Category: Hawks

by Herts Baseball News Editor

London teams dominate week one of the HSL


Herts Falcons’ John Blose beats the ball sliding into third base. (photo by Will Baxter)

At the weekend the MLB season got underway with the opening series between the LA Dodgers and Arizona D’Backs at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Australia and so did the Herts Spring League at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead and Town Mead Ballpark in Waltham Abbey.

With the exception of the biting wind and a ten-minute game delay due to hale, this was the ideal way for British teams to make their pre-season preparations. The weekend had everything from home runs and spectacular fielding plays to walk-off wins and shutouts.


The 4 London teams overpowered their opponents winning all five of their games. On Saturday in the HSL Single-A division, the Marauders and Musketeers won against the Kent Mariners and Herts Raptors respectively. This was the first game for the Musketeers as they prepare for their debut season in the BBF Single-A league. They seemed like a fun group of players with some outstanding heavy-metal hairstyles and facial hair.

On Sunday, the London Mammoths and London Metros continued the winning streak with wins over Southampton Mustangs (AA), Herts Hawks and the Herts Falcons. John Peters continued his incredible streak of remaining unbeaten so far in his pitching career. The streak goes back to last season when he appeared on the British baseball scene like Jimmy Morris of the Tampa Bay Rays as depicted in the movie “The Rookie” starring Dennis Quaid. Last season he was a member of the London Marauders but his performances have pushed him up into the Double-A roster of the London Mammoths. He allowed a home run by GB Team player, Gary Davison, but that didn’t prevent him from picking up the win with a final score 11-7.

The London Metros versus Herts Falcons game was much anticipated as it was an opportunity to see a few of the new arrivals for the two teams. Both teams fielded a mix of NBL and AAA players. The Falcons gave debut to Abelardo Salas (pictured right). The leftie had a good outing on the mound working well with catcher Ryan Bird. Errors in the field proved to be very costly for the Falcons as the Metros went on to win the game convincingly. Herts fans were also able to see Robert Davis for the first time. He impressed driving the ball deep into left field in his first at bat. The ball fell just a few inched short of the home run fence and that was with the wind blowing in the opposite direction. The highlight of the game was 2014 NBL MVP, Ryan Bird, at bat against Pietro Sollecito who had the lowest ERA in the NBL last season. It was a 10-pitch battle which started with Bird driving the ball deep over the right field wall only for the wind to take it to the wrong side of the foul pole. Sollecito came back strong forcing Bird to foul-off a large number of pitches. The at bat ended with a not so dramatic walk but everyone knew that this was a battle of titans. It will be interesting to see them clash again on Sunday, 6 April, as the Mets and Falcons open the 2014 NBL season at Grovehill Ballpark.

Over in Waltham Abbey, Essex Arrows won convincingly in the Essex derby with the Essex Redbacks. The Arrows are expected to be in the thick of the NBL title race this year. Milton Keynes Coyotes picked up a good win against last year’s Single-A national runners-up Haverhill Blackjacks.

Click to view the full HSL scoreboard and HSL standings.

The action continues next weekend with the addition of 6 more teams making an appearance.

WEAR THE HERTS BASEBALL JERSEY IN 2014

Herts Baseball Club welcomes youth players from 6 to 16 and adult players from 14 to 45+ from complete beginners to experienced ballpalyers. New players can join at any time of the year. For more details on how to give baseball a try contact us.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Pre-season rosters announced

The managers of the 5 Herts teams which will be playing in the Herts Spring League over the next 3 weeks have announced their 2014 preliminary rosters for these upcoming HSL games.  We understand that these rosters are not fixed and it is very likely that there may be movement between teams over the course of the HSL.  Some players may be asked to play for more than one team as managers look to evaluate players ahead of the announcement of the 2014 Opening Day rosters.

New players are registering every week, therefore some new names may be added over the course of the HSL and into the league season.

   
   

WEAR THE HERTS BASEBALL JERSEY IN 2014

Herts Baseball Club welcomes youth players from 6 to 16 and adult players from 14 to 45+ from complete beginners to experienced ballpalyers. New players can join at any time of the year. For more details on how to give baseball a try contact us.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Countdown to HSL – first chance to see the teams ahead of the 2014 British baseball season

The biggest pre-season baseball competition in Britain is back. Commencing on March 22, the Herts Spring League (HSL) will see 19 teams compete over the 3 weeks of the HSL. Organised by Herts Baseball Club, it is Britain’s very own version of MLB’s Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues currently under way in the US, and it signals that the season is just around the corner.

FORMAT

The 19 teams will be entered into three HSL tiers. The top teams in the country from the National Baseball League and Triple-A Leagues will play in the HSL Majors. The HSL-AA is the second tier of the Herts Spring League. It will feature predominantly British Double-A League teams as well as U19 and U17 teams. The third tier is the HSL-A consisting predominantly of Single-A teams.

The organisers considered the possibility of a tournament format, but ultimately adopted a league format in the same way as the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in MLB. “The objective of the HSL is to enable the teams to prepare for the new season and we have noticed that teams are increasingly starting to approach the HSL in the same way as MLB teams approach the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues” said HSL Commissioner, Aspi Dimitrov. He added “we have taken this into account when formulating the schedule putting greater emphasis on the preferences and requirements of the teams over the format of the competition”.

The teams finishing at the top of their respective division will win the HSL. The “games-back” column in the standings will be critical, but undoubtedly some teams will end up with the same record and so it may go down to the number of runs conceded per game to break the tie.

THE VENUES

The action will take place at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead and Town Mead Ballpark in Waltham Abbey, the home of the Essex Arrows and Essex Archers.

SCHEDULE

23 games are scheduled to be played on the three diamonds. The competition begins on March 22 with a clash between the London Marauders and the Kent Mariners in the HSL-A bracket followed by the game between the London Musketeers and the Herts Raptors. The HSL-AA and HSL Majors divisions commences 24 hours later.

Several youth league games have also been added to the HSL schedule.

The final day of the HSL coincides with the Opening Day in the National Baseball League as rivals Herts Falcons and London Mets meet.  We are expecting a packed venue for a game which has always been a fiery affair.

Click to view full 2014 HSL schedule

EXCITEMENT BUILDING UP

The Herts Spring League adds a competitive edge to Spring training. It’s the time for managers to work out their winning formula going into the BBF league season. It is an opportunity to evaluate existing and newly recruited players – which players will earn a spot in the pitching rotation and who will be batting where in the batting order? Who will make the first team and who will have to work their way up with the minor league teams? Not forgetting, it’s a chance to size up your rivals for the year ahead. It’s the first big challenge and the first big excitement of the baseball year. Don’t miss it.

GET IN THE GAME

For more details about the event or if you are interested to give baseball a try in this competition contact Herts Baseball Club.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

19 teams will signal the arrival of Spring in the 2014 HSL

Herts Baseball Club has confirmed that 19 teams have entered this year’s Herts Spring League (HSL). The teams come from all British baseball leagues including the National Baseball League (NBL), Triple-A, Double-A, Single-A, Under-19 and Under-17 Leagues.

The HSL teams will be divided into three divisions as follows:

HSL – MAJORS
TEAM CLASS HSL RANKING
Cambridge Royals AAA 4
Essex Arrows NBL 2
Herts Falcons NBL 1
London Metros AAA 3
Milton Keynes Bucks AAA 5
HSL – AA
TEAM CLASS HSL RANKING
Essex Redbacks AAA 1
Herts Hawks AA 3
Herts Ravens U19/U17 4
London Mammoths AA 2
London Mets U17 U17 5
Southampton Mustangs II AA 6
HSL – A
TEAM CLASS HSL RANKING
Cambridge Royals II A 7
Haverhill Blackjacks A 1
Herts Raptors A 4
Herts Harriers U17 8
Kent Mariners A 2
London Marauders A 3
London Musketeers A 6
Milton Keynes Coyotes A 5

SCHEDULE AND FORMAT

The HSL will be played over three weeks commencing on the weekend of 22 and 23 March and ending on 5 and 6 April. The HSL format and games schedule are expected to be announced shortly and hertsbaseball.com will bring this and all other HSL news as they happen.

WEAR THE HERTS BASEBALL JERSEY IN 2014

Herts Baseball Club welcomes youth players from 6 to 16 and adult players from 14 to 45+ from complete beginners to experienced ballpalyers. New players can join at any time of the year. For more details on how to give baseball a try contact us.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

The Dynamic Duo becomes the Formidable Trio

Herts Baseball Club has reacted quickly after the rejection of the Herts Raptors bid to be promoted to the Double-A League, by appointing Herts Raptors Manager, Arnie Longboy, as the joint-Herts Hawks Manager. This means that the Herts Hawks will be managed by three co-Managers in 2014. Longboy joins current co-Managers, Andy Cornish and Greg Bochan. The Cornish and Bochan managerial team has become known in media circles as the Dynamic Duo. Members of the media will have to find a new name for this newly formed managerial trio.

We have been searching through the archives to find other sports teams which have had three joint managers. There have been several high-profile cases of teams with two joint managers such as Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier at Liverpool Football Club in 1998 and Jimmy Quinn and Mick Gooding at Reading Football Club, but so far our search has been unsuccessful. Does this mean that Herts Baseball Club has made sporting history with today’s announcement? We invite our readers to send in any details which they are able to find in our search for another sports team with three joint managers.

The Herts Hawks will play in the Double-A League which is where the Herts Raptors were hoping to be this season, but after their application was rejected the Herts Hawks will be the team where Herts will have to fit players who are most suited to the standard of baseball played in the Double-A League.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts 2013 MVPs and other awards announced

Herts members have been casting their votes and the club has just announced the MVPs (Most Valuable Players) of the five senior league teams as well as awards in the other categories.

The Herts Falcons MVP is shortstop, Xavier Gonzalez. In a team packed with superstars it says a lot about Xavi when his teammates recognise his outstanding debut season for the Falcons by voting for him. There aren’t many 5-tool players in the world and Gonzalez is one of them. His batting average was .411 and slugging average .712 with 3 home runs. Defensively he committed only 2 errors and was awarded a Gold Glove as the best shortstop in the NBL for 2013. We can add his speed to that with 13 stolen bases.

HERTS FALCONS

MVP, Xavier Gonzalez

Batting Champion, Ryan Bird (.549)

Infield Gold Glove, Dave House (F% .956 E2)

Outfield Gold Glove, Cristobal Hiche (F% 1.000 E0)

Best Pitcher, Robbie Unsell (W5 ERA 1.09)

Most Stolen Bases, Robbie Unsell (33)

Home Run Champion, Cristobal Hiche (3)

Home Run Champion, Xavier Gonzalez (3)

Most RBIs, Ryan Bird (31)

Coach’s Award, Jordan Farkas

Rookie of the Year, Conner Brown

Liam Green picks up the Ravens MVP. He also collected the Home Run Champion (1HR) and Most RBIs (14). He was also in the chase for the Best pitcher award with 2 wins, however Matt Spaulding, Louis Hare and Pete Kikel were slightly ahead of him overall.

HERTS RAVENS

MVP, Liam Green

Batting Champion, Gilberto Medina (.340)

Infield Gold Glove, Pete Kikel (F% .833)

Outfield Gold Glove, Seth Lipstock (F% .846)

Best Pitcher, Louis Hare (ERA 3.86 W3)

Most Stolen Bases, Jon Lewys (9)

Home Run Champion, Liam Green (1)

Most RBIs, Liam Green (14)

HERTS HAWKS

Hunter Devine is the 2013 Hawks MVP. He has grown up in the Herts organisation joining as a youngster and working his way up the leagues. In 2013 he earned the name “Mr. Clutch”. Whenever a Hawks game was in the balance, Devine delivered the big hits including the walk-off hit in the final game of the regular season against Kent.

2013 was the best season in Raptors history and Zack Longboy played a key role in the team’s success. His teammates have voted him as this season’s MVP. He led the team in batting average (.482), slugging (.625), wins (tied with Will Zucker and Brodie Caress all on 2 wins), and ERA (5.40).

HERTS RAPTORS

MVP, Zack Longboy

Batting Champion, Arnie Longboy (.482)

Infield Gold Glove, Jeff Witter

Outfield Gold Glove, Brodie Caress

Best Pitcher, Zack Longboy (W2 ERA 5.40)

Most Stolen Bases, Ken Pike (42)

Home Run Champion, Jim Arnott (1)

Home Run Champion, Ben Marques (2)

Most RBIs, Jeff Witter (31)

Rookie of the Year, Andy Bartram

 

Duncan Hoyle has put so much into the Eagles over the last few years and it is very fitting that he has been voted as the team’s MVP. This is not just a recognition of his hard work off the field as the team manager. He had an outstanding season leading in several categories including Best Pitcher (W2), Most Stolen Bases, Batting Champion (.591), Home Run Champion (1) and Most RBIs (23).

HERTS EAGLES

MVP, Duncan Hoyle

Batting Champion, Duncan Hoyle (.591)

Infield Gold Glove, Tomasz Kosak

Outfield Gold Glove, Adam Landau-Smithers

Best Pitcher, Duncan Hoyle (W2)

Most Stolen Bases, Duncan Hoyle

Home Run Champion, Duncan Hoyle (1)

Most RBIs, Duncan Hoyle (23)

Rookie of the Year, Manny Banson

Coach’s Award, Joseph Osborne-Brade

Coach’s Award, Manny Banson

BEST PLAYS OF 2013

Club members also voted for the 2013 Play of the Year. There were two clear favourites. It is very rare to see back-to-back no-hitters at any level but Ryan Bird did it in the NBL. It is also very rare to see two grand slam home runs in the same game and Ben Marques managed to do it against the Guildford Mavericks. The voting was close and at the end both ended up tied and are both confirmed as the 2013 Herts Plays of the Year.

NOB-OUT

The dreaded Nob-Out award is usually awarded to a player or member of staff, however for a second consecutive year it has been awarded to a team. In 2012 the Hawks picked it up for celebrating their playoff-clinching win at the Daws Hill Spitfires extravagantly on the field only to be told by the umpire that there is one more inning left to be played. It seems that there is a real issue with keeping track of innings and outs for the Hawks squad as they have won the Nob-Out again. This time Hunter Devine, Ben Marques and John Kjorstad turned a 6-4-3 double play against the Kent Mariners and the team started to celebrate walking off the field, but it was too late when they realized that there are only 2 outs as the supposedly stranded Kent runner came in to score with no fielders around. This 6-4-3 double-play was also nominated for Play of the Year but it will now be recorded in the history books as a Nob-Out winner instead. The Hawks better introduce some kind of system to help them keep track of the game in 2014 and cut down on those premature celebrations.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

We came, we saw…but we couldn’t conquer

Herts Hawks taking the field in their playoff game versus the Sidewinders in Enfield

On an eventually sunny Sunday in August, the Herts Hawks travelled to exotic Enfield to face the Sidewinders in the first round of this season’s AA league playoffs. Both sides were enthused with the prospect of eventually playing at the new venue of Farnham Park in the finals, and the preparation reflected the occasion. The setting was made perfect when two of the best umpires in the British Baseball League, Darrin Muller and Geoff Hare, reported for duty to officiate the game.

The Hawks were facing a tough challenge, with their ace Nick Russell (0.83 ERA ranked 2nd in the League), the middle reliever Andrew Slater, and their sluggers Andy Cornish and Tim Elkins all missing, but they all had more than able replacements. However, they were met with a hard-slugging Sidewinders side and, to top it off, with the masterful pitching of Tadaaki Sakurai, who appeared in control on the mound throughout, with able support from the Sidewinders fielders.

The Hawks took some time to start reading Sakurai’s pitches, while the Sidewinders were swinging hard for starting pitcher Greg Bochan’s stuff. Due to his high degree of accuracy, some luck (and we believe, supporting wind, close fences and a number of other intangibles), by the fifth inning the Sidewinders had piled in a number of hits, including four home runs. Two of the home runs were hit by Toshio Watanabe. During his home run trots it became obvious that he was carrying a serious knee injury and his trot was more of a hobble which took 2 minutes to complete. We understand that after that second home run the Hawks coaching staff were considering walking him intentionally in his next at bat in an effort to clog up the bases, but that tactical move came too late as the Sidewinders substituted Watanabe immediately after his second home run.

Hawks' relief pitcher Jose Morillo had his best outing of the year shutting down the Sidewinders over 2 hitless innings.

The Hawks were undaunted, and a strategic decision by co-manager Bochan put young Jose Morillo on the mound for the last two innings, and he successfully shut down the Sidewinder’s bats pitching 2 innings and allowing not hits or runs. It did prove a little bit too late, and despite a valiant effort in the seventh, Hawks went down to a 13 – 3 defeat. Click here to view box scores.

Still, this was a successful season for the Hawks, who finished the regular season with 9 wins and 7 losses, had one more year of postseason baseball, and were able to meld experience with youthful quality throughout the season. You can’t win them all, but you can very well try, and enjoy yourself in the process. That has been and remains the motto of the Hawks: “Veni, vidi, perfrui.”

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

The Playoffs have arrived. Hawks face Sidewinders in first round on Sunday.

Last year the Herts Hawks eliminated Southampton and Guildford on the way to the Semi-Finals. Can they do it again?

The Herts Hawks begin their postseason campaign this Sunday, 25 August. Their fifth-place finish means that they will be facing the Sidewinders, which is probably one of the most liked teams in the league. The core of the team is made up of Japanese players and they always play in the Japanese tradition with the utmost respect to the game.

The Hawks’ late come-from-behind win against the Mariners on the last day of the regular season is considered by many to have done a big favour to the Daws Hill Spitfires who were pushed down into sixth place as a result and will face the Guildford Mavericks. Although the Mavericks finished one place above the Sidewinders, the recent reinforcements by the team from Enfield make them a formidable opponent and perhaps marginally stronger than Guildford going into the playoffs. Mavericks fans will probably disagree.

The Sidewinders will hope to celebrate again on Sunday.

The Hawks go into this playoff game missing several key players. One of them is Nick Russell who has been the ace of the team on the mound with an ERA of 0.83 this season (ranked second in the league). They will be missing the home run power of co-manager Andy Cornish who hit his third homerun of the season last weekend. Also missing are Sunday’s game one winning pitcher, Andrew Slater, and slugger Tim Elkins.

So a depleted Hawks squad will be making the short trip to North London, but the team is still more than capable of winning against the higher seeded Sidewinders. The Sidewinders won the last meeting of the two teams in an exciting 5-4 game. Another close game is expected this Sunday.

Playoff games are special and the players will have that tingly feeling in their stomachs on Sunday. There is an extra incentive this year as the prize for the teams which go through the first two playoff rounds is a place in the Semi-Finals to be played on 7 and 8 September at the brand new Farnham Park – British Baseball’s equivalent of football’s new Wembley Stadium.

The game will start at 1:30pm in Enfield (click for directions) this Sunday, 25 August.