Jake Michels was wearing the Herts jersey last Sunday. This weekend he will be wearing the pinstripes of the New York Black Sox (photo of Michels with Herts jersey by British Baseball Magazine, click on image for more)

The New York Black Sox have acquired Herts Falcons right handed pitcher and third baseman, Jake Michels. He was one of the big additions to the Herts roster this winter adding power to the batting lineup as well as a very solid glove at third base and a reliable arm as part of the Falcons pitching rotation.

No one knows how far the Falcons will go this season, but Michels has certainly played a vital role in the season so far contributing in the team’s very successful start . He leaves with the Falcons sitting on top of the NBL standings with 8 wins and 2 losses.

Michels joins the New York Black Sox who play in the Hudson Valley National Adult Baseball Association (HVNABA) which is the same league he played in prior to his move to Herts this winter. He previously played for the Athletics but now he will be wearing the Black Sox jersey.

Fans of Herts and British baseball will be following Jake Michels’ progress in his efforts to be selected by the Great Britain National Team in what is expected to be one of the most exciting years for GB Baseball in recent history.

 

The Herts Falcons are back on top of the NBL after sweeping the Croydon Pirates. Game one was a blow out win but game two required some outstanding pitching and late-inning heroics form Herts to secure the win.

The team returned home to their ballpark in Hertfordshire after spending the previous 6 weeks on the road. They jumped on top of the Pirates quickly taking a 16-0 lead after just 3 innings. Two-time League MVP, Ryan Bird, was on fire going 3-4 with two doubles and a triple (2 RBI). Robbie Unsell, Jake Michels and Kevin Niedringhaus also had a multiple-hit game. New signing Jeff House made his debut on the mound pitching a complete game allowing only 2 runs on 3 hits, striking out 8 in the process.

Click to view Game 1 box scores and play-by-play

After such convincing victory for the home team it was hard to imagine what Croydon could do to avoid defeat in the second game, but the Pirates once again proved that they are a very stubborn opponent.

They took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. All of the runs were unearned after Herts uncharacteristically committed 3 errors. Jose Sosa took the mound for the Pirates. Despite tying the game at 2-2 the Herts bats were kept very quite. Sosa has always been a fighter and he enhanced his reputation further with today’s performance. Thankfully for the Falcons, starter Louis Hare was pitching a gem. He went the distance pitching a complete game allowing only 5 hits, 1 walk and no earned runs.

Another 3 errors allowed the Pirates to regain the lead. It was 3-2 now and the Falcons needed a spark to get back in the game as time was starting to run out. Jake Michels provided that spark driving in Robbie Unsell with a double to tie the game 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth. It came down to the bottom of the sixth. With Tretheway reaching base on four balls, up stepped left-handed batter Phil Clark to launch a 2-run bomb over the right field fence and put the Falcons in the lead for the first time. Another 3 runs scored in the inning after a 1-run single by Unsell and a second double by Jake Michels driving in 2 more runs. Louis Hare completed the game with three-up-three-down final inning. He allowed only one Croydon player to get on base in the critical last three innings of the game.

Click to view Game2 box scores and play-by-play

After the final pitch Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning, commented on the games: “Dominant hitting won us the first game with a strong outing from Jeff House. Game 2 was challenging as Croydon played very good baseball. We were chasing the game from the start and if it wasn’t for Phil’s bat we could have ended up on the losing end like we did against Lakenheath last week” He added that “Louis also pitched great not allowing any earned runs”.

The two wins put the Falcons half a game ahead of the chasing pack in the NBL race which is proving to be the most exciting for years. In their 4 seasons as an NBL team the Falcons have been top of the table only once. That was back in 2009 and lasted for 1 week only. Will the team manage to sustain the current impressive run all the way to the end? One thing is certain – the rest of the league is starting to notice that something is happening at Herts.

Next game for the Falcons is a home encounter versus the surging Essex Arrows next Saturday, 27 May.  First pitch 12:00pm.

CORRECTION: The report from last week’s NBL game between the Herts Falcons and the Lakenhetah Diamondbacks incorrectly stated that the losing pitcher was Mike Osborn.  Osborn started the game but was later relieved with a “no decision” situation and the game going to extra innings.

 

The Herts Falcons continue to strengthen their NBL roster with the addition of right-handed pitcher Jeff House.

Jeff House is the brother of Dave House who joined the Falcons in March. Most of Jeff House’s baseball experience has been attained in baseball leagues in America. He has played one season in British baseball making 16 plate appearances for the Flames in 2011. His NBL career batting average stands at .273.

He is expected to make his Herts Falcons debut as the probable starter in game one of this Sunday’s double-header against the Croydon Pirates at Grovehill Ballpark. First pitch 12:00.

 

The Herts Falcons picked up a very good win in game 1 of the series versus the Lakenheath Diamondbacks, but lost a tense second game in extra innings.

Robbie Unsell was one the Falcons’ big signings in the winter and he made his debut in these series. He played at short stop and was placed at the top of the Falcons batting lineup going 1-for-4 with a RBI double and 2 runs.

This was probably the Falcons’ best offensive performance of the season so far against a Lakenhetah team which is always one of the most difficult teams to play against. Kevin Niedringhaus (3-4 2B 5RBI), Cris Hiche (2-2 RBI) , Jake Michels (2-4 2RBI), Dave Tretheway (2-4 RBI) all had multiple hits. On the mound Jordan Farkas was not shaken by a Max Scholten home run on the first pitch of the first inning. The Herts starter went on to pick up his third win of 2012 with another solid performance. He was supported by a very good performance from the defence behind him which committed only 1 error.

Click to view game 1 box scores and play-by-play

In the second game the Falcons had to battle against a DBacks team eager to bounce back as well as a very small strike zone resulting in a number of walks. Herts allowed 7 runs in the first inning and although they did tie the game up to take it into extra innings it always felt like they were on the back foot. The bottom of the 7th almost ended in fireworks as Lakenheath was in position to win the game when Leo Perez hit a rocket over the left field wall that would have been the game winning homerun only to be reversed by the home plate umpire. The Dbacks eventually won it 14-13 despite a brave effort by the visitors from Hertfordshire who managed to retire Lakenheath twice in extra innings despite allowing two runners on base with no outs. Ryan Riniker picked up the win for Lakenheath and Chase Richey got the save. Mike Osborn was saddled with the loss for Herts.

POST-GAME REACTION

After the games we managed to get the views of both managers, Lee Manning (Herts) and Ken Reber (Lakenheath) who made his return to the team after missing most of spring training, marking it with a 2-run home run in game 1.

Ken Reber: “”Herts simply came out more prepared than us as it felt like we didn’t have our heads in the game for most of the game. Credit Herts starting pitcher for keeping us off the bases”. For game two Reber felt that “”this was a game that probably lasted longer than it should have but we were just glad to have survive with the win.”

Lee Manning: “Lakenheath won game 2 because they adjusted to the umpire before we did. Game 2 was more about keeping the bat on the shoulder and letting the umpire walk the hitters. Lakenheath scored 7 runs in the first inning and we were always playing catch up.” Manning added: “I’m proud of the way the team kept on fighting to take the game into extra innings but our fitness played a big part late in the game. No baseball in the last 28 days did take its toll in the end.”

FALCONS MAKE THEIR RETURN HOME AFTER 6 WEEKS ON THE ROAD

The split at Lakenheath meant that Herts have lost top spot in the NBL after the Nationals and Southampton swept their opponents. They will be hoping to regain top spot next Sunday when they welcome the Croydon Pirates to Grovehill Ballpark. This is the first home game for the Falcons since their Opening Day win against the Bracknell Blazers. Game 1 starts at 12pm.

 

British Baseball has been paralysed by what seems to be endless waves of rain which has drenched the British Isles over the last two weeks. The prolonged period of rain started as soon as the authorities introduced a hose-pipe ban. Many of this weekend’s league games have already been rained out.

There is no decision yet about the biggest game of the season so far for the Herts Falcons (5-1). They are scheduled to travel to Finsbury Park to face the London Mets (3-1) this Sunday. The team from the capital is seen as one of the favourites in the National Baseball League (NBL). A win for Herts could give them some breathing space at the top of the standings. A sweep for London and they will overtake Herts.

  

On the eve of this massive game, the Herts Falcons have had some good news with confirmation that 2011 MVP, Mahendra Prasad, has been added to the roster after spending the last four weeks on the DL with a knee injury. Another player who is working his way back to recover from injury is catcher Dave Westfallen. He missed the whole of the 2011 season with a persistent shoulder injury. Since the end of last season Westfallen has had fantastic news with the birth of his son and it also looks like his shoulder is recovering well. He is targeting the end of May to return to full fitness and may start with a few games with the Herts Hawks in the AA League before considering a return to the Falcons roster.

Falcons outfielder Jamie Munn has also had to miss the start of the season with an elbow problem, but Falcons Manager, Lee Manning, is hoping that Munn will be back to full fitness in the next few weeks.

With the positive news of players coming off the DL and the club’s new signings making their debuts this month, the Falcons will soon be back to full strength and fans of the club will have the opportunity to see the team firing on all cylinders. But at the moment all eyes are on the skies above.

Fans of the NBL will be interested to know that the league scores now appear on a sports website where various betting companies offer odds for sports fans to place their bets. The fields which are intended to show the betting odds for upcoming NBL games are currently blank but it would be interesting to see whether betting companies start to cover the NBL as part of their wide range of betting markets.

The Southampton Mustangs brought an end to the Falcons 4-game winning streak, but that setback was only temporary as the team from Herts quickly recovered to win the second game of the double-header.

Before today’s third round of NBL games the Herts Falcons were the only unbeaten team in Britain’s top league, however the Mustangs have proven to very difficult to beat over the last two years. Jordan Farkas started on the mound for Herts and he had another good outing allowing only 1 earned run, 4 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings which would usually be sufficient for a win, all else being equal. However, not all else was equal. The Herts defence had a particularly bad game committing 11 errors allowing 6 unearned runs to score.

The team looked to repair the damage offensively late in the game scoring 4 runs in the last 3 innings, including doubles from Cris Hiche, Liam Green, Dave Tretheway (2RBI) and Ryan Bird (2 RBI) who made his debut in a Herts jersey. That late rally wasn’t enough and the Falcons went down 7-5. Alberto Rodriguez picked up the win for the Mustangs.

Mike Osborn started on the mound in game two looking to make it 3 wins in 3 games on the mound this season. He pitched a complete game allowing only 2 earned runs on 8 hits and 1 walk. The Falcons defence had regained its composure after the nightmare in the first game. The South African duo of Dave Tretheway (3B RBI) and Ryan Bird (2B and 2 RBI) once again delivered big extra-base hits for the team. Jordan Farkas and Kimiyoshi Saionji also contributed with the bats driving in 3 ore runs. The 3 runs scored in the top of the final inning gave the team a little extra insurance for Mike Osborn to complete the game and confirm a 7-3 win for the Falcons.

Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning, felt that the results of both games were fair. “Southampton deserved to win the first game. We deserved to win the second. The wind played a big part causing major problems throughout the game. We made far too many errors in game one. We came back well in the second game and we now have to turn our attention to the next games against the London Mets” said Manning.

The team remains top of the NBL standings. However, they are now neck-and-neck with the reigning Champions, the Harlow Nationals, who swept the Essex Arrows and now have 5 wins and 1 loss, same as the team from Hertfordshire.

When the schedule was first announced, coach Lee Manning had highlighted the 2nd week matchup against the Essex Arrows. It would be the first time that Herts would face the former Falcon great Darrin Ward. Ward had been an integral part of the Falcons roster over the past few seasons and led them in almost every offensive and pitching category in 2011.

Darrin Ward’s first start against his old team would be short lived as the Herts Falcons exploded for 8 runs in the first three innings. Ward would be relieved by former Falcon prospect Mario Escobedo who gave up another 7 runs. The top of the Falcons order gave Essex trouble all afternoon. Jake Michels had 2 triples, a double 4 runs and 5 RBI on the day. Hitting behind Jake was heavy hitting Dave Trethway who seemed to also find his swing as he had 2 doubles, 1 triple and 6 RBI.

The Chilean speedster Chris Hiche sparked the Falcons offence with 4 runs and 5 stolen bases. Coach Lee Manning was very pleased to see his new additions dominate at the plate on Easter Sunday. Game one starter Jordan Farkas picked up his 2nd win of the season as the Falcons disposed of the Arrows in a 15-7 rout.

Essex came out in game two with something to prove and put up four quick runs off of Michael Osborn who was battling a stomach virus all day. The first inning would be the last time that Essex would score.

The resilient Falcons quickly responded to score in the second, third and fourth inning. After the rough first inning, Osborn settled in and would only allow one more hit the rest of the way as he earned his second win on the hill.

In the first two weeks of the season the Falcons have showed a lot of heart; they now have two come from behind victories. In game two the Falcons left side of the infield flashed the leather, Mike Cattermole and Jake Michels made several stellar defensive plays to keep the Arrows at bay. Lee Manning and Liam Green shared the catching duties and provided strong backstops for the pitchers.

After the games coach Manning said, “We felt we deserved the wins today. The team played good baseball and we are very pleased with the start we have made this season. We are still missing several players, some on the DL, but the roster we put together this winter will gradually be coming together over the next few weeks and hopefully we will be at full strength very soon. Great start but we have to keep our feet on the ground and focus on our next game which will be a difficult one at Southampton next Sunday“