Category: Adult Leagues

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hunlock managers given 3 Wild Cards, “9th Inning” format will apply to all games

 

The games schedule for the 2018 Hunlock Series has been published. As in previous years, all games will adopt the “9th Inning” format where games are decided over a single inning only. This format recreates the tension and drama of the ninth inning.

If that wasn’t enough, it has been announced that this year each team manager will have three “Wild Cards”. The newly introduced rule stipulates that:

Each team will be allocated three Wild Cards which they can use over the course of the Series.

Wild Card A: All opponent batters start their at bats with one strike against them.

Wild Card B: Opponent bats with one Out recorded against them at the start of the inning.

Wild Card C: Team starts their offensive half of the inning with runner on second base. If they use this Wild Card, the runner on second base will be whoever was the last out from the previous game of that team.

Wild Cards must be announced to the umpire and opponent manager before the start of the defensive or offensive half of the inning, whichever is applicable to the Wild Card which they wish to use.

The Wild Card-rule which was proposed by Herts Falcons Manager, Cris Hiche, a few months ago, is expected to add a new dimension, but until we see it in action it will be difficult to predict what effect this experiment will have on the games. In which game, against which opponent, on which day and which Wild Card would be best to use? These are just some of the questions which will be going through the manager’s minds. The French team, Toulouse Astros, will also be allocated three Wild Cards for their games on 30 September.

A reminder of the Hunlock Series Rules which apply to the “9th Inning” format.

• The batting order of each team remains unchanged for the duration of the day unless a substitution is made.

• A substituted player cannot re-enter the same game, however that player can re-enter a subsequent game.

• The batter who was next to bat upon completion of the previous game will be the first batter in the next game with the rest of the batting lineup coming up to bat in order.

What is also noticeable from the schedule is that the home team alternates over the course of the 4-game series which implies that the fielding team in the bottom of the inning will remain on the field in the top of the inning of the subsequent game. This scheduling approach was adopted in previous years and it sped-up the games enormously as there was no need for teams to go in and out of the field. There even was no need for warm-up pitches as the pitchers were ready. The downside is that a pitcher will need to stay on the mound for 6 outs without a break as opposed to the usual 3 outs, which could mean twice as many pitches thrown in an inning. This is where the defence can really help pitchers, by minimising errors and not adding to the pitcher’s pitch count.

Over the course of the Series each team will play a total of 30 games, 27 games against each of their opponents ans 3 against the Toulouse Astros. The team finishing top of the league standings will be the 2018 Hunlock Series Champion.

The other rules which differ from what teams are used to in the BBF leagues are:

• Pitching Restrictions. A player can appear as a pitcher in one, two or more games per day, but no player shall accumulate more than 3 innings (9 outs) as a pitcher over the course of the day. It is the responsibility of the opposing team to inform the umpire when a pitcher reaches the limit. Managers must inform opponents of the number of innings pitched by each of their pitchers during the day prior to the start of each game.

• No Mercy Rule will be in force.

• If the game is tied after completion of the final inning, each team is awarded half a win and half a loss in the standings.

The 2018 Hunlock Series Draft took place on Monday night. See more details here.

If you have not signed up to play in the Hunlock Series, it is not too late. Whether you are an experienced player or completely new to baseball Contact Herts Baseball Club for details on how to sign up.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Pretorius, Brown, Lynch and Deacon are the first round picks

 

The 2018 Hunlock Series Draft was completed on Monday night. The managers of the teams had a plethora of talent to choose from with 68 players drafted over 17 rounds.

THE FIRST ROUND PICKS

On a toss of a coin Black Barracudas had the first pick. Manager, Duane Badenhorst, selected two-time NBL Champion and 2012 NBL MVP, Jarrod Pretorius (pictured above). The South African last played for the Herts Falcons in 2017 and has missed most of the 2018 season, but he is back for The Series. Hopefully, this is an indication that we will see him return to the Herts Falcons for the 2019 season.

 

Next up was the turn of the Blue Rockers. With their first pick they selected Great Britain and Herts Falcons catcher, Conner Brown. Brown was also picked in the first round in the previous two years. After completing his 2017 season in the Bundesliga he was back in a Falcons jersey this year and helped the team finish as NBL Runner-up.

 

Next it was the turn of expansion team, White Lightning. Manager, Colin Whitton, selected the starting pitcher for the Herts Falcons in Game Two of the NBL Final, Wade Lynch. Apart from the wide variety of pitches which he will bring to the mound, Lynch may also come in handy when White Lightning face the Toulouse Astros as he speaks French.

The Red Roosters manager, Giuseppe Basilea, is the youngest Hunlock Series manager and he went for youth with his first round pick, by selecting Herts Falcons infielder, Alex Deacon.

FREE AGENTS AND TRADES

The full team rosters determined at last night’s draft are shown here. As more players sign up to play they will be able to join the teams as free agents. We will keep you updated about free agent signings and trades over the course of the Series.

New players aged 14 or above, regardless of whether they are members of Herts or another club or completely new to basball, can be added to the teams at any point. To be added to the teams or for more details contact Herts Baseball Club.

OPENING DAY

The Series commence on Sunday, 23 September. The first games start at 12:30pm at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. Admission is free. For complete Series schedule click here.

 

by Rob Jones

Falcons fall at the last; Mets take NBL title

There had been a sprinkling of fairy dust on the Herts Falcons’ postseason run. But there wasn’t quite enough magic to overcome the London Mets in the final at Farnham Park.

This was to be a best-of-three series, with the defending champion Mets looking to lock up a repeat title.

Herts started their manager Cris Hiche on the mound on Saturday’s Game 1. He was credited with the win in both of the Falcons playoff victories the previous weekend, beating the Southampton Mustangs and the London Capitals.

This was to be a tough game right from the off. The London Mets’ bats were hot early, driving in 4 runs in the first and 6 runs in the second.

Rich Minford, the starter for London, was in dominant form and Herts just couldn’t solve him. The defending champions were able to pile on, and prevent the Falcons from scoring.

Late in the game, Cris Hiche blooded some of the young talent the club is developing. One of them, Alex Deacon, provided the defensive highlight of the day with a running catch at second base, and a sharp turn of a double play.

Herts were able to load the bases late on, with relief pitcher Aaron Witter among those getting on. Young Giuseppe Basilea hit a hard ground ball. But the Mets were equal to it, and got out of the inning.

It ended 16-1.

Wade Lynch pitches in Game 2

In Game 2 on Sunday, Herts hoped to use the Mets aggressive batting against them. Veteran Wade Lynch started on the mound, using an array of off-speed pitches.

It worked well in the early exchanges, London getting two runners on but failing to score. For Herts, Conner Brown got aboard with a single but couldn’t advance.

It was scoreless after one. The Mets weren’t held for long, though. They made good contact and found holes to score 6 in the second inning. They would keep adding throughout the ballgame.

Mets starter Michael Hoyes was able to hold the Falcons to just the one hit through three innings. But Herts were finally able to break through in the fourth.

Walter Bates led off with a single, and stole second. He was moved to third with a single by Conner Brown – who had come in to pitch in relief — and then brought home on a ground-out by Hiche. But a caught stealing and another ground-out meant the threat was blunted, and the Mets still led 10-1.

Rich Minford throws out Moise Vasquez

Again, the young talent shone. Tyler Badenhorst got the best Herts hit of the day, a booming double into left field which bounced over the fence off the warning track in the fifth.

Shortstop Carlos Casal Jr had made a smart and brilliantly executed play in the top of the fifth to save a run. Fielding a sharply hit ground ball with a runner trying to score from third, he threw home for Phil Clark to apply the tag.

But despite these highlight moments, the Falcons couldn’t put enough together to keep the game alive. A strikeout with two runners on ended the fifth, and gave the Mets an 11-1 victory by the mercy rule.

The Falcons offered their congratulations to London. Manager Cris Hiche said: “it was a tough weekend but all the credit goes to a very good Mets squad.”

He added: “They outplayed us in all aspects of the game and we didn’t come out sharp enough. This is a start of a process for the Falcons and we’ll be back stronger next year!”.

With such great  improvement through 2018, and a crop of young talent which can only get better, that certainly seems a real prospect.

 

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hunlock Series to feature an overseas team for the first time

It has been announced that the 2018 Hunlock Series will have an international dimension. This will be the first time that an overseas team will play in the Series. The Toulouse Astros will be making the trip from France to Grovehill Ballpark on 30 September. On that day they will face each of the Hunlock Series teams. They will not feature in the Hunlock Series league standings but the outcome of their games will count towards the record of the Hunlock Series teams, therefore their involvement could have a major impact on the league standings and the eventual winner.

The Astros have played at various levels in France and internationally, but we have very little information about the challenge which they are likely to pose for their opponents. Over the years French clubs have ranked higher than British teams in the annual European club rankings, but we cannot use this as the basis for assessing the strength of the Toulouse Astros. There are numerous factors which could have an effect on this, such as whether their full squad will be travelling to Hertfordshire.

Their trip to the UK is part of their 10-year anniversary celebrations.

This will add a different dimension to the Hunlock Series, which could be compared to the introduction of Interleague games in the MLB schedule a few years ago. Does this mean that the managers of the Hunlock Series teams will opt not to use their aces in these international encounters knowing that games against direct opponents in the league standings carry greater value as a win against them is not only added to their win column, but adds a loss to the record of their rivals.

We will have to wait and see how exactly this will unfold on 30 September.

HOW TO REGISTER

Existing Herts players are currently registering ahead of the Draft by simply updating their availability in the online Clubhouse. Just like last year, the Hunlock Series could provide a glimpse at new players who could be wearing the Herts jersey next season. New players and players from other clubs can also sign up by contacting Herts Baseball Club.

There has already been interest from players from other clubs located in other regions of the United Kingdom and overseas. They are all welcome to sign up and play in these games.

To be eligible for selection during the Draft, players must register and enter their availability details online by Friday, 14 September. If you miss this Draft deadline or the first one or two weeks of games, don’t worry. Players will still be eligible to play but would be added to teams as free agents. To be eligible to play in the Hunlock Series, players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2018.

Herts Falcons qualify for Europe
by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Falcons qualify for Europe

.

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

by Herts Baseball News Editor

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

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

HERTS FALCONS 18 SOUTHAMPTON MUSTANGS 17

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

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

HERTS FALCONS 5 LONDON CAPITALS 3

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

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

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

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

 

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