Raptors stayed at the top of their division with a 30 to 12 win over the Essex Redbacks this past Sunday. However the win was bittersweet as recently called up Dan Bartram suffered a hamstring injury at the now infamous first base on the old diamond at Grovehill Ballpark.

Starting on the mound was veteran and former Eagles pitcher of the year, Theo Scheepers. Straight from his week long holiday in France, Theo held Essex to just one run despite a Raptors fielding error and some walks. In typical fashion, Raprtors bats started slowly and managed only 3 runs in their bottom half of the first. But Raptors offense erupted in the next two innings scoring both 10 and 11 runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings. Although Raptors bats came alive, they were assisted by Redbacks fielding errors and aggressive base running. Leading the pack in stolen bases were Dan Bartram with 5 and Charlie Mayhew with 4. Hampered by leg injuries from previous games even Jeff Witter added to the total with 2 steals but led all with 6 RBI’s.

On the defensive front Scheepers blanked the opposition in innings 2, 3, and 4, using a combination of crafty pitching and some smart Raptors fielding. The Redbacks managed runs of 3 and 2 in the next innings. But then in the top of the 7th inning with 8 players on the field due to Dan’s injury and some sloppy fielding Redbacks scored 6 before Raptors once again found their grove for a final score of 30 to 12.

Raptors manager, Arnie Longboy, who led in hits with 3, said “I like the momentum we’re building as we reach the mid-point of the season. We still have Herts rivals the Eagles in two weeks but can’t look past the Leceister 2Sox this weekend. It’s also a shame Dan got hurt as he has contributed greatly in the two games he’s played for us. But maybe his younger brother Andy will be able to step up.”

BBF A-League, Herts Raptors 18 London Marauders 13

written by Glen Downer

A beautiful morning greeted us as we all gathered in Finsbury Park ready for what promised to be a tough matchup for both teams. Batting first the Raptors made their intentions known straight from the first pitch, hit after hit ensued, and before the Marauders could even get warmed up the bases were full of Raptor baserunners, Brodie Caress picking up the first of his three hits on the day, Glen Downer driving one through the hole in his first AB of the 2013 season. Arnie Longboy stroked a clean hit to straightaway centre, followed by Ken Pike with another signature line drive for a couple of what would be 3 RBI’s on the day! Before we knew it, we had 8 runs on the board, and a lead that would never be lost.

Brodie Caress then stepped up on the hill as the starting pitcher for the Raptors and settled in quickly throwing strikes and making it difficult for the Marauders to hit, sadly a few Raptor errors allowed London to get a few guys on base and score a couple of runs, but we still had a healthy lead going into the second inning. 3 more runs for the Raptors in the top of the second after another great display of hitting created a nice cushion for Brodie to continue his great pitching, allowing only 2 hits on the day and 4 earned runs in 3 innings, he managed to strike out an impressive 5 batters!

Sadly due to pitch count Brodie had to be relieved following the third inning, but up stepped the boy wonder, side armer Will Zucker. Will proved to be a great force on the mound, hitter after hitter failed to make good contact, totally bemused by the great movement from Zucker’s pitches. Unable to contend with a combination of fastballs, sliders and curves the Marauders were limited to just 7 hits from Zucker, who also fanned an impressive 5 batters over 5.1 innings, also allowing just 4 earned runs. Once again the curse of the young pitcher struck and Will had to be relieved, but up stepped the reliable Jeff Witter to close things out for us.

Just requiring two outs to seal a magnificent win against tough opposition Jeff didn’t disappoint. After inheriting a baserunner from an early hit, Jeff allowed a walk and just one hit which drove in a single Marauder run. Then with some fine glove work and a very on-the-ball Ken Pike who put on a great display after relieving the always solid Jake Caress behind the plate, the final out was made at first to end a great ballgame.

Despite a few infield errors, which can largely be blamed on the poor field conditions at Finsbury Park, the Raptors were solid, and put on a fine display of hitting and great base running, with nearly all players picking up stolen bases, Ken Pike once again leading the pack with 3, clearly going for the stolen base award once again! Well done to ALL the Raptors that brought home a much needed victory and keep those post-season hopes alive.

Herts Raptors 19 Old Timers 18

BBF Single-A League

written by Ken Pike

The Herts Raptors have placed themselves firmly in pole position of the BBF Single A division after a hard fought four hour battle with arch rivals The Old Timers resulted in a thrilling comeback victory.

The team from Enfield visiting Grovehill had taken the early lead as the Herts defence committed a series of errors around the field, plating 2 runs in each of the first innings before the Raptors could bring their bats back to life in the bottom of the second, scoring 3 runs to get back into the game. Young pitcher Zack Longboy was showing a return to form on the mound, which helped keep the scores low, but some messy backup indicated the start of what would be at times a very difficult and painful fight.

A clean third inning for both teams gave signs that the Herts defence had woken up, but five runs in the top of the fourth tired Zack’s arm and put the Old timers in a commanding 6 run lead, with a further 2 added without reply in the fifth.

Another young pitcher had taken the mound for Herts though, and as Will Zucker started to find his stride, and catcher Ken Pike noticed the unhittable nature of the boy’s curve ball, the game’s momentum changed. Will cleaned out the batters in order for the sixth inning at the same time that the Old Timers let tempers fray over an umpiring call. The resultant lapse off concentration and change of pitcher led to the Raptors bat’s suddenly finding traction. Once around the order, 6 runs scored and a couple left on base left another Old Timer pitcher tired while tempers flared even further.

The Raptors, now only 3 runs down, were looking much more composed and took the initiative to come back swinging. Two Old Timer runs in the top of the seventh were answered by four from Herts and only 1 run in it. At this point the simmering tension from the away team boiled over with arguments across the field. The brilliant young Will Zucker boiled over with confidence instead and cleaned out another inning in order before going to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning to sign seal and deliver his demand for the game ball by slamming another double in an inning where six runs would put Herts into the lead for the very first time.

They went into the top of the ninth knowing that keeping the Old Timers to five runs or less would mean guaranteed victory, while even a greater dent could still be overcome in the bottom. However, Zucker’s arm was tiring, and one by one the Old timers started to make their mark on the inning. After several runners got home and no further outs to get into, coach Arnie Longboy made the tough, but correct choice of replacing the young star with seasoned closer Jeff Whitter who came in with a three run lead.

Jeff’s calm and accurate display let only one more runner in before the Herts defence did their jobs taking down the required outs in short succession. Whilst several players had lost count during the inning, some wondered if we had won or would need to go out to bat with a small but dangerous margin to overcome. The rest however knew that they had overcome a team they so loved to beat, and cheered jubilantly knowing that they were now in pole position for the league.

Click to view box scores

Stand-out performances from all pitchers garnered special praise from the manager while Short Stop Theo Scheeper’s potent hitting display nailed four hits, including one double and 5 RBIs.

Coach Arnie will be sure to demand that his team bring their best defensive performance much earlier in the game from now on and cut out some of the silly errors that so nearly cost them dear, but he will also be glad to see the offence create 19 runs against a strong defensive team like the Old Timers. The total of 61 runs from two games and a 100% win ratio is certainly the best of starts to the 2013 Raptors season and a stark contrast to the two losses that in the end cost them so dearly last year.

written by Ken Pike

There is an old adage in competitive sports that goes along the lines that a season cannot be won in the first game. While that is certainly true, some common ways of describing opening fixtures include ‘rusty’, or ‘statements of intent’, and both of these were true of the Herts Raptors in their away fixture at Leicester 2Sox.

Preparations for the season were hardly ideal and the Raptors defence could be forgiven a few simple errors. Rain had prevented all but one HSL warm-up game, and the game that did go ahead had several first team members missing due to the Easter Weekend scheduling. A last minute friendly against the Herts Eagles – a sister team intended to be a training ground for newcomers – ended very one sided in the Raptor’s favour, and so the squad were largely untested against high calibre opposition. What’s more, no one knew what kind of opposition the Leicester were bringing to the single A league as they have only just this year moved over from the Midlands double A division.

As a result of this anticipation, and apprehension were both in high supply for Sunday’s visit to Western Park in Leicester. The top of the first inning looked to be going pair shaped with two outs and no runs on the board. However, the famous Herts 2-out drive kicked in and brought 7 runs across the plate. The batting abilities had clearly not been rain affected, and the new additions to the team all made a positive start alongside their more experienced team mates.

The bottom half of the inning however proved a different story. Young star pitcher Zack Longboy struggled to hit his usual devastating groove, and some sloppy fielding all round aggravated the issue allowing five 2Sox runners to get round the bags bringing it back to a 2 run game. This trend continued over the next two innings with Herts consistently batting in large additions to their score only to be pegged back in the bottom of the inning. Despite this, the small overall lead was growing and by the time veteran Raptor Jeff Witter came in to relieve the tiring young starter. The net difference at the turn of the fourth inning was four runs in the Raptors favour.

Some individual great plays including a pair of difficult outfield stops from Warwick Byrne and Rob Jones and a diving grab behind his shoulder from catcher Ken Pike, along with Jeff’s assured pitching brought a confidence boost to the Raptors and a change of gear. A three up three down 6th inning blew the game wide open putting the Herts team in a commanding position – a mercy rule victory was a possibility with a big score and good defence in the seventh. Precisely that ensued with Herts beating up on the third pitcher to take to the mound for Leicester and ending the inning on a massive 42 run total and a lead well in excess of the 11 run mercy rule margin.

While the 2Sox made a spirited effort at a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases and scoring runners, it was ultimately not enough. The inning finished leaving the 2sox trailing by 22 runs.

For a team with so many changes since last year there was much to be happy about. Having lost some big bats in the form of Gilberto Medina, Glen Downer, and John Kjorstad, worries about weak hitting proved to be unfounded. The newly promoted Sony Lama and Theo Scheepers had been known for strong batting and baserunning abilities on which they delivered perfectly. Returning Raptors veteran Jeff Witter got the game ball from coach Arnie Longboy for a calm and assured performance on the mound, while Ken Pike’s first full game at his newly discovered position of catching only allowed for three pass balls all game and held the Leicester running game in check.

A mighty 42 runs crossing the plate for the Raptors is certainly a statement of intent for a team that is tipped to top their group, and in fact puts them at the top of the league after week one, but conversely conceding 20 runs means work has to be done to prevent stronger opposition from derailing a playoff push. A first test of that will come with the very next game against the Old Timers where a Herts win will turn a whispered statement into an assured proclamation.

Starting Lineup:

Zack Longboy – P (swapped to 1st base in 4th inning)

Rob Jones – LF

Arnie Longboy – 2nd

Ken Pike – C

Sonam Lama – 3rd

Theo Scheepers – SS

Amit Odedra – CF

Jeff Witter – 1st (swapped to P in 4th inning)

Warwick Byrne – RF

The Herts Raptors start their season this Sunday on the road at the Leicester Two Sox, who, in a Houston Astros-like move, have switched to the BBF Single-A League over from the AA Midlands. We had a chance to put some questions to Raptors Manager, Arnie Longboy.

We are just days away from Opening Day. Do you feel ready or has the bad weather in March affected preparations?

Arnie Longboy: Less than ideal weather is something that baseball players here just have to take as a given. So on one hand all of our competitors have faced the same challenge. That said I hope the indoor training we’ve had, especially with our strength and conditioning coach Tony, will prove to be a competitive advantage for all Herts teams.

What are your main goals for this season?

Arnie Longboy: Our goal is similar to last years. Field a competitive team and have fun in the process. We’ve also had some players move up so I’d like them to further develop and see them move up in the ranks as they progress with their baseball prowess.

What win-loss percentage would be seen as a successful season for the team and is it realistic to expect your team to reach the playoffs or even challenge for the title?

Arnie Longboy: I want all of the team to expect a winning season and a goal is always to make the playoffs. We almost did it last year and want to challenge for the title this year.

Will the entry of the Herts Ravens in the AAA League affect your team’s chances this season by diluting the strength of the Herts rosters across a larger number of teams?

Arnie Longboy: Herts is blessed to have the numbers to field 5 teams! I think it’s a result of the efforts we’ve made in trying to grow the sport in our region.

Who are the players we should look out for this year?

Arnie Longboy: We’ve again recruited a few of the junior club members so I expect much from them. But some of the veterans returning will provide the wisdom from their experience. It should make for a great team dynamic.

Which of your opponents in the league are likely to be the biggest challengers for the national title?

Arnie Longboy: The Eagles will be a formidable team and as their manager now has a year’s experince under his belt I expect that team to go far. Given we play them twice I think those will be the games to watch for our Herts fan base.