Category: Events

by AspiDimitrov

HERTS LAUNCH FIRST EVER TV CHANNEL IN BRITISH BASEBALL

This Thursday Herts Baseball Club will break yet another barrier.  They will make British baseball history as the first baseball organisation in the UK to unveil its own TV channel.  The Herts Baseball Channel will be launched at 8pm on Thursday, 23 September, with live coverage of the 2010 Hunlock Series Draft.

 

Exactly two years ago the club made history as the first British baseball club to broadcast live radio with coverage of the 2008 Hunlock Series Draft and this year the club has gone a step further.

 

Club President, Aspi Dimitrov, said: ‘Having the capability to broadcast our own TV channel 24 hours a day opens up endless opportunities for us to promote our club and continue our growth. We now have the ability to televise live or on-demand talk shows, fan phone-ins, player interviews, game highlights, pre-game build up and post-game analysis, and this will have a very positive effect on all Herts Baseball operations.’ He added: ‘We can even stream live games from our own ballpark and this can be done by adopting the same methods used by ESPN and FOX when they show live MLB games.  For example, we can televise a Herts Falcons game live with 10 or more different cameras located in different parts of the ballpark and the various video feeds can be mixed to deliver coverage of the highest quality. CBS, Fox News and C-SPAN are just some of the organisations which are utilising the technology provided by LiveStream, so we are very grateful to the people at LiveStream who a few hours ago confirmed that they have agreed to provide Herts the capability to stream to 100,000+ concurrent viewers 24-hours-a-day with HD quality (subject to source footage being in HD).’

 

THE FIRST LIVE PROGRAMME

Herts Baseball Club have indicated that it will take several months for the channel to get up to speed and to start to utilise the full range of LiveStream features, but this week’s live coverage of the 2010 Hunlock Series Draft is the best possible way to launch it. 

 

The Hunlock Series is now in its fifth year and is arguably the most eagerly awaited event on the Herts Baseball calendar.  It is the only time of the year when all of the adult players from Herts Baseball Club’s major and minor league teams come to play together at the same venue.  Over the years the event has provided so much drama and excitement and the unveiling of the Herts Baseball Channel will enhance the Hunlock Series even more.  During the Live Draft the club will announce the 2010 Hunlock Series Managers and then the wheeling and dealing will begin with each manager aiming to gain an edge over their opponents even before a pitch has been thrown.

 

TUNE IN FOR THE DRAFT

The Herts Baseball Channel can be viewed by going to www.livestream.com/hertsbaseball  Live coverage will begin at 8pm on Thursday, 23 September 2010.  It is expected to end at around 11pm. For those who cannot watch the programme live, they can tune in 24 hours later (8pm on Friday) when it will be shown again in full.

 

VIEWER INTERACTION

Viewers will be able to communicate with each other in the ChatZone which is located on the right side of the TV screen. They can do this using the LiveStream ChatTool or via their Facebook  or Twitter accounts.  Viewers can post their questions to the managers and other studio guests in the ChatZone and some of these questions will be put to them.

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

HSL WEEK 3 BOX SCORES: BRACKNELL BLAZERS @ HERTS FALCONS

Bracknell Blazers at Herts Falcons
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Bracknell Blazers 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 5 6 3
Herts Falcons 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 1

Bracknell Blazers 5, Herts Falcons 2
Bracknell Blazers Herts Falcons
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Mike Trask p 2 1 1 0 Kimiyoshi Saionji lf-2b 2 0 1 0
Shane Wagner c 4 0 0 0 Carlos Casal 2b-ss 4 1 0 0
Ed Jefferys 1b 3 0 0 0 Jason Greenberg c 4 0 0 0
Ryan Trask 2b 3 1 2 2 Andy Cornish 1b 4 0 0 0
Damian van Nieckerk 3b 2 0 0 0 Dan Kerry p-rf 3 0 2 0
Leigh Cohie ss 4 0 1 0 Marc Martinez ss-3b 4 0 1 0
Jamie Ford lf 3 1 1 0 Nick Goetz 3b-p 4 0 0 0
Henry Collins cf 4 0 1 0 Jamie Munn cf 2 0 0 0
Gordon Shepherd rf 3 2 0 0 Iwan Evans rf-lf 2 1 1 0
TEAM TOTALS 28 5 6 2 TEAM TOTALS 29 2 5 0

E: Mike Trask, Damian van Nieckerk, Henry Collins, Carlos Casal. DP: Bracknell
Blazers 1. LOB: Herts Falcons 9, Bracknell Blazers 10. SB: Ryan Trask(2), Damian van
Nieckerk, Mike Trask, Jamie Ford, Kimiyoshi Saionji, Dan Kerry, Iwan Evans. CS: Mike
Trask, Ed Jefferys, Jamie Munn.

Bracknell Blazers IP H R ER BB SO
Mike Trask W 8.00 5 2 0 5 6
Herts Falcons            
Dan Kerry L 5.00 3 5 3 10 4
Nick Goetz 3.00 3 0 0 1 1

HBP: by Mike Trask (Dan Kerry). WP: Dan Kerry(4). PB: Jason Greenberg. Balk: Dan
Kerry. T: 2:45. A: 145.

by AspiDimitrov

HSL WEEK 3 BOX SCORES: SOUTHAMPTON @ MILDENHALL

Southampton Mustangs at Mildenhall Bulldogs
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Southampton Mustangs 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 5
Mildenhall Bulldogs 3 0 1 6 0 1 1 2 0 14 16 5

Mildenhall Bulldogs 14, Southampton Mustangs 3
Mildenhall Bulldogs Southampton Mustangs
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Blose p 4 2 1 0 Barnes p 5 0 0 0
Zip c 5 1 2 0 Truelson c 4 0 0 0
Perez 1b 4 4 2 6 Urbanavicious 1b 4 0 1 0
Blide 2b 5 2 4 1 Davison 2b 3 1 1 0
Mabie 3b 5 1 3 2 Serra 3b 4 1 1 0
Macias ss 2 1 1 1 Petzer ss 2 1 0 0
Horner lf 4 0 0 1 Wrigley lf 4 0 2 2
House cf 2 2 1 0 Arieta cf 3 0 0 0
Westen-Lewis rf 4 1 2 1 Bibby rf 4 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 35 14 16 12 TEAM TOTALS 33 3 5 2

E: Blide(2), Mabie, Macias, House, Barnes, Truelson, Davison, Petzer, Serra. DP:
Southampton Mustangs 3, Mildenhall Bulldogs 1. LOB: Mildenhall Bulldogs 6,
Southampton Mustangs 8. 2B: Mabie, Perez, Wrigley. 3B: Mabie, Urbanavicious. HR:
Perez. SB: Perez, House, Zip, Blide, Truelson, Petzer, Wrigley, Bibby. CS: Macias,
Petzer. SF: Macias, Horner.

Mildenhall Bulldogs IP H R ER BB SO
Blose W 9.00 5 3 0 4 14
Southampton Mustangs            
Barnes L 8.00 16 14 8 3 3

HBP: by Barnes (Perez). , by Barnes (Blose). , by Barnes (House). , by Blose
(Petzer), by Barnes (Macias). . . . WP: Blose, Barnes. T: 2:47. A: 149.

 

by AspiDimitrov

HSL WEEK 3 BOX SCORES: LEICESTER BLUE SOX @ SIDEWINDERS

Sidewinders at Leicester Blue Sox
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Sidewinders 2 5 3 0 5 0 1 16 14 3
Leicester Blue Sox 2 0 0 0 3 6 6 17 10 7

Leicester Blue Sox 17, Sidewinders 16
Leicester Blue Sox Sidewinders
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Jez Goddard 2b 2 3 0 0 Tadaki Jr. cf 6 3 1 2
Mark Meredith lf 3 2 1 0 Tomo c 2 4 2 1
Shannon Henry c-p 3 3 3 4 Sakurai 1b 5 3 3 2
Oscar Martinez ss 4 4 3 3 Juan p-2b 4 1 0 0
Richard Hu p-c 2 2 2 3 Shunske lf 4 0 1 3
Dave Burke 3b 4 1 1 1 Glen 2b-p 4 1 1 0
Tom Treharne rf 3 1 0 0 Bruce Dullea rf 4 0 1 0
Adam Measom 1b 5 0 0 0 Masa 3b 5 2 2 1
James Monoham cf 3 1 0 0 Eisuke ss 5 2 3 0
TEAM TOTALS 29 17 10 11 TEAM TOTALS 39 16 14 9

E: Jez Goddard(4), Shannon Henry, Richard Hu, Dave Burke, Tomo, Glen, Eisuke. LOB:
Leicester Blue Sox 9, Sidewinders 9. 2B: Shannon Henry, Richard Hu, Oscar Martinez,
Tomo, Eisuke, Shunske. SB: Richard Hu(5), Oscar Martinez(5), Jez Goddard(3), Mark
Meredith, Eisuke, Juan. SF: Shannon Henry.

Leicester Blue Sox IP H R ER BB SO
Richard Hu 5.00 10 15 3 4 8
Shannon Henry W 2.00 4 1 1 1 2
Sidewinders            
Glen L 4.00 9 15 11 13 9
Juan 2.33 1 2 1 2 2

HBP: by Richard Hu (Shunske). . . . . . , by Shannon Henry (Bruce Dullea). WP:
Richard Hu(2), Shannon Henry, Glen(5), Juan. PB: Shannon Henry, Richard Hu, Tomo.
Balk: Richard Hu, Glen, Juan. T: 2:55. A: 119.

by AspiDimitrov

HSL WEEK 3 BOX SCORES: HERTS RAPTORS @ LONDON MARAUDERS

Herts Raptors at London Marauders
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Herts Raptors 1 1 1 2 0 5 5 8
London Marauders 15 6 7 2 1 31 16 1

London Marauders 31, Herts Raptors 5
London Marauders Herts Raptors
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
H Player 1 p 6 4 4 4 Iwan Evans cf 1 1 1 0
H Player 2 c 4 5 3 5 Ken Pike ss-p 2 1 1 0
H Player 3 1b 7 4 3 2 Jeff Witter 1b-ss-p 3 0 0 1
H Player 4 2b 4 3 0 0 (b1) Ilya Dimitrov ss-cf 1 1 1 0
H Player 5 3b 5 2 1 4 Phil Gover 3b 3 0 2 1
H Player 6 ss 4 2 1 2 Tom Green 2b 0 1 0 0
H Player 7 lf 3 3 1 0 William Belbin c 3 0 0 0
H Player 8 cf 2 5 1 1 Chris Deacon 1b-p-cf 1 1 0 0
H Player 9 rf 6 3 2 1 Robert Crouch lf 3 0 0 0
Jon Gamble rf 1 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 41 31 16 19 TEAM TOTALS 18 5 5 2

E: H Player 2, Jeff Witter(3), Ken Pike, Iwan Evans, Phil Gover, Tom Green, William
Belbin. LOB: Herts Raptors 6, London Marauders 12. 2B: H Player 1. 3B: H Player 3.
SB: H Player 4, H Player 5, H Player 7, H Player 9, Ken Pike(2), Iwan Evans, Ilya
Dimitrov.

London Marauders IP H R ER BB SO
H Player 1 W 5.00 5 5 3 8 6
Herts Raptors            
Jeff Witter 3.00 5 3 3 2 3
Ken Pike 1.33 4 13 9 7 1
Chris Deacon L 0.67 7 15 4 5 0

HBP: by Chris Deacon (H Player 4), by Chris Deacon (H Player 8). , by Ken Pike (H
Player 4). . . . WP: H Player 1(5), Chris Deacon(4). PB: H Player 2(3), William
Belbin(4). T: 2:45. A: 0.
by AspiDimitrov

HSL WEEK 3 BOX SCORES: HERTS HAWKS @ GUILDFORD MAVERICKS

Herts Hawks at Guildford Mavericks
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Herts Hawks 0 0 0 3 2 2 5 0 12 13 5
Guildford Mavericks 7 3 0 0 1 2 0 0 13 14 4

Guildford Mavericks 13, Herts Hawks 12
Guildford Mavericks Herts Hawks
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
H Player 1 p 5 2 2 1 Ilya Dimitrov cf-xh3-2b 5 1 0 0
H Player 2 c 5 1 1 1 Mahendra Prasad 3b-rf 2 1 0 0
H Player 3 1b 4 2 1 0 Hunter Devine ss 4 1 0 0
H Player 4 2b 4 3 1 0 Mark Hoffman 1b-p 5 1 4 2
H Player 5 3b 4 2 2 2 Perrie Sherman c 3 1 1 1
H Player 6 ss 4 1 2 3 Tim Elkins xh1-1b 4 1 2 1
H Player 7 lf 5 1 2 0 Iwan Evans lf 4 2 1 1
H Player 8 cf 4 1 1 1 Robert Crouch rf-xh4 3 1 1 1
H Player 9 rf 4 0 2 1 Ken Pike 2b 1 0 0 0
(b3) Liam Green 2b-xh1 2 0 1 1
Greg Bochan p-3b 3 2 0 0
Nick Russell xh2-cf 4 1 3 2
TEAM TOTALS 39 13 14 9 TEAM TOTALS 40 12 13 9

E: H Player 5(2), H Player 4, H Player 9, Hunter Devine(4), Greg Bochan. DP:
Guildford Mavericks 1. LOB: Guildford Mavericks 10, Herts Hawks 12. 2B: H Player 5.
3B: H Player 1. SB: H Player 4(2), H Player 1, H Player 8, Iwan Evans(4), Greg
Bochan(3), Mahendra Prasad(2), Ilya Dimitrov, Robert Crouch.

Guildford Mavericks IP H R ER BB SO
H Player 1 W 8.00 13 12 7 8 6
Herts Hawks            
Greg Bochan L 4.00 13 10 3 1 6
Mark Hoffman 3.00 1 3 2 4 2

WP: H Player 1. T: 2:48. A: 69.
by AspiDimitrov

HSL WEEK 3 BOX SCORES: HERTS EAGLES @ ESSEX REDBACKS

Herts Eagles at Essex RedBacks
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Herts Eagles 0 4 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 7 11 6
Essex RedBacks 1 1 0 0 3 0 7 0 0 12 11 6

Essex RedBacks 12, Herts Eagles 7
Essex RedBacks Herts Eagles
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Chris Porter cf 4 3 4 1 Tim Elkins 1b-rf-lf 5 1 3 2
John Read p 5 0 1 2 Iwan Evans lf 4 0 1 0
Sheldon Smith ss 5 1 0 0 (t8) Hunter Devine rf 1 0 0 0
Ty Porter rf 4 2 2 1 Brandon Deal 3b 3 1 1 2
Matt Jenning 1b 5 2 0 0 Mahendra Prasad cf 4 0 1 1
Stuart Harper-Horn 3b 1 0 0 0 Jonathon Lewys 2b-p-ss 4 1 0 0
(t3) Sean Briscomb 3b-rf 4 1 2 2 Ilya Dimitrov rf-c 3 0 1 0
Ian Colvin 2b 4 1 1 0 Andy Cornish c-1b 4 1 2 1
Marcus Gooday lf 3 1 0 0 Aspi Dimitrov p-xh1 3 1 1 0
Vince Warner c 4 1 1 2 Greg Bochan ss-p 3 1 1 0
Nick Russell xh1-p-2b 4 1 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 39 12 11 8 TEAM TOTALS 38 7 11 6

E: Sheldon Smith(2), Stuart Harper-Horn(2), Chris Porter, Marcus Gooday, Jonathon
Lewys(3), Iwan Evans, Tim Elkins, Nick Russell. DP: Essex RedBacks 1. LOB: Essex
RedBacks 7, Herts Eagles 7. 2B: Andy Cornish, Brandon Deal. SB: Chris Porter(2),
Sheldon Smith, Marcus Gooday, John Read, Vince Warner, Ian Colvin, Ilya Dimitrov. CS:
Tim Elkins. SB: Ilya Dimitrov. SF: Brandon Deal.

Essex RedBacks IP H R ER BB SO
John Read W 9.33 11 7 2 1 8
Herts Eagles            
Nick Russell 4.00 4 4 1 2 0
Greg Bochan 2.00 3 2 2 1 1
Jonathon Lewys L 1.00 3 5 2 1 1
Aspi Dimitrov 1.00 1 1 0 0 1

PB: Ilya Dimitrov, Andy Cornish. T: 2:47. A: 54.
by AspiDimitrov

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH HEARTBREAK FOR BULLDOGS

The Herts Falcons clinched top spot in their Herts Spring League group in the most dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth with two outs in the deciding final game against the hard-hitting Mildenhall Bulldogs. This sets a mouth-watering HSL Final in the Majors division against the 2009 British National Baseball League Champions, the Bracknell Blazers on Sunday, 11 April.

The Bulldogs eased their way to a comfortable 12-2 win against the Milton Keynes Bucks earlier in the day which meant that the final group game between the Bulldogs and the Falcons would determine the group winner. The visitors from Mildenhall managed to take the lead early in the game, but Herts kept coming back to tie the game in the third and dramatically in the bottom of the eighth when newly-recruited Sri Lancan national team centerfielder, Mahendra Prasad, ripped a two-out single into right field to drive in two runs. With two outs and the game tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth Carlos “the Jackal” Casal managed to get to third with his trademark aggressive running, stealing second and then third after getting on base on a hit by pitch. With Casal representing the winning run on third base, all eyes were on Falcons player-manager Jason Greenberg who stepped into the batter’s box. Deep into the count Greenberg made solid contact with a fastball. It seemed that the ball was taking an eternity to come down as the Mildenhall centerfielder was comfortably waiting under it to take the game into extra innings. Most of the fielders were already heading to their bench when the unthinkable happened. The ball popped out of the centerfielder’s glove and Carlos Casal came home to score and win the game for the team from Hertfordshire. After the initial few seconds of joy in winning what was a fantastic game of baseball, the Falcons players visibly tried to subdue their celebrations in an effort to avoid rubbing salt into the wounds of the Bulldogs. Freakish moments like this do occur in the wonderfully unpredictable game of baseball. This may have cost Mildenhall the game and a place in the HSL Championship Game, but on a positive note for them, the law of averages would suggest that they will not make another error like this for a very long time especially judging by their accomplished defensive performance. This, in many ways, is bad news for all the other NBL teams. The HSL games have shown that Mildenhall will be a major player in this year’s National Baseball League.

The weather played havoc with the HSL games in Richmond on Saturday, which means that the Bracknell Blazers finished top of Majors-A group on conceding less runs per game than Southampton. The Blazers will meet the Falcons in the HSL Championship game in the Majors Division. The game will be played at Grovehill Ballpark at 4pm on Sunday 11 April.

Mildenhall will meet the Southampton Mustangs in the Bronze medal game. To determine 5th and 6th place the Essex RedBacks will play against the Herts Eagles, who bounced back on Saturday with a 7-1 win against the MK Bucks in which Darrin Ward pitched a complete 9-inning game allowing only 1 run and 3 hits.

LEICESTER CRUSH WINDSOR AND HERTS TO CLINCH PLACE IN THE HSL MINORS FINAL

Despite losing to the Thames Valley Bisons in week one of the HSL, the Leicester Blue Sox knew that they still had a mathematical chance of finishing top of the group, but they needed to win two games in a row. Their first test was against Windsor and they passed it with flying colours. Next up were the Herts Hawks and although they kept in touch for five innings, they ran out of steam and the Blue Sox took advantage to win convincingly 24-13. Slugger Shanon Henry continued to impress with a home run which went deep over the right field wall. He is 5-for-11 (.545) so far in the HSL with two doubles, two triples and a home run (10 RBIs). The win went to the versatile Richard Hu who got on the mond in the fourth inning to settle the Leicester nerves with the game tied 10-10.

To determine the 2010 HSL Minors Champions, they will play against the Sidewinders who kept up their 100% record with wins against Richmond and Guildford on Sunday.

For more information about the Herts Spring League visit the official HSL website links below:

HSL Scoreboard and Schedule (links to box scores are available for all games played at Herts)

HSL Group Standings

HSL Stats (League Leaders)