Category: Adult Leagues

13 February 2014 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons open 2014 season at home vs Mets

Mets vs Falcons on Opening Day – Robbie Unsell may have returned to America, but he is only a transatlantic flight away from Grovehill Ballpark (photo by Will Baxter)

(this article by Joe Gray was first published on britishbaseball.org)

Southampton Mustangs @ Harlow Nationals

Opening Day in the National Baseball League (NBL) on 6 April will see the Southern Nationals and Southampton Mustangs continuing where they left off last season, with the national finalists from 2013 squaring off in a double-header at Farnham Park.

The Nationals are shooting for a record-breaking fourth consecutive national title, having become the first club in British baseball history to win national titles in each of their first three seasons. But they will be doing so without talisman Will Lintern, the most successful active player in the British game, with six national titles to his name. Will is competing this year for Hove Tuesday in AAA South.

The Mustangs recently completed the most exciting off-season transaction to date, picking up catcher Jose Lopez, who reached the AAA level in his professional career in North America. Southampton will be hoping they now have the final piece in place to claim a first-ever national title for the South Coast city.

London Mets @ Herts Falcons

In another mouth-watering match-up, the Herts Falcons and London Mets, first and second seeds from 2013, will resume their rivalry on Opening Day. The teams played out several nail-biting contests in a closely-fought battle for the league title last season. The Mets were propelled by a league-leading seven wins on the mound for Pietro Sollecito, but the Falcons held off their charge to claim a first-ever NBL pennant.

The Falcons retain Ryan Bird, the league’s Most Valuable Batter from last season, but have lost Robbie Unsell, winner of the Most Valuable Pitcher award, who has returned to the States. However, their roster is strengthened by the recently-announced addition of Abel Salas, a left-handed hitter from Mexico, who previously played for the Mildenhall Bulldogs.

Bracknell Blazers @ Essex Arrows

The Bracknell Blazers and Essex Arrows – fifth and sixth seeds respectively in last season’s play-offs – are paired up in the third and final double-header on Opening Day. Both teams might feel that they need to be sweeping match-ups like this one to have a chance of figuring in the 2014 playoff picture. The Blazers are competing in the top tier for a league-leading 17th straight season.

The South London Pirates, entering their 16th season of top-flight baseball, have a rest week on 6 April in what will be a seven-team league this season. The Essex Redbacks have moved to AAA South and the Lakenheath Diamondbacks will play this year in the newly created AAA Central Division.

3 February 20143 February 2014 by Herts Baseball News Editor

2014 HSL dates announced

The first baseball games of 2014 at Grovehill Ballpark will be played in 22 March 2014

The Herts Spring League (HSL) has confirmed the game dates for the 2014 edition of the competition*.

HSL MAJORS

The HSL Majors involving the NBL teams will be played over two weekends.

HSL Majors (Week 1 of 2)

• Sat, 22-Mar-13

• Sun, 23-Mar-13

HSL Majors (Week 2 of 2)

• Sat, 29-Mar-13

• Sun, 30-Mar-13

HSL MINORS

The other HSL Division(s) involving AAA, AA, A-League and Under-17 League teams will be played over three weekends.

HSL Minors (Week 1 of 3)

• Sat, 22-Mar-13

• Sun, 23-Mar-13

HSL Minors (Week 2 of 3)

• Sat, 29-Mar-13

• Sun, 30-Mar-13

HSL Minors (Week 3 of 3)

• Sat, 5-Apr-13

• Sun, 6-Apr-13

Spring is the time when managers put together their teams and aim to turn them into winning machines ahead of Opening Day. Similar to the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in MLB, the HSL provides a competitive edge to spring training. This is the seventh year of the HSL. Every year this competition keeps growing. The geographic spread of participating teams seems to be expanding as well. For more details visit the HSL site.

LEAGUE FORMAT

Teams will be placed in two or more divisions (HSL Majors and HSL Minors) based on the teams’ ranking going into the new season. The exact format will depend on the number of teams entering the HSL and the availability of venues, therefore full details will be published when the league line-up is confirmed.

TEAMS

Over the years the HSL has featured teams from the National Baseball League (NBL), AAA, AA and A-Leagues, as well as international teams such as the GB Under-19 and Under-16 National Teams and the ASL Eagles.

“The number of team entries has been going up every year. Last year we somehow managed to fit all of the entrants, however in 2014 we have to be mindful of the fact that we may once again reach our full capacity and we may have to restrict team entries when we reach that level again.” said HSL Commissioner, Aspi Dimitrov.

The addition of U17 league teams in previous years has worked very well. The high standard of most of the BBF U17 League teams will certainly enable them to comfortably compete at the level of adult teams from the AA and AAA League teams, or perhaps even NBL.

Teams from around the United Kingdom will be submitting their entries over the next few weeks and the HSL lineup and games schedule is expected to be published in early March.

WEAR THE HERTS BASEBALL JERSEY IN 2014

Herts Baseball Club welcomes youth players from 6 to 16 and adult players from 14 to 50+ 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.

* – The HSL dates are based on the indication that the NBL season will start on April 6 and the AAA, AA and A Leagues on April 13. If these dates change the HSL may make adjustments where necessary.

1 February 20142 February 2014 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Salas is Herts Falcons’ first major signing of 2014

It has been exactly 20 weeks since the 1-run semi-final defeat to the Harlow Nationals in the 2013 National Championships and Herts baseball fans still feel the pain. The best way to bring the energy back into the club is to unveil a big player signing and that’s exactly what Herts have done this evening.

Abel Salas will be joining the Herts Falcons for the 2014 NBL season. He plays in the Left Field, First Base and Pitcher positions. He pitches and bats left handed adding to a Falcons batting line-up packed with hard-hitting lefties such as Ryan Bird, Phil Clark and Dave Tretheway.

35-year-old Salas is from Mexico and has previously played in the NBL for the Mildenhall Bulldogs during the 2011 season. In that year he had a batting average of .405 and slugging average of .568, with 12 runs batted in and only 2 strikeouts in 37 at bats. He also picked up 7 stolen bases.*

As a pitcher, in 22 and 2/3 innings of work he had an ERA of 4.76 with a record of 1 win and 2 losses, 2 complete games, striking out 19 batters (7.5 strikeouts per 9 innings).*

When he joins up with the players shortly there will be familiar face for Salas as he will be reunited with his 2011 Mildehall Bulldogs teammate, John Blose, who joined Herts last year.

The NBL teams are preparing for the new season and the next two months are critical as everyone looks to strengthen ahead of Opening day on 6 April. Will the balance of power in the NBL shift in 2014? We will keep you updated as soon as Herts make any further announcements.

* – NBL statistics courtesy of Project COBB

25 January 201426 January 2014 by Herts Baseball News Editor

We are back in training

The Herts adult and youth teams returned to training for the first Spring Training session of 2014 as the club prepares for the new season. It was good to see many new faces with around twenty per cent of those in attendance coming to Herts Baseball Club for the first time, which is a good sign for the upcoming season. There are many more sessions coming up every weekend in the coming months and this is the ideal time for newcomers to come give baseball a try. First session is free for those who are new to Herts Baseball Club (contact us for more details).

Here is a selection of images taken from the first day back in training (click image to enlarge).

Coach Lee Manning taking players through some base-running drills

The youngest Herts Baseball players put on a batting display which was appreciated by the fans in the viewing gallery.

The Herts Harriers (pictured above)came so close to winning the U17 national championship in 2013. They are back preparing for the new season and it looks like they don’t want to leave anything to chance. They are currently expected to have a roster of around 20 players and coaching staff of 7.

16 January 201416 January 2014 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Raptors make official bid for promotion to Double-A

Herts Baseball Club has confirmed that it has submitted an official application for the Herts Raptors to be promoted to the British Baseball Federation’s Double-A League.

The Raptors have been competing in the Single-A League which is Britain’s fourth league tier since their inception in 2008. In the first few seasons the team recorded modest results, but over the last two years has had winning seasons. Last year they recorded their best season to date. They finished top of their division in the regular season with 10 wins and 4 losses. This gave them an automatic place in the Single-A League national semi-finals. They lost to the Haverhill Blackjacks in a nail-biting game but despite this they were widely recognised as one of the top Single-A League teams in the UK.

The Raptors roster features a large number of the club’s outstanding generation of U17 players, many of whom are also members of the GB National Teams. The Club feels that the players have shown a level of performance which supports the application for promotion to the Double-A League, especially as the team’s young players will be a year older in 2014 and Double-A will be the right league level for the team and for the development of these young players who hope to progress through the GB Team ranks in the coming years.

The application is part of the league registration process which BBF clubs have been carrying out over the last few weeks. The four other Herts teams will remain in the leagues which they played in during the 2013 season – Herts Falcons in the NBL, Herts Ravens in the Triple-A League, Herts Hawks in Double-A League and Herts Eagles in Single-A.

14 January 201414 January 2014 by Herts Baseball News Editor

2014 Spring Training Dates for Herts adult and youth baseball teams announced

*Herts will be going back in time this February to experience the playing surface used at the Eighth Wonder of the World – The Astrodome*

Herts Baseball Club has published details of the club’s Spring Training dates. Both adult and youth league players will be reporting for the first session of Spring Training on Saturday, 25 January.

In the first few weeks, preparations will take place indoors at JFK Catholic School. Herts will then invade the Northwick Park baseball centre where the focus will be mainly on hitting, but other aspects of the game will be covered too. During these early weeks, all Herts players who register for the season will go through a photo session to prepare their profile photos which will be used for club, league and promotional purposes.

On 16 and 23 of February the teams will be going back in time to experience the playing surface which MLB players played on at the Astrodome, the home of the Houston Astros between 1965 and 1999. The venue was nicknamed “The Eighth Wonder of the World” as it was the world’s first domed sports stadium and the artificial grass surface became known as Astroturf. Many other MLB, NFL and Premier League (football) clubs followed in the footsteps of the Houston Astros and played on artificial grass. Herts players will play on the same first-generation artificial grass. It does not mean that it is 50 years old. In fact it is brand new, installed just a few weeks ago at Whitefield School.

The Herts teams will return to Grovehill Ballpark for the first time in 2014 in the first weekend of March where training will continue until the pre-season games in the Herts Spring League and then on 6, 12 and 13 April it will be Opening Day in the respective BBF leagues.

HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE 2014 HERTS BASEBALL SEASON

Herts Baseball Club has commenced the 2014 member registration process. For those who already have a Herts Club House account they will be prompted to register when they log on next time (click here to go to the Herts Online Club House and log on with your existing username and password). Those who are new to Herts and do not have an online account will be able to register as 2014 members by completing this form.

14 January 201414 January 2014 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Adult and Youth players have started registering for the 2014 Herts baseball season

Player registration for the 2014 Herts Baseball season has just commenced and the club is hoping that it will be another record year after 2013 saw the largest number of Herts members in the club’s 18-year history.

Herts has already completed the league entry process for the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League and in the coming days will be completing the process for its other league teams. It is expected that Herts will enter all of the league tiers so will be battling for the championship trophies on all fronts.

ADULT LEAGUES

The Herts Falcons finished top of the NBL standings during the regular season but lost to the eventual winners, Harlow Nationals, in the semi-final of the all-important National Baseball Championships last September. This pushed them out of the top 50 ranked teams in Europe having been ranked in 38th place at the end of the 2012 season. They will be hungry to bring the NBL trophy home having come so close over the last two seasons.

The Ravens, Hawks, Raptors and Eagles will also be going for the title in the Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A Leagues.

KEY DATES – ADULT TEAMS

25 January , Adult team players report for first Spring Training session

2 March, First Spring Training session back at Grovehill Ballpark

22 March, Start of the 2014 Herts Spring League

6 April, Opening Day (NBL)

13 April, Opening Day (AAA, AA, A Leagues)

end of August, National Baseball Championships (NBL, AAA, AA, A)

27 or 28 September, Hunlock Series

YOUTH LEAGUES

The BBF announced changes to the British youth baseball league structure and the exciting news is that even more age groups will be involved in the National Youth Baseball Championships in September. Apart from Under-17 and Under-14 teams, in 2014 Under-12 teams will also be battling for the national title.

In addition, in 2014 Herts youth teams will be affiliated with Little League Inc with a chance to reach the Little League World Series in America which is shown live on ESPN to millions of viewers across the globe. But to get to the World Series, the Herts youth players will first need to compete in the regional, national and then continental qualification stages before they get to the World Series.

Herts is also expected to make an announcement about the expansion of its youth programme. “We will have more details in the next few weeks, but it is exciting to be involved in a project which could double the size of our club in the next few years” said Club President, Aspi Dimitrov.

KEY DATES – YOUTH TEAMS

25 January , Youth team players report for first Spring Training session

12 April, Opening Day (U17 Regional Leagues)

26 April, Opening Day (U14, U11 Regional Leagues)

14-15 and 21-22 June, Little League UK Qualifiers (U17, U15, U12)

6-12 July, Little League Europe Qualifier (U17 – Novara, Italy)

7-10 July, Little League Europe Qualifier (U15 – Kutno, Poland)

12-20 July, Little League Europe Qualifier (U13 – Kutno, Poland)

10 -16 August, Little League World Series (U15 – Taylor, Michigan, USA)

10-16 August, Little League World Series (U17 – Bangor, Maine, USA)

14-24 August, Little League World Series (U13 – Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA)

13-14 September, National Youth Baseball Championships (U17, U14, U12)

20 September, Herts Futures Tournament (U17, U14, U11)

HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE 2014 HERTS BASEBALL SEASON

31 December 201331 December 2013 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.

9 December 20139 December 2013 by Ken Pike

The long dark offseason of the soul

written by Ken Pike

Dear Santa. Please get me a time machine so I can skip past Christmas. If you could deliver it now, that would be peachey.

Bloomin Christmas. Baahhhhhhh Humbug. It’s not sunny. I’m not playing baseball. That horrific whiney sound of Mariah Carey ‘singing’ that fe**in ‘song’ that sounds like a mating call for bats (the flying rodent type, not the maple-wood Louisville type). People eating turkey at every chance, ignoring the dry tastelessness that cause them not to eat it for the rest of the year. Shopping department and well known soft-drinks manufacturers saturating tv and Facebook with something designed in equal parts to tug at our heart strings and purse strings. A billion pointless cards to make you feel guilty about not having sent a card to your long lost fifth cousin twice removed, and oh YAY, a jumper featuring a reindeer. That never gets old. FFFUUUUUUU….and breathe…I hate it. Hate it all. Humbuggery all round.

On a plus note, with the club’s AGM out of the way, we can at least reflect that Herts baseball club had a tremendously successful season in 2013. Staggeringly successful in fact. Several teams (both youth and adult) seeing post season, the Falcons finishing top of their league, and the continued growth of the club and wonderful development of our entry level teams. The Raptors for one shed their traditional “Craptors” tag from a couple years back in wonderful style while the Falcons came top of the regular season league. Amazing results really, especially when you consider that most teams were working on a shallow roster to facilitate having five teams compete.

All of these aspects combined are surely a great testament to the hard work that everyone, not least out board and managers, have put into developing the individual teams and the club as a whole. We all deserve a massive collective pat on the back, and especially Aspi, Lee and co for making it all possible. Thanks guys.

BUT..

but…

One thing in that list of achievement rankles. It bugs me. Its sits horribly at the back of my mind…(a bit like Mariah’s bat-mating song)…and festers. Despite all the success, the growth and the progress….there was a distinct lack of trophies at the end of it all, and to make it worse, all three teams that made it to playoffs were most certainly capable of going the whole way. Ultimately any team that makes the knock-out rounds of any competition can go all the way in the right circumstances…bit of luck here, good call there, nice strategy then…

I blinking hate off-season, not just because of the aforementioned ‘festive’ twaddle, but also because its the one time of the year that you absolutely cannot do anything to improve your league position, personal game, etc. You just get to think about the things that nearly went right. Hopefully you have a nice stockpile of things to think about that did go right, and we have more this year than we ever have before, so that is a good thing, but I can’t help but replay my last out at Farnham Park, that one dropped catch that could have closed that one inning out slightly sooner, that one bad throw to second that could have stopped that scoring runner dead had it not been two…ok… five feet wide. Yeah you win and lose as a team, but lets face it, that one individual’s performance can, and often does, make the difference, so I get a few long winter months to ponder if I could have been that person.

I know, defeatist introspective navel gazing talk is never productive, but these are the facts, and that brings me to my main point (“Finally!” they say, “stop insulting our 2013 results!”-I’m not, honestly!). I imagine many, if not every single player in the club, will share my desire to get back into the swing of things. (I nearly said ‘yearning desire’ but that sounds a bit weird.) Training and pre-season really can’t come soon enough if you ask me. I for one had an absolute blast last year. It was easily the most enjoyable year of baseball in my six year long ‘career’, but having come so painfully, tantalisingly, and agonisingly close to a trophy but falling short at the last means the hunger to play, to win, has grown beyond all belief. I’ve joined a football team to quench the competitive thirst, but frankly they are rubbish and while its helping to maintain fitness it’s doing little to replace the crack of the bat, the snap of the pitch, and that enigmatic sound “STEEEERAAAIIIIK!” which is a simultaneous joy for one bunch of people and an agonising cringe for another bunch. I guess at least my beloved Broncos are doing well, but it’s just not the same as my beloved Herts doing well. It’s certainly not the same as playing and (occasionally) doing well myself.

So I look forward to the first training session, seeing if my vague attempts to keep fit have worked…. finding out what new additions have joined the club… seeing if that talented young prospect from last year who showed glimpses of raw ability has grown a couple inches in height, gained a few pounds of muscle and developed the calm confident swagger that will translate to hits, strikes, outs, you name it….seeing if the existing talents, and developing players of last year have continued that trend and seeing which of them make a push for promotion up the teams….seeing the aging and experienced players and the young newcomers alike all struggle with rust, match fitness issues, aches and minor pains from pushing too hard too early….seeing the managers scrutinise every play, and noting how the players groan with the same anguish as they would missing a playoff play in the knowledge that each slip takes them further from promotion….its exhilarating, addictive, wonderful, and terrible all at once.

I don’t care if it’s two foot deep in snow come January. I will happily run up and down an outside court chasing a ball I can’t see for whiteness. I don’t care if I can’t feel my nose, I will happily don a glove and mask and work on zoning in the target for our young pitchers (I can’t feel my nose anyway and certainly don’t need it for baseball). Heck, I don’t care if the ball has icicles hanging off it, that won’t stop me from trying my best to smack it with a bat. At least until I land flat on my arse for the first time.

I for one know that as Christmas approaches and I munch yet another bland and slightly chewy turkey-related food item whilst listening to my other half humming the tune to Wham, or Slade, Pogues, or Live Aid or whatever other horrendous 80’s pop band Christmas-tune/travesty-of-music she last heard on the radio , I will be thinking of the crack of a bat every time I hear a Christmas cracker, and there will be a little ditty running through my head all along that I really won’t mind hearing again and again and again…. “Take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd…dum di dooodidooohhhdidaaa……….aaallll I wan’t for Christmaaaass…is a ball game.”

Merry Christmas everyone…see you in January. Bring yer game faces.

5 December 20135 December 2013 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Falcons players pick up the big 2013 NBL Awards and 3 gold gloves

Project COBB has published the 2013 National Baseball League leaders in the various categories and Herts Falcons players have picked up the Most Valuable Batter and Most Valuable Pitcher awards which are the most prestigious NBL individual prizes. They are the equivalent of MLB’s MVP and Cy Young Awards.

BATTING AWARDS

Most Valuable Batter has been awarded to Ryan Bird. This is the third time that he receives this award. He previously won it in 2008 and 2009 as a member of the Richmond Flames so this year he receives it for the first time as a member of the Herts Falcons. This season he led in all the key batting statistics including batting average (.549), on-base average (.623), slugging average (.843), runs batted in (31). These numbers are a continuation of Ryan Bird’s dominance in the NBL over the years. In the modern era he leads the NBL in career batting average (.500), career on-base average (.572) and career slugging average (.808).

In the Home Run category Maikel Azcuy (Harlow Nationals) and Kevin Carr (Lakenheath Diamondbacks) were tied in the lead with 4 home runs. Maikel Azcuy was the Home Run Champion in two previous seasons 2012 (4) and 2010 (6).

Southampton’s Victor Aizpurua was the Stolen Base King setting a new season record of 46 stolen bases. He currently stands on 108 stolen bases in his NBL career just 5 behind the career stolen base leader, Robbie Unsell.

PITCHING AWARDS

The Most Valuable Pitcher award went to Herts Falcons’ Robbie Unsell. This was a close race as Pietro Sollecito of the London Mets had an outstanding year on the mound leading in wins (7) and ERA (1.23), however when factoring in all the pitching data Robbie Unsell came out on top. This is the second time that Unsell receives this award. The first came in 2011.

Kevin Carr led the league in strikeouts (82), however many would use the Strikeouts per 9 Innings statistic to determine the strikeout king and the leader in that was Bracknell and Great Britain National Team rising star, Jordan Edmonds with 11.3.

Robbie Unsell was also awarded as the Most Valuable Two-Way Player, an award he reclaims after first receiving it in 2011. This category recognizes players with outstanding performances in both offence and defence during the season. This is a very fitting tribute to a player who has been a true superstar since his NBL arrival in 2009. In his first 3 years, while he was with the Richmond Flames, Herts fans could only admire Robbie Unsell’s performances from a distance, but in the last two seasons they have had the opportunity to appreciate just how fortunate British baseball has been to have a player like Robbie Unsell in its ranks. Most importantly, Robbie Unsell’s human qualities brought a lot more to Herts. He brought something for which a statistical category has not been created yet.

FIELDING AWARDS

Herts feature heavily in the Fielding Awards which are the equivalents of MLB’s end of season gold glove awards. Robbie Unsell picks up the gold glove at Second Base, Cristobal Hiche’s outstanding performances in centerfield are recognised as he picks up one of the three outfield gold gloves, but we must give a special mention to Xavier Gonzalez who made his NBL debut in 2013 with the Herts Falcons and he stood out as one of the most accomplished shortstops in the NBL for many years. In a way this was expected when Herts announced him at the start of the season along with his impressive CV which included the fact that he has previously been under professional contract with the Minnesota Twins minor league teams, however it has been a joy for British baseball fans to see Gonzalez in person. He shone not just defensively, but offensively too and is proving to be one of the very few 5-tool players in the NBL. We strongly recommend to young baseball players who want to develop to come and see Xavi Gonzalez in action.

GOLD GLOVE AWARDS

POSITION PLAYER TEAM

Catcher Will Lintern Harlow Nationals

First base Jarrod Pretorius Harlow Nationals

Second base Robbie Unsell Herts Falcons

Third base Martin Tucker London Mets

Shortstop Xavier Gonzalez Herts Falcons

Outfielder Cristobal Hiche Herts Falcons

Outfielder Gio Escalona Essex Arrows

Outfielder Edwin Alcantara Harlow Nationals

For more details about the NBL awards, statistics from the 2013 season, career stats and a lot more visit ProjectCOBB.