Category: Raptors

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Eagles and Hawks win on Opening Day

GOETZ GOES THE DISTANCE AS HAWKS BEAT DRAGONS

Nic Goetz - dominant on Opening Day versus RichmondHerts Hawks made the best possible start of the season with a convincing win against the Richmond Dragons. They found themselves trailing 4-3 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but they found an extra gear after that.

Starting pitcher Nic Goetz did not allow any more runs putting up zeros on the scoreboard in the remaining 5 innings. He pitched a complete game allowing only 5 hits and struck out 14 Richmond batters. Offensively the Hawks did not have their best day and only Jon Lewys and Kal Dimitrov had multiple hits in the game, but some very aggressive base running meant that once players got on base they were quickly advancing into scoring positions and crossing home plate. Last year Ilya Dimitrov was the Hawks Stolen Base king with 37 steals. Paul Auchterlounie and Nick Russell are already looking to smash that record after taking 4 stolen bases each.

Click to view box scores and play-by-play

Next Sunday, 22 April the Hawks travel South to play against the Croydon Pirates III.

EAGLES MAKE A WINNING RETURN TO THE LEAGUE

Theo Scheepers is expected to play an important role in 2012 as a member of the Eagle spitching rotation

Herts Eagles opened up the 2012 season with a convincing win over the Richmond Dukes. The Eagles’ last game was in September 2010 in the Semi-Final of the AAA National Championships. After an absence last year, the team is back in the A-League this season.

With so many new players featured in the Eagles roster Manager Duncan Hoyle will have the difficult task of building a team from scratch and judging by their performance on Opening Day, they are on the right track already.

Solid defensive play and tight pitching from debutant Reagan Wood and Theo Scheepers restricted the Dukes to just 6 runs. Wood has played for Herts in previous seasons but only in the end-of-season Hunlock Series. It looks like this season he is in for the full season which is good news for Herts.

Offensively Geoff Thomas led the way with 5 runs scored, followed by Senna Ashida and Reagan Wood with 4 runs each. Reagan Wood also starred with 4 RBI and 3 hits, one of which nearly went for a home run, but agonisingly hit the top half of the fence in left field.

The final score was 28-6 and it could have been even more one-sided but the game was called before completion at the request of the Dukes. The Herts Eagles play at home again next Sunday as they welcome the Guildford Mavericks II.

Apart from the positive news on the field of play, there was news coming out of the Eagles clubhouse as well. Manager Duncan Hoyle confirmed that David Ames and Geoff Thomas have been appointed as joint assistant managers of the Eagles for this season.

RAPTORS

The Herts Raptors and London Marauders were the only two teams in the A-League who were not involved on Opening Day. They took the opportunity to have one final Spring Training game before the start of their 2012 campaign next Sunday. The Raptors dominated the game from the start and although this win means nothing in terms of the League standings, this is a good confidence boost for the Raptors and raises expectations. Could 2012 prove to be the year when a Herts team reaches the A-League postseason for the first time? The show begins for them next Sunday at Grovehill Ballpark against the Essex RedBacks III who impressed in the Herts Spring League.

by Matt Bell

Cambridge and Guildford win HSL Championships

Herts Hawks starter Nic Goetz allowed only 1 run in a very effective complete game against HSL AAA Champions, Cambridge Royals

The Cambridge Royals won the HSL AAA Championship while the Guildford Mavericks are the HSL AA Champions as spring training ended for minor league teams and they prepare for the show to begin next weekend.

HSL – AAA

Sunday’s HSL schedule was revised slightly due to the London Mets (U17) absence. The key clash of the day was the game between the two unbeaten teams Cambridge Royals and Essex RedBacks. Four pitches into the game and the RedBacks starting pitcher pulled a groin muscle. He suffered the same injury in the previous weekend of the HSL so this is a major blow for the Redbacks ahead of the new season. The Royals took advantage and won the game 10-2. They did lose their second game of the day against the Herts Hawks 13-1. Hawks pitcher Nic Goetz picking up the win with a strong performance in that game. Despite the loss the Royals knew that they had clinched the HSL AAA title regardless of the score in the other games involving the RedBacks and MK Bucks as they had beaten both teams and in the event of a tie in the standings the Royals would be the winners on their head-to-head record.

The RedBacks won their game against MK Bucks in what turned out to be a game to determine the runner-up of the HSL AAA. Rich Chesterton was the winning pitcher for the team from Essex.

The Sidewinders were winless so far this Spring and despite having a shortage of players on the day they did have enough quality to win both their games to climb up two places in the table. They ended the day with an exciting 6-5 win against the MK Bucks. Tadaki Junior was the starting pitcher picking up the win while Tadaki Senior picked up the save restraining a last-inning rally by the Bucks.

HSL – AA

On Saturday the Guildford Mavericks clashed with the Essex RedBacks II in the HSL AA Final. Both teams stayed unbeaten in the group stage but it was Guildford who came out on top 13-5. In the 3rd and 4th Place game the Kent Mariners dominated against the Herts Raptors winning convincingly 28-10. The second team from Guildford also had a good day beating the London Marauders 13-8. The GB cadets secured 7th place finish with a big win against the Herts Eagles who were missing some key players like starting pitcher Theo Scheepers, Oz Kemal, Will Belbin, among others.

THE SHOW BEGINS

This year’s HSL has proven to be a big success. A record 20 teams took part and with support from very high quality umpires and great venues in Herts and Guildford this felt more like the postseason National Baseball Championships than Spring Training.

Herts Baseball Club President, Aspi Dimitrov said: “We have had fantastic feedback from participating teams, players, coaches and fans” and he added that “the HSL has become a very enjoyable and productive competition in the British Baseball calendar and the best way to prepare for the start of a new season.”

With Spring Training completed all eyes will now turn towards next Sunday’s opening day games of the 2012 season with NBL, AAA, AA and A League teams all in action across the country.

Click to view 2012 HSL Scoreboard

Click to view 2012 HSL Final Standings

by Herts Baseball News Editor

HSL ROUNDUP: Week 2 of the AAA and AA Divisions

View over the new diamond at Grovehill Ballpark as the new BSUK-funded installations start to take shape

HSL AAA

The Cambridge Royals are in pole position in the HSL AAA division after taking a win from one of the favourites, the MK Bucks. This was built as a major clash and the two teams didn’t disappoint producing a classic with the Royals coming out on top 4-2.

Joining Cambridge at the top of the standings with a 100% record are the Essex RedBacks. They made it two wins out of two with a win against the Sidewinders and the star of the show was Franklin ‘Chicki’ Martinez with back-to-back home runs on the old diamond at Grovehill Ballpark. The first was a 3-run blast over the right centerfield wall coming in the third inning and he followed it up with a 2-run home run in the fourth inning. It would take something very special to beat Martinez for MVP of the HSL.

The London Mets U17 felt they could have done better in week one against the Bucks, and they seemed determined to make that point with a convincing win against the Herts Hawks which puts them back in the hunt for the HSL AAA title.

The final round of games in the HSL AAA will all take place at Grovehill Ballpark on Sunday, 8 April. The day features a wild schedule with each team playing 3 games, so every team is mathematically still able to clinch the HSL AAA Championship.

HSL AA

The Herts Raptors were in a buoyant mood after two wins on Saturday pushed them into fourth place of HSL AA

In the HSL AA the Guildford Mavericks and the Essex RedBacks II find themselves at the top of the standings, both maintaining an unbeaten record with two more wins for both teams this week. They will meet in the HSL AA Final on Saturday, 7 April, at Grovehill Ballpark, to determine the 2012 HSL AA Champions. First pitch is at 11am.

The Kent Mariners and the Herts Raptors had a disappointing first week unable to pick up a win, but they certainly made up for that this week with two wins which push them right up the table into third and fourth place, respectively, and they will face each other in the Bronze Medal game on the same day at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, starting at 14:30.

The London Marauders just missed out on the Bronze medal game after losing to the Raptors in the final game on Saturday, which meant that they finish in fifth place, one below the Raptors. This was despite both teams having identical records of 2 wins and 2 losses each. The tie-break rule was applied pushing the Raptors above the Marauders as they won in the head-to-head clash. The Marauders will meet Guildford Mavericks II in the game for the 5th place in the final standings.

The game to decide the 7th and 8th place in the overall standings will be between Herts Eagles and the GB Cadets.

Full HSL Scoreboard and Schedule

HSL Standings

by Matt Bell

AUDIO: BBC 3 Counties Radio talks Herts Baseball ahead of 2012 Opening Day

BBC TV and Radio coverage of Herts baseball club is becoming ever more frequent, including BBC Breakfast who sent presenter, Mike Bushell (left), and his crew to test his baseball skills with the Herts Falcons

BBC 3 Counties Radio presenter, Roberto Perrone, caught up with Aspi Dimitrov to look ahead to the upcoming 2012 baseball season and what fans of Herts Baseball Club can look forward to as we count down to Opening Day this Sunday, 1 April. To listen to audio, press play in the video window below.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

NBL Opening Day baseball extravaganza for the whole family this Sunday

Ceremonial first pitch - 2012 season will open this Sunday
If you happen to be anywhere around Hemel Hempstead this Sunday, you wouldn’t want to miss the baseball gala at Grovehill Ballpark.  This is the Opening Day of the 2012 National Baseball League (NBL) season as the Herts Falcons face the Bracknell Blazers, but there will be so much more as part of this special day.  
EVERYONE PLAYS
The show begins with a softball tournament for the whole family.  The teams will feature members of the Herts youth teams, but very importantly it will see their parents, other family members and friends join in the fun similar to the MLB All-Star Celebrity and Legends Softball Game. The club is also inviting supporters and friends of the club to get involved in this game by simply coming down to the ballpark wearing sporty clothing. For more details and to sign up for the softball tournament contact the club.
HSL CONTINUES
At the same time on the adjacent diamond the Herts Spring League (HSL) continues with 6 more teams in action starting from 10am and finishing at 7pm.
THE MAIN EVENT
The softball tournament will be followed by Awards presentations to the Herts youth team players and then the Opening Game of the 2012 NBL season, national anthem and all.  Can the Herts Falcons get off to a winning start? Everyone connected with the club is optimistic that this year the team would be able to compete in the title race and, who knows, perhaps the NBL trophy will return to Hertfordshire.  It has been 43 years since the Watford Sun Rockets lifted the NBL trophy beating the Liverpool Trojans 8-7 in extra innings in the 1969 NBL Final.
HOT DOGS
The baseball season cannot start without hot dogs at the ballpark.  Fans and players will be able to enjoy not just hot dogs, but all sorts of other snacks including freshly made Krispy Kreme donuts, hot and cold beverages and more.
WEATHER
Will the sunny warm weather stay with us for the weekend’s event? If the event has to be postponed due to rain, this will be announced on hertsbaseball.com, and to all followers of Herts Baseball on twitter and facebook.  Click here to follow us on Twitter or to like us on Facebookand you will receive a weather alert if the event is cancelled.
THE DAY’S SCHEDULE
  • · 9:45am Softball Tournament participants (young and old, male and female) report to ballpark
  • · 10:00am Softball Tournament begins
  • · 10:00am Herts Hawks vs London Mets U17 (HSL-AAA)
  • · 12:00pm Herts Little League Awards Presentation
  • · 1:00pm Milton Keynes Bucks vs Cambridge Royals (HSL-AAA)
  • · 1:20pm The National Anthem
  • · 1:22pm Ceremonial First Pitch
  • · 1:30pm Herts Falcons vs Bracknell Blazers (NBL 2012 Opening Game)
  • · 4:00pm Herts Falcons vs Bracknell Blazers (Game 2)
  • · 4:00pm Essex RedBacks vs Sidewinders (HSL-AAA)
VENUE
For venue address and directions click here.
by Herts Baseball News Editor

HSL AAA and AA week 1 roundup

HSL-AAA 

When the BBF AAA League lineup was announced many fans were surprised to see the Cambridge Royals in the list.  It is very rare for a team to rise by two league tiers which is what happened in the case of the Royals this winter.  They may have played in the Single-A last year but have already had a strong performance in their first HSL AAA game beating the Sidewinders 32-5. With new additions like former Bracknell Blazers starting pitcher, Matt Maitland, they look like they will not be out of place in the AAA this year. 

The Essex Redbacks were just as impressive winning 16-7 against the Herts Hawks.  A grand slam by Matt Jennings put them in the lead and didn’t look back after that. 

The MK Bucks managed to squeeze out a 7-4 win against the impressive London Mets Under-17 team.  The boys from the capital were ruing a missed opportunity. They outhit the Bucks 10-to-4, but crucially left 11 runners stranded on base.  Defensively they ended up committing more errors in this game than their last four Spring Training games combined. 

HSL-AA

Guildford Mavericks I opened their HSL campaign with win over Kent

Over in Guildford the HSL-AA action involved teams from South of London.  John Kristensen took the win for Guildford Mavericks I in a close game that was tied at 5-5 until the 6th innings when Guildford broke it open with a 5-run bottom half of the inning. Guildford offensive highlights were doubles from James Guerra and John Kristensen, whilst Kent’s Jamie Morris also had an extra base hit. Mavericks starter, Sam Jones gave up just 3 hits in 4 innings of work. In a high scoring contest, Guildford Mavericks II scored early and often to ease to victory over the Barons. In a game dominated by offence, the Mavericks benefited from Owen Hazelby going 5-for-6 (2B), along with extra base hits from John Gray and Gillian Conway. Torbay had an extra base hit from Tony Watson, and Gabor Nemeth went 2-for-3. Owen Hazelby took the win for Guildford.

This year the HSL features the GB Under-15 National Team and it was fascinating how the superstars of tomorrow will compete against their older opponents. A strong start from GB and Herts pitcher Tom Armstrong, followed by Patrick Hansford produced a close game versus the London Marauders. They were tied 4-4 going into the 4th and GB put up 8 runs with two outs, but couldn’t close out the game as London came back with 10 of their own to win as the GB pitching and defence started to struggle. In their second GB faced the Essex RedBacks.  They had another great start this time from Jonathan Fretheim who pitched two quick innings securing a 3-0 lead going into the fourth inning. Once again the fourth innings curse struck as a combination of pitchers struggling to find the zone and poor defence resulted in GB conceding 12 runs. Fretheim came back into the game to close out the inning and the game, but the damage was done. 

The Herts derby game between the Raptors and Eagles ended with a win for the Eagles which featured a youthful lineup of Under-17 players.  Starter Jake Caress pitched a complete game for the win supported by lively Eagles bats to record a 5-3 vistory. The Raptors remain without a win after they lost their earlier game against the Essex RedBacks II.  The second game for the Eagles was against the London Marauders who were looking for their second win.  Zack Longboy started for the Eagles.  He needed one inning to get a feel for the mound and then produced a very confident pitching performance.  Going into the fourth inning the game was tied 1-1 which is very unusual for two Single-A teams, but it must be said that the Marauders were always threatening and it took a 1-3-5 triple-play to keep the game tied.  A combination of good hitting by the Marauders and too many London players getting on base after being hit by pitch or walking was costly for the Eagles and they couldn’t catch up. 

The HSL AAA and AA action continues next weekend. 

Click to view full HSL scoreboard and standings

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Rubbing Shoulders with Baseball Royalty

Herts Raptors first baseman Glen Downer (right) with New York Mets and LA Dodgers legend Mike Piazza

Boarding the plane at Stansted Airport early on Friday 2nd March, Herts Raptors first baseman Glen Downer could hardly contain his excitement for what awaited him at the other end in Pisa, Italy. After winning a competition through ESPN America and MLB Europe to attend a baseball camp with ex MLB stars and MLB coaches, Glen reports on what was the trip of a lifetime for him…. 

After a short flight I arrived at Pisa airport to be greeted by the guys from ESPN America and MLB Europe, and off we went to my temporary home for the weekend, the MLB European Academy at the Italian Olympic Training Centre in Tirrenia just outside of Pisa. Upon arrival we were shown to our rooms before we met for a tour of the facility. The anticipation grew as we approached the baseball field, where we were met with a view of a beautiful looking well groomed diamond, with an outfield that stretched out all the way to the 410ft centre field fence! No chance of hitting the ball over that one then! We stood and watched the Belgian and Italian national teams train for a while, then everyone decided they could wait no longer to get stuck to some ball, so Dan, one of the MLB European Academy coaches, arranged for us to play a bit of casual softball on the adjacent field, which ended up turning into a full blown softball game! So much for taking it easy before the next day’s mammoth baseball training session! 

We were then summoned to the dining hall to meet the rest of our hosts, and the two people we were most looking forward to meeting, the stars themselves! First up was the Italian player Alessandro Maestri, a one time Minor League AA ball player from the Cubs organisation, he played in a couple of appearences for the Cubs and is currently playing in Japan in the hope of returning to America soon to continue in his career. Second to be introduced needed no introduction, Dodgers and Mets legend Mike Piazza!! A career .308 hitter, with 427 career HR, a 12 time All Star, and the second longest RBI game streak in the history of the game, this wasn’t just an ex player who’d spent some time in the show, it was nothing less than a baseball God!! This most definitely set the standard for the whole weekend. 

The next day we woke up to perfect baseball weather, a warm 17 degrees and sunny skies. After a short introduction we got going with a full on Major League style dynamic warm up, run by Alex Maestri. Well all I can say is it made the Herts Raptors warm ups look like a mere trot up the baseline to the fence and back! It certainly highlighted quite how fit these top players are, and why they need to go through such a warm up to keep themselves in shape and avoid injuries. After that was the normal game of catch progressing into long ball toss, where Mike Piazza, Alex Maestri and the MLB coaches educated us in the best way to throw a baseball; this was the first thing in the day that I realised I hadn’t been doing properly, and was most certainly not the last! After that were the infield drills, which were much the same as the drills we run at the club, fielding ground balls and tossing back; however there were still plenty of things to be learnt about body position, resulting in a much easier throw to base, and techniques that led to better glove control. 

After lunch we all reconvened for the part that I was looking forward to the most, the opportunity to face a pitcher throwing at big league speeds!! Alex Maestri was on the mound and was told not to take anything off, and he didn’t! Throwing fastballs reaching 87-88mph on estimation from the coaches, which is easily as fast as some pitchers in the Majors, you barely have time to think about swinging the bat, let alone spotting the location and trying to get some wood on the ball! After taking a few pitches to gauge the speed, and a few wafts at thin air, I finally heard the sound I was hoping for, that of baseball on wood bat; ok I only just managed to foul it off over the first base line, but that was good enough for me and I left the batting cage smiling, I’d managed to foul off a Major League speed pitch!! Ok, you might be thinking this is no incredible achievement, but bearing in mind we’re lucky to face pitching at above 50mph in A ball in the UK, facing something nearly twice as fast was really quite daunting! 

We then moved on to normal BP, with pitches at 60-65mph from the pitching machine. This was a little more familiar now, and Mike Piazza spent some time giving us hitting coaching (you don’t get many better batting coaches than that), I did Herts Baseball Club proud by managing to collect the most fair ball hits for the whole group, with Mr Piazza telling me that I had a good swing with plenty of power, so be proud of yourselves Herts Baseball coaches you’re clearly doing something right, compliments from Mike Piazza don’t come lightly! Then came the moment we’d pretty much all been waiting for, Mike Piazza stepped up into the batting cage to hit a few pitches. The quality of this man’s swing was immediately apparent, even though he’d not participated in any proper batting practice since leaving the bigs almost 5 years ago, it was pretty obvious this hadn’t really affected it! After a couple of spotting pitches he crushed a huge fly to right clearing the fence, to raptuous applause and cheers from the entire congregation! His lazy but incredibly powerful swing produced a few more huge hits that we were all scrabbling to try and catch, and it was over. After catching a few fly balls from the coaches to finish the day we all retired back to our rooms to get ready for an evening of celebration following such an amazing day. 

After one last game of softball the next morning to put a huge cherry on top of what had been an unbelievable weekend, with Mike Piazza as umpire, we all had our photo taken with him and made our way back to collect our things for departure. Enjoying a few beers in the airport waiting for the flight home I reflected on what I had just experienced. Not only had I made friends with a great bunch of people from all over europe, I’d been part of a once in a lifetime experience, being treated to coaching from baseball greats and some of the best coaches in the game. The whole weekend will stay with me for the rest of my life, and I can only hope that it has made me an even better player. I can’t wait to get going on the new season! PLAY BALL!!!