Category: Club News

by AspiDimitrov

HISTORIC WEEKEND FOR HERTS BASEBALL

This weekend will see history made at Grovehill ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, as the new second field hosts its first games. The Herts club has existed since 1996 but now, for the first time, it will have two specially constructed baseball diamonds. Only a handful of British clubs can boast such excellent facilities. This will allow two of the club’s four adult teams to play simultaneously, and allow as many as six Little League games to take place at once. That will mean Herts can host even more major events, such as the end of season National League playoffs.

The first action on the new diamond will be when the Little League players start their season this Saturday, May 22nd. The competition involves 6 teams of kids playing 16 games each, culminating in the League Finals held at Grovehill on 7th August. The Yankees are the reigning champions from the last two years – can anyone else take their crown this year? The top performers from the Little League will then be chosen to play for the Herts All Stars at the British National Championships. Last season, the Herts team finished as runners-up after a memorable, heart-wrenching 1-0 ballgame against the London Mets. Boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 14 can join the club at any time, and they could the star of this year’s campaign.

 

The adults will get their turn on the new turf on Sunday. The Herts Hawks will be the men in the history books, christening the field with a game against the Sidewinders of north London. Later in the day, the Herts Raptors will take on the Tonbridge Bobcats. This moment in history has been made possible by the generous support of many organisations — the sport’s governing body, BSUK; Awards for All; Sport England; Dacorum Borough Council and Dacorum Sports Network – as well as the Royal Bank of Scotland and our valuable sponsor, BMW Scotthall Watford. The players themselves have also put in enormous amounts of hard work.

 

by AspiDimitrov

BREAKTHROUGH FOR HERTS TEAMS

The Herts Hawks notched up their first win of the season on Sunday when they travelled to play the Croydon Pirates III. The visitors trailed 7-2 at one point but staged an astonishing comeback to claim a 12-9 victory. Team Manager Greg Bochan pitched a complete game and got the win. In the second half of their double-header the Hawks were victims of a comeback by the Pirates. They led by two runs going into the final inning but went down 15-14.

The Herts Eagles – who play in the AAA Division — also claimed their first wins of the season, sweeping the Essex Redbacks in a double-header. Essex are new to the league this year but the Herts team took no mercy on them — veteran Darrin Ward was credited with the win in an opening 12-10 victory; Louis Hare claimed the W as the Eagles then extended their dominance with a 19-9 win.

The club’s rookie team, the Herts Raptors, continue to improve and to discover more talent in their ranks, although once again they fell short of a win against Guildford. Bryan Drummond pitched four solid innings before being substituted for first-time hurler Phil Gover. Raptors’ manager Ken Pike called the southpaw’s performance “pretty stunning”, and he was also pleased with his side’s improved hitting. Once the players got used to a bumpy infield and a strong wind, they were every bit a match for their hosts. Raptors went down 23-10 but Pike is increasingly optimistic about the future.

The news was not so good for the Herts Falcons of the elite National League. Their early-season struggles continued when they took on the Bracknell Blazers, the reigning national champions. In the first inning of the first game Herts gave up 11 runs, making the task all but impossible. The rest of the game was tight, but Falcons lost 13-2. In the second half of the match-up, 16 year old phenom Luis Goncalves pitched a brilliant game, keeping the Blazers off balance. But after four innings, fielding errors crept in and cost the team dear. This time Bracknell ran out 17-7 victors. Manager, Jason Greenberg, admitted it was disappointing day, but many players were away or injured and the Falcons hope to bounce back quickly and show the League what they can really do.

by AspiDimitrov

BBC VIEWERS GET A TASTE OF HERTS BASEBALL

The following article was first published on www.britishbaseball.org

GOOD WEEKEND FOR BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL ON THE BBC

 

It was a good May Bank Holiday weekend for British baseball and softball on BBC national radio and television.

Softball on Radio 2

It began on the Friday Fixture slot on Simon Mayo’s Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 just before 7.00 pm.

This segment features sports that don’t get as much publicity as they deserve, and in a three-minute interview with sports reporter Matt Williams, Bob Fromer, BSUK Communications Consultant and GB Softball General Manager, was able to promote co-ed slowpitch softball as a participation sport and the GB Women’s Fastpitch Team for their achievement in qualifying for this summer’s World Championships in Venezuela despite receiving no public funding.

Baseball on BBC 1

Then, on the BBC 1 Breakfast programme on Saturday morning, their resident intrepid sports reporter Mike Bushell visited Herts Baseball Club to see what was happening and have a go.

The report covered the encouraging growth in British Baseball league teams this season and the developing youth programme at Herts, and Herts player-manager and GB Baseball General Manager Jason Greenberg was able to promote the current fund-raising drive to get the GB Baseball Team to this summer’s European Championships.

Given the general reluctance of mainstream media in this country to pay much attention to minority sports, the coverage this weekend was very welcome, and the BBC should be commended for providing it.

Click here for more photos featuring the Herts Little Leaguers and Mike Bushell’s tryout with the Herts Falcons

by AspiDimitrov

HERTS LITTLE LEAGUERS START PREPARATIONS FOR 2010 BASEBALL SEASON

 

 

 

After the long cold winter the Herts Baseball Little League players returned to the ballpark for the first Spring Training session in preparation for the 2010 season. Apart from returning members, the Herts Little League welcomed many newcomers and all the signs indicate that this will be another great Little league season in Hertfordshire.

As usual at this time of the year the coaches put the players through their paces with a selection of drills focusing on the fundamentals of baseball. There was even time for a quick game and the coaches of the teams were some of the more experienced Little Leaguers. Some of them may be just 11 or 12 years of age, but they certainly sent a message to the Little League coaches who appeared very concerned about their job security.

The Herts Baseball Little League will be announcing more details about the 2010 season shortly.

 

FINAL TOUCHES – SECOND DIAMOND READY FOR BASEBALL

 

While the Little Leaguers were going through their pre-season preparations on the main diamond, Herts Baseball members were fine-tuning the second diamond. With the pitching mound built to MLB specifications and the anchors for the basis firmly in place, the field is now ready for baseball. The most valuable volunteers (MVVs) of the day were Tom Green, Greg Bochan, Marc Martinez, Lawrence Green and Kal Dimitrov.

The first official game which will be played on the second diamond is expected to be a Herts Little League game, while the first adult league games will take place on 23 May when the Herts Hawks play against the Sidewinders and the Herts Raptors take on Tonbridge.

 

by AspiDimitrov

THIS IS WHERE IT STARTS

Beatiful spring sunshine; a shimmering green expanse of grass, broken only by the orange slash of a home run fence; the steady background hum of the motorway. This was Opening Day for the Herts Raptors, on the road in Southampton. This is where it starts.

Whatever history shows of the season, I can say that I scored the first Raptors run. And that felt good. Mustangs were clearly a more experienced and powerful side but, after falling behind, Raptors battled back. I led off an inning — maybe the fourth — with a walk and then a steal, before the batter and I telepathically went for a hit and run and I scored on a ground ball bouncing through the infield.

Overall my batting was a rally-killer, so apologies to the team for that. Regular readers of this blog — of which I'm sure there are many — know I spent much of last season moaning about my approach at the plate. It's one area where I feel I should do a whole lot better and I needed to be more aggressive yesterday. I shall console myself that I got better each time I had to swing, going from three watched strikes, to a foul tip, to a ground-out. Had I come up again, presumably I'd have got a hit!

My fielding was more successful. I had a couple of unnecessarily dramatic catches of infield pop-ups, and didn't drop anything that came my way at first base (you can tell I have such high expectations). For rookies, the Raptors were really solid in the field. Tom made an excellent debut behind the plate; Phil and Bobby made tough plays look easy from third and short; and Jim made a really good over the shoulder grab at second base. William was our second debutant catcher of the day and he did a fine job blocking my debut effort off the mound. But more of that another time….

No feeling could have been better than winning, especially winning against the odds, but there were plenty of smiles as the Raptors packed up for the day. We did not beat ourselves and, in fact, we made some really good plays. And perhaps more importantly, we had the same spirit that the team had last year — to play our best, and to have fun doing it.

 

by AspiDimitrov

FALCONS SWEEP IN SEASON OPENER

This article was first published on www.britishbaseball.org

by NBL Special Reporter Simon Fitzjohn

Blowout victories, last-inning fightbacks and the arrival of three new teams highlighted Opening Day of the BBF's National Baseball League on Sunday, April 18.

With Southampton, Mildenhall and Essex making their top-tier debuts, there was an extended schedule of eight matches, with plenty of surprises.

Bracknell @ London Mets

Defending champions Bracknell Blazers locked horns with fellow heavyweights London Mets in the pick of the day's action at Finsbury Park, with both sides forced to settle for a game apiece in a wildly contrasting doubleheader.

Game One saw the Mets sneak a 4-3 verdict, backed by a sterling pitching effort from Jason Roberts, with Henry Collins taking the loss.

But Bracknell bounced back in fine style in Game Two, scorching the Mets to the tune of 15-2.

Truth be told, this was far from a masterclass, with a catalogue of errors peppering both contests. Bracknell committed nine errors in Game One alone and Blazers coach Rob Rance admitted he was happy to take a share of the spoils.

He said: “I am sure the London Mets are going to provide our strongest competition this season, so I am pretty happy. We were missing six starters for a variety of reasons so I am very pleased with how we dug in. They were not great games in any way and we made far too many errors, but to bounce back like we did is very satisfying.”

Mets coach Alex Pike echoed those thoughts: “I think it was a case of ironing out the bugs. We made a lot of errors and we did not really hit well. We got the win in Game One but they were much better than us in Game Two. They were two very ugly games of baseball and we just had to get them out of our system.”

Richmond @ Croydon

There was a surprise in Croydon as the Croydon Pirates, who went the whole of last season without claiming a single win, split their doubleheader with the Richmond Flames.

Even more impressively, the Pirates bounced back from a 23-3 hammering in Game One to record a thrilling 6-5 win in Game Two.

Cody Cain claimed a comfortable win in Game One for the Flames, with Jose Sosa taking a pounding for Croydon.

But all that changed in Game Two as a Michael Azuya two-run home run set the Pirates on their way to a comeback victory, earning Tim Ssali the win with Mike Osborn taking the loss.

Understandably Croydon coach Dave Ward was delighted: “In one weekend we have beaten what we achieved in the whole of last year. I am absolutely over the moon. Everyone has worked so hard over the off-season and in training and this is a reward for that work. Last year was completely dismal but hopefully we can look forward with some confidence this year.”

Mildenhall @ Essex

New boys Mildenhall Bulldogs wasted little time signaling their intentions, brushing aside the Essex Arrows in both games of their opening set at Waltham Abbey.

The Bulldogs cruised to 16-5 and 11-1 wins, with Brandon Blide earning the win and impressing at the plate in Game One (Richard Chesterton taking the loss) and Jason Coffee hurling a gem in Game Two.

Mildenhall coach Gabriel Macias insisted his side were not simply joining the NBL to make up the numbers. He said: “We love competition and we will really be going for it this season. We are really excited to be playing at this level and we aim to make our mark.

“The key for us was hitting,” Macias continued. “We put together a few good innings and scored runs consistently throughout and defensively we were sound. We just had a good day all round and it was pretty rough on Essex.”

pictures by www.hp2photographic.com
Southampton @ Herts

Fellow debutants Southampton Mustangs did not enjoy their opening series quite as much, suffering 8-7 and 12-0 losses at Herts Falcons.

But the new boys will take heart from their Game One performance, where they scored three runs in the top of the seventh and had the bases loaded before a groundout ended their rally.

Chuck Truelson took the loss, with Herts' Dan Kerry claiming the win, while Oscar Sierra clubbed a three-run shot for the visitors.

Things went downhill for the Mustangs in Game Two, with Pete Kikel pitching an impressive complete game shutout for Herts as the Mustangs fell apart.

Despite that, Southampton's Ben Davis saw plenty to encourage him: “We fell short in Game One, which was pretty heartbreaking, but there are plenty of positives we can build on. We did not let ourselves down in any way at all.

“Game Two we will wipe out of the memory,” Davis continued, “and quickly. The key for us this season is to try and compete in every game. We want to prove the BBF were right to bring us into the league.

The Falcons' Jason Greenberg admitted it was a case of job done for his side.

He said: “We won both games and we are very happy with that. I thought Southampton had a good squad and I think it is great they are in the league. Obviously, we will get a better indication of where we are at when we play London next week but we cannot ask for more than two wins on opening day.”

by AspiDimitrov

BBC RADIO TO FEATURE NBL SEASON OPENERS
  The opening of the 2010 National Baseball League season will be covered extensively this weekend by BBC Radio London, who will do live interviews with players and managers during the station's Sunday Sports Show from 2.00-6.00 pm on Sunday, April 18.  
The station will put in calls to NBL teams as doubleheaders are ending at Finsbury Park (Bracknell Blazers at London Mets), Croydon (Richmond Flames at Croydon Pirates), Waltham Abbey (Mildenhall Bulldogs at Essex Arrows) and Grovehill Ballpark (Southampton Mustangs at Herts Falcons), and will carry out post-game interviews on how the games went and how the teams are feeling about their prospects for the season.

A day earlier, on Saturday, April 17, BBC 3 Counties Radio will conduct an interview with Herts Falcons Manager Jason Greenberg around 5.30 pm to preview the new NBL season.

The coverage is part of an ongoing initiative between the BBF and the BBC that should result in good publicity for British baseball as a whole and the NBL clubs in particular.

by AspiDimitrov

OUTSTANDING PERFORMERS IN THE 2010 HSL ANNOUNCED

 

 

Over the three weeks of the Herts Spring League we saw fantastic baseball, great plays, dramatic wins and explosive hitting. The HSL has announced those players who stood out from the rest.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER (MVP)

Shannon Henry (Leicester Blue Sox) – The undoubted star of the HSL delivering in a big way with his bat and also on the mound in the Final against the Sidewinders to pick up the dramatic win and the title for Leicester. His batting stats over the four HSL games were: 3 singles, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, 14 RBIs, batting average of .643 and slugging 1.357.

BEST PITCHER – Brandon Blide (Mildenhall Bulldogs) – allowed only 2 earned runs in 13 innings over the course of the HSL (ERA 1.38, K 21).

BEST RELIEVER – Pete Kikel (Herts Falcons) – pitching a no-hitter against the Herts Eagles

BEST CLOSER – Henry Collins (Bracknell Blazers) – picking up the save in the Final against the Herts Falcons.

CATCHER – Jon Mabie (Mildenhall Bulldogs)

FIRST BASE – Tim Elkins (Herts Eagles)

SECOND BASE – Oscar Sierra (Southampton Mustangs)

THIRD BASE –Perez (Mildehall Bulldogs)

SHORTSTOP – John Blose (Mildenhall Bulldogs)

LEFT FIELD – Dan Kerry (Herts Falcons)

CENTERFIELD – Mike Trask (Bracknell Blazers)

RIGHT FIELD – Chris Porter (Essex RedBacks)

BEST PLAY OF THE HSL – John Oliver (Herts Eagles) making a diving catch in right field to stop a Mildenhall rally.

Note: The nominations above were based largely on statistics from the games played at Herts therefore they do not fully reflect the outstanding individual and team performances in the games played at Ham Ground in Richmond.

 

by AspiDimitrov

BRACKNELL AND LEICESTER TAKE THE TITLES IN THE HERTS SPRING LEAGUE
The final weekend of the 2010 Herts Spring League on April 10-11 was blessed with glorious spring weather and fine baseball at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead and Richmond Baseball and Softball Club's field in Ham.
Majors Division

At Hemel Hempstead, Bracknell Blazers captured the Majors Division title by scoring early runs and then holding off the Herts Falcons for a 5-2 win. Mike Trask started for the Blazers, who used four pitchers on the day, combining for five hits and five walks but no earned runs.

Dan Kerry started for Herts and took the loss in a five-inning stint that saw him give up only three hits — but 10 walks proved his undoing.

Ryan Trask had two hits and two RBIs for Bracknell, who served notice that they won't surrender their National Championship title easily in the expanded National Baseball League (NBL) that begins play on April 18.

In the battle for third place in the Majors Division, Mildenhall Bulldogs also made a statement of intent about the coming season by thrashing the Southampton Mustangs 14-3. Both teams have been newly-promoted to the NBL for the 2010 season.
  The Bulldogs took an early lead with three runs in bottom of the first inning, but Southampton soon cut that back to 3-2, and then 4-3.

But six Mildenhall runs in the bottom of the fourth inning put the Bulldogs on the road to an easy win.

Mildenhall first baseman Perez had a homer, a double and six RBIs to lead their attack, wile pitcher Brandon Blide struck out 14 Mustangs in nine innings while surrendering just five hits.

  
Fifth place in the Majors Division went to one of the BBF's new teams this year, Essex Redbacks, who defeated Herts Eagles by 12-7, while Richmond Flames took seventh place with an 11-4 win over the Milton Keynes Bucks.
Majors Division Placings
1 – Bracknell Blazers
2 – Herts Falcons
3 – Mildenhall Bulldogs
4 – Southampton Mustangs
5 – Essex RedBacks
6 – Herts Eagles
7 – Richmond Flames
8 – Milton Keynes Bucks

Minors Division
  The tightest games of the weekend were in the Minors Division, and you'd go a long way to find a more exciting game than the title decider between the Leicester Blue Sox and the Sidewinders.

The Sidewinders led 10-2 after three innings and 15-5 after three, and the title was surely theirs.

But then the Leicester charge began. Six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning certainly chopped the lead, but a Sidewinders run in the top of the seventh meant the Blue Sox still needed five in their last at-bat to tie and six to win. Surely they couldn't stage that kind of rally again…?

Well, they could and did! Six more runs poured across the plate in the bottom of the seventh and Leicester had a wildly improbable triumph.

In a game of 33 runs, Shannon Henry was the pitching saviour for Leicester, holding the Sidewinders to just one run over the final two innings in relief of Richard Hu. Shannon also chipped in with three hits and four RBIs, while Oscar Martinez and Richard Hu had three RBIs each for the winners.

Third place in the Minors Division went to the Windsor Bears, who defeated Richmond Dragons by a score of 18-2.

Guildford Mavericks captured fifth place with a 13-12 squeaker over Herts Hawks, while a bad day for Herts continued (they had four teams in the Majors and Minors playoffs and all of them lost) when London Marauders crushed the Herts Raptors 31-5 to win seventh place.
Minors Division Placings
1 – Leicester Blue Sox
2 – Sidewinders
3 – Windsor Bears
4 – Richmond Dragons
5 – Guildford Mavericks
6 – Herts Hawks
7 – London Marauders
8 – Herts Raptors

All photos by Soody Ahmad.

OTHER HSL LINKS

Full HSL Scoreboard and links to box scores

Group Standings

HSL League Leaders

HSL Batting Stats

HSL Pitching Stats

HSL Running Stats

by AspiDimitrov

A NEW PEARL IN THE CROWN OF HERTS BASEBALL

 

As the adult and little league baseball seasons approach, Herts Baseball Club is one of several clubs in the country unveiling a new baseball diamond and improved baseball facilities.

Over the last 3 years the club has been on a relentless mission to create the best facilities in British Baseball. Last month the club reached a major landmark by completing the creation of the second diamond at its home ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. This project was made possible thanks to funding from BSUK as part of the facilities grant awarded to Herts last year as well as funding from Dacorum Borough Council and separate Herts fundraising projects and donations from Herts members and supporters.

The funds were invested in constructing a backstop, creating the infield clay areas, pitching mound, as well as a cut-off drain to improve the drainage in the infield. The funding was also used to repair the infield on the first diamond. The icing on the cake is the two scoreboards, one for each of the diamonds, which must be the biggest and best scoreboards in living memory in British Baseball.

All of this makes Grovehill Ballpark the only baseball venue in the country which has two high standard baseball diamonds with permanent outfield walls.

The venue will be a tremendous boost for the Herts youth baseball programme. The expanded facility increases the capacity to six little league diamonds which will enable the club to accommodate the growing number of teams in its Little League and especially when hosting events like the Herts Futures Tournament.

Herts Baseball Club President, Aspi Dimitrov, said: “We are grateful for the incredible support we have received from Dacorum Borough Council, BSUK and all of the club’s members and supporters without whom this would not have been possible.” He added: “These facilities will benefit not only the residents of Hemel Hempstead and Hertfordshire, but the whole British Baseball community as teams from across the country come to Grovehill Ballpark to take part in league games, tournaments and other events. Our only concern is that rumours are being spread on the internet that a Bracknell Blazers jersey was secretly buried under the home plate to cast a Bambino-like curse on our Club”.

The Herts Little Leaguers will probably be the first to grace the second diamond in the middle of May when the new grass is expected to be all set for baseball. With the Southern Adult League schedule published a few days ago it has been confirmed that the first official adult league game on the second diamond will be on 23 May when the Herts Hawks host the Sidewinders. Herts Baseball Club has not yet confirmed the date when the facility will have its official opening. The club is hoping to bid for one of the NBL special events which are scheduled in June as announced by the British Baseball Federation and, if they are awarded that event, then it could be the ideal occasion to mark the official opening of the new facility.

This project is ongoing and it will continue for many years to come. What’s next? Dugouts? Grandstand? Floodlights? One thing is certain. Herts Baseball Club has proven that there are no boundaries to what its members can achieve with the support of its partners and supporters.