles home run leader Aidrian Smithers (he has 1). They now sit level on games with the supposedly superior Raptors (who they fought well against earlier in the season despite ultimately losing) however facing much tougher opposition for their final games and head to head results against the Raptors and other nearby teams going against them.

Could one, two or perhaps three of the Herts teams be national champins again this season?

The Falcons, Hawks and Raptors all hold the reigns now and can decide their own futures by winning from here on in. The Eagles face a battle, but having already far exceeded expectations, I would not be the one to bet against them, and just how great would a semi final playoff between the Eagles and raptors be? What are the chances of all four teams getting to the playoffs? Slim, admittedly, but possible. The chances of winning the whole lot and finishing with three new trophies in our cabinet? The chances of making the best year in Herts history? The chances of turning the 2012 Herts into a three league winning club?

The greatest season ever can only be determined by history, by ultimate results, and the names on the trophy at the end of it. With equal parts steel, determination, teamwork, skill and importantly luck Herts can achieve staggering heights. In this country, August is when baseball history is made.

What might be the greatest Herts season ever, has only just begun.

PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

Falcons

Falcons face double headers against rivals Mets and Nationals next followed by easy games against bottom of the table Croydon Pirates and Bracknell Blazers. Four out of four against the Mets and Nationals would put them in top spot and leave their fates in their hands. Four losses would leave them with a good chance of playoffs but the Diamondbacks and Mustangs would likely be taking them to the wire. With this many games left there are too many permutations to list them all.

Hawks

The Hawks also face the Sidewinders and Mustangs in their fight to make the playoffs but with several rain postponements there are still a lot of games to play. Wins against the top teams would put them in a strong position but there are not many easy games left for them with the Brentwood Stags providing the only bottom three club for them yet to face, the rest are mid table must winners. Again, with 7 games left, there are too many permutations to list.

Raptors

The win against the Old Timers puts them in the driving seat. With head to heads largely going their way with their opponents, a win against Guildford next week puts them firmly in charge of the wildcard spot. Head to head results against the Eagles, Old timers, and Mavericks makes a win against bottom of the table Richmond would guarantee passage regardless of results, but even a loss in the second game would need freak results elsewhere to knock them out. A collapse by Hove Tuesday could even get them top wildcard place, but the Marauders and the Archers have pretty much sealed the top spots. However, a loss to Mavericks spins that on its head and leaves them needing results elsewhere to go their way whether they win the following week or not.

Eagles

The Eagles sit level with the Raptors on wins and losses, but behind in the table having lost their head to head. To make matters worse, their final opponents are Hove Tuesday and London Marauders, both teams they will have a tough time beating. For the Eagles to progress they would likely have to win both games and other results would need to go their way. Either Hove would need a complete collapse for the rest of the season paving the way for Raptors and Eagles to both qualify, or the Eagles do it at the cost of the Raptors, but they need to better the Raptors record not equal it.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Eagles prepare for the London Tournament while Falcons, Hawks and Raptors focus on league race

John Kjorstad at last year's London Tournament Home Run Derby

Every year in the middle of July Herts Baseball Club sends its teams out to the International London Tournament for 2 days of non-stop baseball. The tournament is hosted by the Croydon Pirates who do a fantastic job every year.

This year the league schedule has been hit hard by the never-ending rain. The Herts adult teams have a backlog of games which they must fit into whatever free dates remain between now and the postseason in August. This weekend is one of those opportunities to catch up. The Herts Falcons will travel to Finsbury Park for a doubleheader against the London Mets after this match-up was rained out twice already. The Hawks will play a doubleheader versus the Essex Redbacks. This will be a home game at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. The Raptors have a must-win game against the Old Timers, also at home.

With so many Herts teams involved in league action this weekend there was a risk of Herts not being represented at the London Tournament, however Herts Eagles Manager, Duncan Hoyle, with the support from a group of Herts single-A players managed to put together a team for both Saturday’s and Sunday’s tournament games in Croydon.

We will keep you updated about their adventures in south London throughout the weekend, as well as the outcome of Sunday’s league games involving the other 3 Herts adult teams.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hawks’ game at Grovehill Ballpark rained out. Raptors and Eagles away games also cancelled

Despite several ground inspections and anxious monitoring of rain radars and weather forecasts, the AA League crunch game between Guildford Mavericks and Herts Hawks at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead has been postponed due to waterlogged diamonds.

The Raptors and Eagles also received bad news this morning.  The Raptors trip to Guildford Mavericks II was has been postponed. It will now be played on 22 July 2012.

The Herts Eagles visit to Pavilion Field in Brighton for their game against Hove Tuesday was also wiped out by the weather.  The game has been rescheduled for 5 August 2012.

Many other games across the country have been affected after the heavy rainstorm travelled from the south coast northwards and flooded everything in its path.

We are expecting news of the NBL game at Northbrooks Playing Fields in Harlow between the Herts Falcons and the Harlow Nationals and this page will be updated if the game is called off.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Big weekend for Herts teams in race for the national championships

Herts Falcons hope that Phil Clark will be back in time for duel with Harlow (photo by British Baseball Magazine)

Friday night’s red weather warning issued by the weather office seemed to fizzle-out on Saturday and although events like the Formula 1 British Grand Prix qualifying was affected badly, further South, the women’s tennis final at Wimbledon went ahead.

With the fear of a rainout out of the way attention turns to 4 pivotal games for the 4 Herts senior league teams.

FALCONS (12-4) @ NATIONALS (15-4)

After 3 weeks without league action, the Herts Falcons go into battle with the reigning champions. The Harlow Nationals’ last loss came on 10 June when they last met the Falcons. They went on to a 4-game winning streak which took them back into first place. Teams are reluctant to look beyond their next game, but both the Nats and the Falcons can be forgiven for having one eye on the postseason NBCs. There may not be much difference between finishing first or second in the regular season, other than the sense of achievement, however both teams know that losing both games of Sunday’s doubleheader could drag them into the unpredictability of the one-game playoff which awaits the teams which finish fourth and fifth in the regular season. The Lakenheath Diamondbacks’ stunning sweep of the London Mets last weekend was a wake-up call for the four teams ahead of them. That game saw the emergence of Taylor Portman who provided power with the bat but more importantly looked like he can shut down even the most potent of batting lineups. The Taylor Portman-factor will now be on the back of Nats and Falcons minds. This adds an extra edge on a matchup which was already highly-charged after the fireworks on 10 June which almost resulted into a bench-clearing brawl.

MAVERICKS (14-0) @ HAWKS (6-4)

The best team in the BBF AA-League travel to Grovehill Ballpark. The Guildford Mavericks seem unbeatable as they have won all 14 games of the season so far. They have already booked their place in the AA postseason playoffs. The Herts Hawks are also in a comfortable position in terms of postseason qualification, however the stunning form of the Guildford Mavericks and the Poole Piranhas on the other hand is giving the top four teams in Pool B, sleepless nights. The teams which finish third and fourth in Pool B face the daunting prospect of meeting either Guildford or Poole so there is a sense of panic among the top 4 teams in Pool B to finish first or second and avoid the AA favourites.

Herts Baseball's young prospects will need to step up to keep the Raptors alive in the race for the postseason

A win for the Hawks this Sunday could lift them into second place. A loss could put them way down into fourth which could mean that they would have to face the Guildford Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. The game starts at 12pm at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. If the Hawks can get the job done quickly enough they may be able to catch the Olympic Torch Relay which passes through Hemel Hempstead this Sunday afternoon from 4:30pm.

RAPTORS (4-3) @ GUILDFORD MAVERICKS II (4-3)

While the Hawks try to end Guildford’s unbeaten run, the Raptors will be looking to keep their playoff hopes alive when they travel to Guildford’s second team. Both teams have 4 wins and 3 losses each and both need a win to stay in the race. Raptors Manager, Arnie Longboy, will be missing a large number of his starting 9 so he will need the Under-17 players who have been called up to hit the ground running when they make their AA league debut this Sunday.

HERTS EAGLES (5-3) @ HOVE TUESDAY (5-0)

The Eagles are still in the race for the playoffs but they will need to give their best performance of the season if they are going to overcome the unbeaten Hove Tuesday. The newest team in the A-League has blown away their opponents winning all of their games with the mercy rule enforced after 7 innings. Can the Eagles shock British Baseball with a win on the South Coast.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Raptors battle with League leading Archers

The closer - Anna Blach pitching in the 9th inning against the Essex Archers

written by Anna Balch

The Raptors (3-3) gave league leading Essex Archers (7-1) an unexpected battle in one of the only games this season that the Archers have played past 7 innings,. With Zachary Longboy (8 IP, 5 SO) starting on the mound for the Raptors the Archers came out to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the third. The Raptors came back in the bottom of the inning with four runs to take the lead. They were able to hold off the Archers with a strong pitching performance by Longboy in the second and added five more insurance runs to extend the lead to 9-3. Archers outfielder Ash Richardson commented “that’s the first time we’ve ever been down.”

But the Archers soon began their come back adding four runs in the third and the fourth. Zack got out of the two inning eight run attack when he forced a pop out to short and recorded a strike out for the third out. After four innings the score was now 13-11. In the top of the fifth inning the Raptors played tight defense but two singles and a two out error gave the Archers a run to bring the score within one. In the bottom of the inning, with the intent of extending the lead the Raptors couldn’t get runners on going down one, two, three.

It was only in the top of the sixth inning that the Archers scored two to take the lead 14-13. In the bottom of the inning a two out walk put the tying run on base but a ground out to the pitcher ended the inning. Two more runs for the Archers extended their lead in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning Rob Jones (1H, 1RBI, 4R, 1SB, 2BB) reached on a error. Then a one out double, that many thought was out of the park, from Gil Medina (3H, 1 2B, 2RBI, 2R, 1SB) scored Jones. More errors from the Archers scored another Raptor to bring them within one.

Two more runs from the Archers extended their lead but the Raptors posed a threat in the bottom of the inning. Newcomer, Anna Balch who replaced the Raptors DH, singled with one out in the bottom of the eighth. She then stole second base and advanced to third on a passed ball before Brodie Caress (3H, 3R, 1BB, 4SB) walked to put runners at the corners. Caress then advanced to second on a ground out to third. With runners on second and third the Raptors then ended the inning, and the threat, with a long fly ball to center.

Ben Marques takes a pitch from Essex Archers starter Darren Ludlow

Balch replaced Longboy on the mound for the Raptors. The Archers added two more runs in the inning to make the lead 20-15. Eventually Balch recorded her first career strikeout to end the inning. The Raptors were shut down in the bottom of the inning and were unable to score ending the game with a final score of 20-15. Other top players for the Raptors were Glen Downer (2H, 4RBI, 2R, 1SB) and Ben Marques (2H, 1R, 2SB).

While it was a victory for the Archers, the Raptors were satisfied in taking the Archers to the ninth inning. The high scoring nine inning game was something new for the Archers as they rarely play a full nine innings. “It was really a tight match up until the end as both teams put up a great fight,” said Raptors manager Arnie Longboy. “I would love to face them again in the playoffs, but of course we’ll have to win the rest of games for that to happen. I think we can.”