Category: Events

by AspiDimitrov

HSL WEEK1 BOX SCORES: HERTS FALCONS @ MK BUCKS

Herts Falcons at MK Bucks
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Herts Falcons 2 0 0 1 3 0 3 9 8 3
MK Bucks 1 0 0 1 2 1 1 6 9 7

Herts Falcons 9, MK Bucks 6
Herts Falcons MK Bucks
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Luis Goncalves c-ss 3 2 1 1 Tom McVay p-xh4-ss-2b 2 1 0 0
Carlos Casal 2b 5 1 2 2 Olly Calcutt lf-ss 2 1 0 2
Kimiyoshi Saionji rf 4 0 1 0 Tam Tachinawa c-lf 3 0 0 0
Andy Cornish lf-c 4 0 0 1 Jim Kerr 3b-c 3 0 1 0
Marty Cullen 1b-p 4 1 1 0 Ilawa 2b-xf6-3b 3 1 1 0
Peter Kikel 3b-1b 2 1 1 0 Jon Reynolds cf-xf6 3 2 2 0
Marc Martinez ss 3 1 1 1 Tommy Lloyd ss-p-cf 3 0 2 1
(t5) Mahendra Prasad lf 1 1 0 0 Chase White xh7-1b 3 0 0 0
Jamie Munn cf 4 1 1 1 David Lloyd rf-xh5-p 2 0 1 1
Nick Goetz p-3b 2 1 0 0 Bryan Clarke xh1-p 2 0 1 0
          John Tyas xh2-xh1-2b-1b 1 0 0 0
          Rhys Bowey xh3-xh2-rf 1 1 0 0
          Ernie Ayala xh4-rf-p 2 0 1 0
TEAM TOTALS 32 9 8 6 TEAM TOTALS 30 6 9 4

E: Carlos Casal(2), Marc Martinez, Jim Kerr(2), Olly Calcutt, Tam Tachinawa, Tom
McVay, Tommy Lloyd, Chase White. LOB: MK Bucks 7, Herts Falcons 9. 2B: Carlos Casal,
Peter Kikel, Luis Goncalves. SB: Jamie Munn(2), Luis Goncalves, Nick Goetz, Jon
Reynolds(3), Tommy Lloyd(2), Tom McVay, Olly Calcutt, Jim Kerr, Ernie Ayala. CS: Luis
Goncalves, Tommy Lloyd.

Herts Falcons IP H R ER BB SO
Nick Goetz W 5.00 7 4 3 1 5
Marty Cullen 2.00 2 2 1 1 0
MK Bucks            
Tom McVay L 3.00 2 2 1 5 2
Tommy Lloyd 2.00 4 4 1 1 3
Ernie Ayala 2.00 2 3 1 0 1

HBP: by Tom McVay (Kimiyoshi Saionji), by Nick Goetz (Olly Calcutt). . . . . , by
Marty Cullen (Rhys Bowey). . WP: Marty Cullen. PB: Luis Goncalves, Tam Tachinawa(2).
T: 2:45. A: 80.
by AspiDimitrov

RECORD-BREAKING YEAR FOR THE HERTS SPRING LEAGUE

Article by Rob Jones

The biggest pre-season baseball tournament in Britain is back, and this year it is even bigger and better than ever. The Herts Spring league will see a record 17 teams travel from as far afield as Leicester and Southampton to hone their skills and compete for the title. Organised by the Herts Baseball Club, it’s Britain’s very own version of the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues currently under way in the US, and it signals that the season is just around the corner.

Herts Baseball Club President Aspi Dimitrov was delighted by the surge in interest: “Every year we have had more teams wanting to play in the HSL. It’s fantastic to have another big jump in the numbers, and I think it’s going to be a great competition.“ He added: “We are also pleased to confirm that BarrysTickets.com have continued their association with Herts Baseball Club and have just been confirmed as the Official Sponsor of the 2010 Herts Spring League. The financial contribution which they are making will be used to improve and maintain facilities at Herts Baseball Club so that all teams coming to play at Herts can benefit.”

Last year’s winners Bracknell will be returning to defend their crown, led by their star slugger Ryan Trask. In 2009, their victory in the HSL was a springboard to taking the National League title, and top teams this year will be hoping to emulate that feat. Bracknell’s opening HSL game is a mouth-watering clash with the Richmond Flames in a repeat of the 2009 National Baseball Championship Final. Ryan Bird’s Richmond Flames will be battling them hard and the host team, the Herts Falcons, will count on flame-throwing Dan Kerry (pictured) to keep the offenses in check. The big guns will be joined by teams from all levels of the British game, including the current AA Champions, the Mildenhall Bulldogs, and the reigning masters of the British Single-A League, the Leicester Blue Sox.

The action will be spread across three weekends – starting on Saturday, 27 March and ending on Sunday, 11 April – and at two excellent venues, Grovehill ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, and Ham Ground in Richmond. The clubs will be split into two groups, HSL Majors and HSL Minors, based on the team rankings going in to the new season – NBL and AAA teams will be joined by the expansion team the Essex Redbacks in the Majors; the AA and A teams will make up the Minors. The winners of two mini-leagues will then go head to head for the Championships.

The Herts Spring League adds a competitive edge to Spring training. It’s the time for managers to work out their winning formula going into the BBF league season. It is an opportunity to evaluate existing and newly recruited players – which players will earn a spot in the pitching rotation and who will be batting where in the batting order? Who will make the first team and who will have to work their way up with the minor league teams? Not forgetting, it’s a chance to size up your rivals for the year ahead. It’s the first big challenge and the first big excitement of the baseball year. Don’t miss it.

 

Visit the official HSL website for more details.

by AspiDimitrov

BBF ANNOUNCES DEAL WITH THE #1 BASEBALL BRAND IN THE WORLD

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

LONDON (11 February 2010) – The British Baseball Federation (BBF) has signed a contract which confirms Rawlings as the official ball of British Baseball. Six major baseball suppliers were invited to take part in the bidding process. All of them submitted very competitive offers and Rawlings were confirmed as the winner. The contract will run until December 2010.

Rawlings is the number one baseball brand in the world and has been setting the trend in baseball technology since its establishment in 1887. It is because of Rawlings’ dedication to baseball that the “Annual Rawlings Gold Glove Award” bears the name of Rawlings. The Rawlings Gold Glove Award has been presented to players for fielding excellence since 1957. Rawlings sponsors more than half of the current MLB Players. Among them are the world’s biggest baseball stars who are also some of the best paid athletes on the planet. This includes players like Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols (pictured), Derek Jeter, Jose Reyes, Chase Utley and many others.

The Rawlings ROLB model will be designated as the official ball of the National Baseball League (NBL). It features the revolutionary Extra Innings Technology™ (EIT). The patented polymer layer repels moisture, both liquid and vapour, which improves performance and makes it longer lasting compared to traditional baseball technology.

The ROLB1 model will be the official ball of British Baseball’s Minor Leagues (Triple-A, Double-AA and Single-A Leagues) and the Under-16 League. The BBF will also recommend the ROLB1 ball for its Under-13 Competitions.

“It is a tremendous boost for British Baseball to be starting this partnership with the world’s number one baseball brand. The contract represents great value for our member clubs and we look forward to working closely with Rawlings to ensure that they too benefit from this partnership,” said a BBF spokesperson. This news comes just weeks after the BBF announced impressive growth in the number of teams joining the British Baseball leagues which was followed by the news that the National Baseball League will be expanding in 2010.

“Rawlings is looking forward to working with the British Baseball Federation and the Baseball and Softball Shop to bring the latest baseball products, innovations, and technologies to the UK,” said Ralph Robert, Rawlings Director of International Sales. “The BBF is continually working to expand their organization and remain dedicated to promoting Rawlings as the leading baseball supplier in the world.”

The official ball will be supplied to British Baseball clubs by Rawlings’ distributor for the United Kingdom, The Baseball and Softball Shop Ltd. They are one of the largest suppliers of baseball and softball equipment in the UK. Apart from supplying the Rawlings balls for official BBF competitions, British baseball clubs and players can also count on the widest range of Rawlings products including fielding and batting gloves, bats, apparel and footwear, field equipment and more. The Baseball and Softball Shop will be able to offer absolutely any Rawlings product to its customers around the UK. This contract confirms them as BBF’s preferred baseball equipment supplier. Information on how to buy Rawlings products can be found on www.baseballandsoftball.co.uk

by AspiDimitrov

BASEBALL TEAMS GEAR UP FOR HERTS SPRING LEAGUE

Fans of Major League Baseball suffer over the long winter season but with Spring just around the corner everyone is getting an uplifting feeling that the start of the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues will signal the return of baseball. British Baseball is no different and over the last three years teams in Southern England have had their very own Grapefruit League to look forward to.

Organised by Herts Baseball Club, the Herts Spring League (HSL) adds a competitive edge to Spring training. The HSL is the time for managers to work out their winning formula going into the BBF league season. It is an opportunity to evaluate existing and newly recruited players. Which players will earn a spot in the pitching rotation and who will be batting where in the batting order? Who will make the first team and who will have to work their way up with the minor league teams? Not forgetting scouting your opponents. These are just some of the questions which will have to be answered during the upcoming HSL.

This is the third year of the competition and it is expected to be the best yet. In the first year of the HSL in 2008 ten teams took part. In 2009 due to overwhelming demand, the league had to expand. 13 teams played 21 games over three weekends at three different venues – Grovehill Ballpark in Herts, Ham Ground in Richmond and the £100,000 purpose-built baseball facility in Harlow. In fact demand was so high that two other teams had to be turned away as there simply were not enough fields to stage all the games.

The 2010 HSL will be played over three weekends commencing on Saturday, 27 March and ending on Sunday, 11 April. Teams will be placed in two divisions, HSL Majors and HSL Minors, based on the teams’ ranking going into the new season. HSL Majors is expected to include BBF teams from the National and AAA Leagues, while HSL Minors is expected to include BBF teams from AA and Single-A.

Last year the HSL Champions were the Bracknell Blazers and they went on to become the 2009 British National Baseball League Champions, so the more superstitious teams in the league will have an extra incentive to win the HSL this time around.

 

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES TO THE HSL: Monday 15 February 2010.

 

Teams are currently submitting their entries for this year’s Herts Spring League. For more details on how to enter and a copy of the 2010 HSL Pack contact Herts Baseball Club.

by AspiDimitrov

THE SNOW IS GONE. HERTS BASEBALL PLAYERS REPORT FOR SPRING TRAINING

This Sunday, the Herts adult teams reported for training for the first time in 2010.  Over the next nine weeks the players will be going through the process of regaining their physical fitness, restoring their arm strength and conditioning their bodies.  Every imaginable aspect of baseball will be covered to get the players ready for fielding, hitting, pitching, base-running and performing at their optimum level in their respective positions. 

 

After this, the teams will play their first games of the year in the Herts Spring League (HSL), which is the British equivalent of the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in America.  The HSL is played over three weekends starting on 27 March and ending on 11 April.  This is the last chance for the British Baseball teams to fine-tune their game plans before the 2010 British Baseball League season commences.

 

Spring Training always brings the excitement of meeting the new players who will be wearing the Herts jersey in the coming season and it was pleasing to see that around twenty five percent of the players in this first training session of the new season were newly recruited members, so even at this early stage it seems as though Herts will have strength in depth going into the 2010 season. 

 

New players are able to join Herts Baseball Club at any time.  The Club welcomes new players regardless of their baseball abilities and experience – from complete beginners to experienced ball players.  Male and female players aged 14 or above are eligible to play in the British Adult Baseball League, while boys and girls aged between 5 and 16 have the opportunity to join the Herts youth programme and play as part of the exciting Herts Baseball Little League.  For more details contact Herts Baseball Club.

 

This Sunday’s session was held at the John F Kennedy School in Hemel Hempstead and, as soon as the weather becomes suitable, the players will be returning to Grovehill Ballpark, which has undergone significant developments since the end of the 2009 season, including the resurfacing of the second diamond and the installation of the backstop (pictured above).  These projects were made possible thanks to the support of Dacorum Borough Council, the Dacorum Sports Network, BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK), as well as other supporters of the club, including its many youth and adult members.

 

Click here for more images from Grovehill Ballpark.

 

    

by AspiDimitrov

BLUE SOX LIFT UNIVERSITY FALL CUP

The University of East Anglia (UEA) lifted the 2009 University Fall Cup trophy after two gruelling days of baseball played at the home of Herts Baseball Club in Hemel Hempstead.

 

The British baseball season would usually shut down in early September and prepare to hibernate over the winter period, but since the establishment of the British University Baseball Association (BUBA) the baseball calendar in this country has changed and nowadays October-baseball is played in this country too. 

 

This was the second year of the University Fall Cup and the UEA Blue Sox was the team that set the pace from day one winning their first two group games.  First they came out on top in a close game against the Oxford Kings.  They followed this with an 8-4 win against the Nottingham Thieves.  This meant that, regardless of the outcome of their final group game against Southampton on Sunday, they had booked their place in Sunday’s Final.

 

In the final round of group games Nottingham came up against Oxford.  Both teams came into this game knowing that they needed to win to reach the Final against UEA.  This turned out to be an epic battle.  With time running out, Oxford went into the bottom of the fifth inning with what appeared to be a comfortable 5-3 lead with starter Paul Boland still on the mound for Oxford and keeping Nottingham’s offense quite.  Despite this the Thieves somehow managed to score two runs on 1 hit and 2 errors.  This took the game into extra innings with the scores tied 5-5.  Oxford again took the lead on a sacrifice fly by starting pitcher Boland to drive in Chris Hayes.  This did not discourage Nottingham.  They came back again in the bottom of the inning and Maurice Lessing was the man to deliver the final blow with a walk-off 2 RBI double. 

 

This nerve-wracking game must have taken its toll and the UEA Blue Sox took full advantage in the Final.  They pounced on the previously invincible Nottingham pitcher, George Lintern, with a phenomenal hitting display which produced 21 runs on 22 hits.  UEA starter, Gary Ward, picked up the win pitching a complete game allowing only 3 earned runs and 4 hits, striking out 6 Nottingham batters in the process.

 

More images from the 2009 University Fall Cup at Herts

View the 2009 University Fall Cup Leaders

 

GROUP GAMES

Southampton 5  Oxford 6

Nottingham 16  Southampton 3

Oxford 4  UEA 6

UEA 8  Nottingham 4

Oxforf 6  Nottingham 7

UEA 5  Southampton 12

 

STANDINGS

UEA (2-1)

Nottingham (2-1)

Southampton (1-2)

Oxford (1-2)

 

BRONZE MEDAL GAME

Oxford 7 Southampton 13

 

FINAL

UEA 21  Nottingham 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOX SCORES – FINAL, 2009 UNIVERSITY FALL CUP

 

UEA Blue Sox at Nottingham Thieves
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
UEA Blue Sox 4 1 0 1 15 21 22 3
Nottingham Thieves 0 0 0 2 2 4 4 9

UEA Blue Sox 21, Nottingham Thieves 4
UEA Blue Sox Nottingham Thieves
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Robbie Jones cf 5 4 3 2 Maurice Lessing 2b 3 1 0 1
Ed Waller lf 5 3 4 2 Luke Goddfrey cf 3 0 1 1
Shing Kwok ss 5 2 2 2 George Lintern p 2 1 1 0
Gary Ward p 4 3 2 2 Francisco Funes c 3 1 1 1
Mark Gould c 5 2 2 0 Dave Smith ss 2 0 0 0
Sam Rounce 3b 5 1 3 1 Zenhar Marolia 3b 2 0 0 1
Matt Goldspink rf 5 2 3 1 Shay Sharma 1b 2 0 0 0
Sam Southwood 2b 3 2 1 0 Rich Edwards lf 2 1 1 0
Sam McIver 1b 4 2 2 2 Simon Byrne rf 1 0 0 0
          (b5) Rori Burnard rf 0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 41 21 22 12 TEAM TOTALS 20 4 4 4

E: Shing Kwok, Gary Ward, Sam McIver, Dave Smith(5), Luke Goddfrey, Maurice Lessing,
Zenhar Marolia, Rich Edwards. LOB: Nottingham Thieves 3, UEA Blue Sox 7. 2B: Sam
Rounce, Matt Goldspink, Francisco Funes. 3B: Ed Waller. SB: Shing Kwok, George
Lintern(2), Maurice Lessing.

UEA Blue Sox IP H R ER BB SO
Gary Ward W 5.00 4 4 2 2 6
Nottingham Thieves            
George Lintern L 5.00 22 21 10 1 3

HBP: by George Lintern (Gary Ward). WP: George Lintern. PB: Francisco Funes. T: 1:45.
A: 48.

 

by AspiDimitrov

2009 UNIVERSITY FALL CUP LEADERS

BATTING LEADERS

Name Team PA OAB H 1B 2B 3B HR Avg Slug OBA
Alex Jinnah Southampton Mustangs 11 9 7 3 3 1 0 0.778 1.333 0.818
George Lintern Nottingham Thieves 10 8 6 2 4 0 0 0.750 1.250 0.800
Rori Burnard Nottingham Thieves 6 3 2 2 0 0 0 0.667 0.667 0.833
Richard Bibby Southampton Mustangs 8 5 3 1 1 1 0 0.600 1.200 0.750
Rich Edwards Nottingham Thieves 5 5 3 2 0 1 0 0.600 1.000 0.600
Mark Gould UEA Blue Sox 14 14 8 6 1 1 0 0.571 0.786 0.571
Matt Goldspink UEA Blue Sox 8 7 4 3 1 0 0 0.571 0.714 0.625
Robbie Jones UEA Blue Sox 13 10 5 5 0 0 0 0.500 0.500 0.615
Kevin Tu Southampton Mustangs 12 8 4 2 1 1 0 0.500 0.875 0.667
Grant Southampton Mustangs 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0.500 0.500 0.500

RBI LEADERS

Name Team GP PA OAB RBI
Mark Gould UEA Blue Sox 4 14 14 6
Shing Kwok UEA Blue Sox 4 15 15 6
Alex Jinnah Southampton Mustangs 3 11 9 5
Richard Bibby Southampton Mustangs 2 8 5 5
Ed Waller UEA Blue Sox 4 15 15 5
Paul Boland Oxford Kings 4 14 10 5
Francisco Funes Nottingham Thieves 3 10 9 4
Rori Burnard Nottingham Thieves 3 6 3 3
Robbie Jones UEA Blue Sox 4 13 10 3

PITCHING (sorted by ERA)

Name Team W L IP ERA OBA
Shing Kwok UEA Blue Sox 1 0 6.00 1.50        0.125
Dan Collins Southampton Mustangs 0 0 5.00 1.80        0.217
Kevin Tu Southampton Mustangs 2 0 7.00 2.57        0.323
Robbie Jones UEA Blue Sox 0 0 2.67 3.38        0.083
Gary Ward UEA Blue Sox 1 0 5.00 3.60        0.200
John Birnbaum Oxford Kings 0 1 5.00 5.40        0.286
Mike Lewandowski Southampton Mustangs 0 1 5.00 5.40        0.238
Paul Boland Oxford Kings 0 1 5.33 6.75        0.308
Dave Smith Nottingham Thieves 0 0 5.00 7.20        0.263
Denis Clarke Oxford Kings 1 1 12.00 9.00        0.356
George Lintern Nottingham Thieves 1 1 6.00 16.50        0.512
Ed Waller UEA Blue Sox 0 1 2.00 18.00        0.300

STRIKEOUTS PER 9 INNINGS

Name Team SO IP Ks/9IP
Paul Boland Oxford Kings 11 5.33 18.6
Mike Lewandowski Southampton Mustangs 10 5.00 18.0
Dave Smith Nottingham Thieves 9 5.00 16.2
Dan Collins Southampton Mustangs 8 5.00 14.4
Denis Clarke Oxford Kings 19 12.00 14.3
Robbie Jones UEA Blue Sox 4 2.67 13.5
John Birnbaum Oxford Kings 7 5.00 12.6
Shing Kwok UEA Blue Sox 8 6.00 12.0
Gary Ward UEA Blue Sox 6 5.00 10.8
Ed Waller UEA Blue Sox 2 2.00 9.0
Kevin Tu Southampton Mustangs 6 7.00 7.7
George Lintern Nottingham Thieves 3 6.00 4.5

RUNNING LEADERS (sorted by stolen bases)

Name Team R SB SB%
George Lintern Nottingham Thieves 6 7 100
Kevin Tu Southampton Mustangs 8 7 100
Paul Boland Oxford Kings 6 5 100
John Birnbaum Oxford Kings 7 5 83.3
Maurice Lessing Nottingham Thieves 3 4 100
Denis Clarke Oxford Kings 3 4 100
Alex Jinnah Southampton Mustangs 8 3 100
Robbie Jones UEA Blue Sox 9 3 100
Shing Kwok UEA Blue Sox 6 3 100

FIELDING (sorted by team)

Name Team Pos GP TP PO A E F%
Dave Smith Nottingham Thieves SS 2 6 2 4 5 0.545
Dave Smith Nottingham Thieves P 1 5 0 0 0 0.000
Francisco Funes Nottingham Thieves C 2 11 13 1 0 1.000
George Lintern Nottingham Thieves P 2 6 3 2 0 1.000
George Lintern Nottingham Thieves SS 1 5 0 0 0 0.000
Luke Goddfrey Nottingham Thieves CF 2 11 3 0 1 0.750
Maurice Lessing Nottingham Thieves 2B 2 11 4 1 1 0.833
Rich Edwards Nottingham Thieves LF 2 11 1 0 1 0.500
Rori Burnard Nottingham Thieves RF 2 2.667 0 0 0 0.000
Shay Sharma Nottingham Thieves 1B 2 11 6 1 0 1.000
Simon Byrne Nottingham Thieves RF 2 7.333 0 0 0 0.000
Zenhar Marolia Nottingham Thieves 3B 2 11 1 0 1 0.500
Andreas Witte Oxford Kings 3B 1 6 2 0 0 1.000
Andreas Witte Oxford Kings RF 1 5.333 0 0 0 0.000
Andreas Witte Oxford Kings LF 2 11 0 0 1 0.000
Chris Hayes Oxford Kings 1B 3 16.33 16 1 2 0.895
Chris Hayes Oxford Kings 2B 1 6 0 1 2 0.333
Denis Clarke Oxford Kings SS 1 5 2 3 0 1.000
Denis Clarke Oxford Kings P 2 12 0 3 0 1.000
Denis Clarke Oxford Kings C 1 5.333 9 2 1 0.917
Graham Hobbs Oxford Kings 2B 3 16.33 3 2 1 0.833
Graham Hobbs Oxford Kings 1B 1 6 1 0 2 0.333
James Moxness Oxford Kings LF 2 11.33 1 1 0 1.000
James Moxness Oxford Kings RF 2 11 0 0 1 0.000
John Birnbaum Oxford Kings SS 3 17.33 6 4 1 0.909
John Birnbaum Oxford Kings P 1 5 0 2 1 0.667
Paul Boland Oxford Kings P 1 5.333 0 2 0 1.000
Paul Boland Oxford Kings C 3 17 25 3 1 0.966
Steve Brosha Oxford Kings CF 4 22.33 1 0 0 1.000
Will Salt Oxford Kings 3B 3 16.33 1 1 1 0.667
Will Salt Oxford Kings RF 1 6 0 0 0 0.000
Aaron Dent Southampton Mustangs 2B 1 7 2 2 0 1.000
Aaron Dent Southampton Mustangs 1B 2 10 9 0 1 0.900
Alex Jinnah Southampton Mustangs SS 3 17 4 7 3 0.786
Chris Brown Southampton Mustangs 3B 2 10 1 1 2 0.500
Chris Brown Southampton Mustangs LF 1 7 0 0 0 0.000
Dan Collins Southampton Mustangs 1B 1 2 1 3 1 0.800
Dan Collins Southampton Mustangs 2B 2 9 1 2 1 0.750
Dan Collins Southampton Mustangs P 1 5 0 0 0 0.000
Evan Braaten Southampton Mustangs 3B 1 7 1 0 1 0.500
Evan Braaten Southampton Mustangs RF 2 9 0 0 0 0.000
Grant Southampton Mustangs RF 1 1 0 0 0 0.000
Katie Grant Southampton Mustangs LF 1 5 0 0 0 0.000
Katie Grant Southampton Mustangs RF 1 7 0 0 1 0.000
Kevin Tu Southampton Mustangs P 2 7 8 5 0 1.000
Kevin Tu Southampton Mustangs C 2 10 10 0 0 1.000
Liam O’Shea Southampton Mustangs CF 1 5 2 0 0 1.000
Mike Lewandowski Southampton Mustangs P 1 5 0 1 0 1.000
Phil Harper Southampton Mustangs CF 2 12 0 0 1 0.000
Richard Bibby Southampton Mustangs C 2 7 12 0 1 0.923
Richard Bibby Southampton Mustangs 1B 1 5 0 0 0 0.000
Will Travers Southampton Mustangs LF 1 5 0 0 0 0.000
Zak Southampton Mustangs 2B 1 1 0 0 0 0.000
Dan Straw UEA Blue Sox LF 1 4.667 0 0 0 0.000
Ed Waller UEA Blue Sox 1B 1 2.667 3 1 0 1.000
Ed Waller UEA Blue Sox LF 2 11 1 0 1 0.500
Ed Waller UEA Blue Sox P 1 2 0 0 0 0.000
Gary Ward UEA Blue Sox C 1 4.667 5 1 0 1.000
Gary Ward UEA Blue Sox SS 1 6 1 2 1 0.750
Gary Ward UEA Blue Sox P 1 5 1 1 1 0.667
Jamie Connolly UEA Blue Sox 2B 1 4.667 2 0 1 0.667
Jamie Connolly UEA Blue Sox RF 1 6 0 0 0 0.000
Kenny Woo UEA Blue Sox RF 1 4.667 0 0 1 0.000
Mark Gould UEA Blue Sox CF 1 4.667 1 0 0 1.000
Mark Gould UEA Blue Sox C 2 11 14 2 1 0.941
Matt Goldspink UEA Blue Sox RF 1 5 0 0 0 0.000
Robbie Jones UEA Blue Sox P 1 2.667 1 1 0 1.000
Robbie Jones UEA Blue Sox CF 2 11 3 0 0 1.000
Sam McIver UEA Blue Sox 1B 3 13 9 0 3 0.750
Sam Rounce UEA Blue Sox 3B 3 15.67 3 2 1 0.833
Sam Southwood UEA Blue Sox 2B 2 11 1 0 1 0.500
Shing Kwok UEA Blue Sox SS 2 9.667 2 4 2 0.750
Shing Kwok UEA Blue Sox P 1 6 1 1 1 0.667
TEAM TOTALS   4 22.33 199 70 49 0.846

Note: the stats of the home teams in the Not @ Sot and UEA @ Nottingham group games on Saturday were not included in these reports.

by AspiDimitrov

HERTS TO HOST 2009 UNIVERSITY FALL CUP – 17-18 OCTOBER

Herts Baseball Club has been selected as the host of the 2009 University Fall Cup, which will take place over the weekend of 17-18 October 2009. 

 

This is a competition organised by the British University Baseball Association (BUBA).  BUBA is the governing and regulatory body responsible for all university and college baseball played throughout the United Kingdom. Founded in 2007 as a means of making university baseball more efficient and effective, BUBA has grown into a large organisation responsible for large numbers of players, and all official university competitions.

 

This is the second year of the University Fall Cup.  In order to cope with the expanded BUBA membership, the late October competition has had to be split into two separate events. Tier 1, also referred to as the Fall Cup, will feature the top university baseball teams in the country – Nottingham, Southampton, Oxford, UEA and rising stars Leeds and they will battle it out at the home of Herts Baseball Club in Hemel Hempstead.  The Tier 2 competition, named the Fall Shield, includes Brighton, Lincoln, Imperial University, Sheffield and Warwick and it will take place one week later at University of Nottingham’s Grove Farm Park.

 

Due to the odd number of teams competing, and the restricted time in which to compete, a novel system of competition has been developed.

 

Each team will be assigned a seeding based on their most recent performances in student competition and will play two games on the first day.  The standings after the first day will decide who plays who for what on day two.

 

The fourth (P4) and fifth (P5) placed teams on day one will face off in an elimination playoff with the winner going through to face first placed team (P1) in the first semi-final. The second semi will be contested between the third (P3) and fourth (P4) placed team from day one.  The two semi-final winners will go through to compete for the championship whilst the loser of semi-final 2 will go on to face the loser of the earlier elimination game.

 

Day 1 (Sat, 17 Oct)

Diamond 1

Diamond 2

1100 – 1245

S1

@

S3

S2

@

S4

1300 – 1445

S3

@

S4

S5

@

S1

1500 – 1645

S5

@

S2

Day 2 (Sun, 18 Oct)

Diamond 1

Diamond 2

1100 – 1245 – Elim

P5

@

P4

1300 – 1445

W Elim

@

P1

P3

@

P2

1500 – 1645

W SF 2

@

W SF 1

L Elim

@

L SF 2

 

The games will be played at Grovehill Ballpark, which is the home of Herts Baseball Club.  The second baseball diamond is currently being resurfaced in preparation for the 2010 season, but a temporary diamond will be created for this event.

 

There is no Herts team in this competition, but Herts Baseball Club would find it very difficult to remain a neutral host as Herts’ number 46, Yuchih Lin, will be representing Southampton University.  So far this one weekend, Herts fans will be supporting Southampton.  Lin was one of the most consistent performers for the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League this year.  He ended the year with a very impressive batting average of .342 (2nd among Herts Falcons), joint Herts Falcons RBI leader (15).   He was also the NBL leader in plate appearances (88).

 

All fans are welcome at Grovehill Ballpark for two days of exciting baseball.  Hot and cold beverages and snacks will be available for fans to enjoy.  For more details contact Herts Baseball Club

by AspiDimitrov

BLACK WIDOWS IN LEAD; ROOSTERS, DOGS IN SEMI-FINAL

The Black Widows have emerged top-of-the-heap after week two of the 2009 Kyle Hunlock Series.  After crushing the Blue Dogs 12-3 in the morning opener, they went on to hand the Red Roosters their first loss of the Series by a score of 12-7.  While this left the Roosters and the Widows each with a 3-1 record, the Widows mountainous run differential was just too steep for the Roosters to climb; although they beat the Blue Dogs 15-2 in the final match of the day, they would have needed another 16 runs scored to surpass the Widows and take first place.

BLUE DOGS 3 @ BLACK WIDOWS 12

In the morning matchup the Blue Dogs got off to an early lead off Widow hurler Mark Hoffman.  Although “the Hoff” quickly tallied a pair of strikeouts, a Widows error followed by a walk and a clutch single from Blue Dogs manager Andy Cornish brought the first run across the plate.

But that was all the offence the Dogs would see until the fifth inning.  Hoffman settled down and pitched three scoreless innings, followed by two solid innings from Marty Cullen.  Altogether, Hoffman and Cullen wracked up 7 strikeouts with only 3 walks and 3 runs allowed on 6 hits.

The Widows offence was timely.  Marty Cullen went 4-for-4 with 4 RBI, and fellow-American Greg Bochan was 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Luis Goncalves and Arnie Longboy had a hit each, and both crossed the plate multiple times.  Newcomer Marcus Capper – while hitless – still scored two runs for the Widows.

BLACK WIDOWS 12 @ RED ROOSTERS 7

The Roosters had high expectations after hitting the field fresh at midday to face a (hopefully) game-weary Widows lineup.  Newcomer Mike Vasquez took the mound for the Red squad, but he surrendered 4 walks and 2 hits in the first inning, and his team committed 3 errors behind him.  Altogether that amounted to 7 Widows runs, which proved the difference in the game.

The Roosters fought hard to battle back, putting up crooked numbers in the second, third and fifth innings.  They were aided by a 2-for-3 performance from first baseman Dave Baird, but it was too little too late.  The Widows had the momentum.  Luis Goncalves went 2-for-3, Chris Barnes 2-for-2 with 2 RBI, and Amit Odedra came into the game in the bottom of the fourth inning and had a clutch 2-run single with a stolen base.

RED ROOSTERS 15 @ BLUE DOGS 2

The Blue Dogs failed to score a run until the final inning of this third game.  The Roosters were out of the gates early with a 2 RBI double from Jason Greenberg, who finished the day with a second 2 RBI double.  Young Liam Green was 1-for-1 with an RBI, and the mighty Edwin Alcantara went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI.

The only Blue Dog RBIs came from Jonathon Lewys, who also delivered an inning of work from the hill allowing 2 runs on 2 hits.

The pitcher of the game was most certainly Pete Kikel, who upped the speed on his fastball by 5-10mph over game one, and walked away with 4 strikeouts in 3-innings of scoreless baseball.

WIDOWS AWAITING THEIR PREY IN WEEK THREE

After two weeks of Hunlock action, the Black Widows are sitting pretty.  They can rest up and watch the 2nd/3rd place action on Sunday morning to see which squad they’ll face in the ’09 Series Final.

The Blue Dogs have an uphill battle in store.  They’ve now lost to the Red Roosters by scores of 8-7 and 15-2.  If they hope to find their stride and coast into the championship game they’ll have to get by a resurgent pitching rotation of Pete Kikel, Dan Kerry and Mike Vasquez, who in particular will be looking for a solid rebound on the mound.  The Dogs will be aided by the emergence of late-coming teammates Nic Goetz and Jamie Munn, and returning sluggers Louis Hare and Riley Fisher, all of whom were missing from the week two action.

Which squad will emerge victorious?  It all comes down to 18 innings of riveting Herts Baseball.

GAME ONE

Blue Dogs at Black Widows
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Blue Dogs 1 0 0 0 2 3 6 6
Black Widows 3 4 3 2 0 12 9 5

 

Black Widows 12, Blue Dogs 3
Black Widows Blue Dogs
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Luis Goncalves ss 3 2 1 0 Ken Pike ss 3 0 0 0
Arnold Longboy lf 3 1 1 0 Iwan Evans cf 3 1 1 0
Greg Bochan 3b 4 3 2 1 Jeff Witter p 1 1 0 0
Marty Cullen 1b 4 3 4 4 (t3) Reagan Wood 3b 2 0 1 0
Chris Barnes c 4 0 1 1 Kal Dimitrov c 2 1 1 1
Jose Morillo cf 2 0 0 1 Andy Cornish 1b 3 0 2 2
Mark Hoffman p 1 0 0 0 Jonathon Lewys 3b-p 1 0 1 0
Andrew Slater 2b 2 0 0 0 (b4) Nick Russell pr-p 1 0 0 0
Marcus Capper rf 2 2 0 0 Phil Crooks 2b 3 0 0 0
(b4) Tom Green rf 0 1 0 0 Perrie Sherman rf 1 0 0 0
(t4) Lin Yuchih rf 1 0 0 0
Nick Read lf 0 0 0 0
(t4) Paul Auchterlounie lf 0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 25 12 9 7 TEAM TOTALS 21 3 6 3

 

E: Chris Barnes, Marty Cullen, Mark Hoffman, Marcus Capper, Ken Pike, Jonathon
Lewys, Phil Crooks. LOB: Blue Dogs 7, Black Widows 8. 2B: Marty Cullen, Luis
Goncalves, Kal Dimitrov, Andy Cornish. 3B: Greg Bochan. SB: Mark Hoffman, Marcus
Capper, Chris Barnes, Marty Cullen, Nick Russell(2), Andy Cornish, Iwan Evans, Paul
Auchterlounie. CS: Mark Hoffman, Andy Cornish.

 

Black Widows IP H R ER BB SO
Mark Hoffman 5.00 6 3 1 3 7
Blue Dogs            
Jeff Witter 2.00 4 7 2 4 0
Jonathon Lewys 1.67 3 4 2 2 2
Nick Russell 0.33 2 1 0 1 0

WP: Mark Hoffman. PB: Kal Dimitrov. T: 2:00. A: 69.


GAME TWO

Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Black Widows 7 0 0 2 3 12 10 4
Red Roosters 0 2 2 0 3 7 7 6

 

Black Widows 12, Red Roosters 7
Black Widows Red Roosters
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Luis Goncalves ss 3 3 2 0 Aspi Dimitrov 3b-lf-2b 1 2 0 0
Arnold Longboy lf 2 2 1 1 Peter Kikel ss-p 2 1 1 1
(b4) Amit Odedra lf 1 1 1 2 Edwin Alcantara dh-3b 3 0 0 0
Carlos Casal 3b 2 1 0 0 Jason Greenberg c 3 0 0 0
Marty Cullen p-1b 3 1 0 0 David Baird 1b 3 2 2 1
Chris Barnes c 2 1 2 2 Dan Kerry cf 3 1 1 0
Bart Schouwenaars cf 4 1 1 0 Rob Jones lf 1 0 0 0
Mark Hoffman 1b-p 2 0 0 0 Hunter Devine 2b 2 0 1 0
Andrew Slater 2b 2 1 1 1 (t5) Ilya Dimitrov rf 0 0 0 0
(t4) Greg Bochan 2b 1 0 0 0 Ben Alway rf-lf 2 1 1 0
Tom Green rf 2 0 1 1 Mike Vasquez p-ss 2 0 1 0
(t4) Stuart Boast rf 1 1 1 0
TEAM TOTALS 25 12 10 7 TEAM TOTALS 22 7 7 2

 

E: Luis Goncalves, Carlos Casal, Bart Schouwenaars, Mark Hoffman, Peter Kikel,
Hunter Devine, David Baird, Jason Greenberg. DP: Black Widows 1. LOB: Red Roosters
3, Black Widows 6. 2B: Luis Goncalves, Arnold Longboy, Dan Kerry. SB: Chris
Barnes(2), Carlos Casal(2), Marty Cullen(2), Luis Goncalves, Arnold Longboy, Amit
Odedra, Aspi Dimitrov(3), David Baird(2), Mike Vasquez(2), Dan Kerry(2), Hunter
Devine, Ben Alway. CS: Chris Barnes.

 

Black Widows IP H R ER BB SO
Marty Cullen W 3.00 4 4 1 1 2
Mark Hoffman 2.00 3 3 3 2 1
Red Roosters            
Mike Vasquez L 3.00 4 7 0 4 3
Peter Kikel 2.00 6 5 3 4 3

WP: Mark Hoffman. T: 2:00. A: 69.


GAME THREE

Red Roosters at Blue Dogs
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Red Roosters 2 0 3 8 2 15 12 3
Blue Dogs 0 0 0 0 2 2 7 1

 

Red Roosters 15, Blue Dogs 2
Red Roosters Blue Dogs
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Aspi Dimitrov 1b 4 1 1 0 Nick Russell ss-p-2b 3 1 1 0
(b4) Ben Alway lf 0 0 0 0 Paul Auchterlounie c 2 1 1 0
Liam Green 3b 1 4 1 1 Tim Elkins 2b 2 0 0 0
Mike Vasquez ss-cf 3 2 1 2 (t4) Ken Pike ss 1 0 0 0
Edwin Alcantara cf-p 3 3 3 2 Jonathon Lewys p-ss-3b 3 0 1 2
Jason Greenberg c 3 2 2 4 Iwan Evans cf 1 0 1 0
Dan Kerry 2b-1b 3 1 2 2 (t4) Perrie Sherman cf 2 0 0 0
Peter Kikel p 3 0 1 2 Kal Dimitrov 3b 1 0 1 0
(b4) Rob Jones ss 0 0 0 0 (t4) Andy Cornish lf-1b 1 0 1 0
Ilya Dimitrov lf-2b 3 0 0 0 Jeff Witter 1b-p 1 0 0 0
Chris Martin rf 2 2 1 0 Phil Crooks rf 1 0 0 0
(t4) Nick Read rf 1 0 0 0
Reagan Wood lf-p 2 0 1 0
TEAM TOTALS 25 15 12 13 TEAM TOTALS 21 2 7 2

 

E: Aspi Dimitrov, Ilya Dimitrov, Paul Auchterlounie. LOB: Red Roosters 4, Blue
Dogs 6. 2B: Jason Greenberg(2), Mike Vasquez, Edwin Alcantara, Aspi Dimitrov, Andy
Cornish. SB: Edwin Alcantara(2), Jason Greenberg, Aspi Dimitrov, Dan Kerry, Peter
Kikel, Chris Martin, Liam Green. CS: Peter Kikel.

 

Red Roosters IP H R ER BB SO
Peter Kikel W 3.00 3 0 0 2 4
Edwin Alcantara 2.00 4 2 2 0 3
Blue Dogs            
Nick Russell 2.00 2 3 3 0 3
Reagan Wood 1.67 5 6 5 3 1
Jonathon Lewys 1.00 2 2 2 0 0
Jeff Witter L 0.00 3 4 2 0 0

HBP: by Jonathon Lewys (Liam Green), by Jonathon Lewys (Dan Kerry). . , by Nick
Russell (Liam Green), by Nick Russell (Edwin Alcantara). , by Reagan Wood (Chris
Martin). . WP: Jonathon Lewys, Nick Russell. T: 2:00. A: 69.

by AspiDimitrov

LONDON DO THE DOUBLE AT HERTS FUTURES TOURNAMENT


 


London’s two teams won the Bronco (U13) and Rookie (U10) Divisions at the 2009 Herts Futures Tournament sparking wild champagne celebrations.


 


This was the second year of the Herts Futures Tournament which organised by Herts Baseball Club, based in Hemel Hempstead.  The number of teams entering the event increased from 8 in 2008 to 10 teams this year and it brought record number of fans to Grovehill Ballpark.


 


MINORS DIVISION


The Minors Division (Under-10s) proved to be just as exciting.  In an effort to give sufficient playing time to the large number of Rookie players, the double-elimination tournament format, similar to that used at the World Baseball Classic earlier this year) was adopted.  The two Herts teams in this section battled hard but came just short against the well prepared teams from Horsham and London.


 


Arguably the best two games of the whole tournament were produced by the Horsham and London Rookie teams.  The first was won by Horsham 1-0, but in the all important Final it was London who managed to deliver the clutch hits to win the Trophy.


 


MINORS DIVISION















































DIVISION

VISITING TEAM

 

HOME TEAM

 


Minors (G1)

Herts Jr Raptors

3

London Rookies

10


Minors (G2)

Horsham Rookies

10

Herts Jr Hawks

3


Minors (G3)

(Winner G2) Horsham

1

(Winner G1) London

0


Minors (G4)

(Loser G1) Herts Raptors

13

(Loser G2) Herts Hawks

7


Minors (G5)

(Winner G4) Herts Raptors

2

(Loser G3) London

9


Minors (Final)

(Winner G5) London

1

(Winner G3) Horsham

0


  


 


 


MAJORS DIVISION


In Group 1 of the Majors Division (Under-13) all three teams found themselves with identical win-loss records, with each team having one loss and one win in the group games.  This meant that the Tournament’s tie-break rule had to be applied and the team with the lowest number of runs conceded was declared the winner.  This was Bracknell with only 9 runs conceded while Brentwood and Herts finished second and third with 12 and 15 runs conceded respectfully.  This may have been really harsh on both Brentwood and Herts but this is the reality of Tournament baseball.  Every run counts and on this occasion Bracknell’s team came out on top.


 


 


 


 


 


MAJORS (GROUP 1) RESULTS

























VISITING TEAM

 

HOME TEAM

 


Herts All Stars

4

Bracknell Blazers

9


Bracknell Blazers

4

Brentwood Bucks

5


Brentwood Bucks

6

Herts All Stars

8


 







































MAJORS DIVISION (GROUP 1) STANDINGS


TEAM

W

L

%

F

A

RunDiff


Bracknell Blazers

1

1

0.500

13

9

4


Brentwood Stags

1

1

0.500

11

12

-1


Herts All Stars

1

1

0.500

12

15

-3


 


In Group 2 it all came down to the final game where Horsham and London met.  Having won their previous games against the Tonbridge Bobcats, they both knew that only a win can take them to the Final.  In dramatic fashion London came out on top 3-2.


 


MAJORS (GROUP 2) RESULTS

























VISITING TEAM

 

HOME TEAM

 


London Mets

11

Tonbridge Bobcats

7


Tonbridge Bobcats

1

Horsham All Stars

7


Horsham All Stars

2

London Mets

3


 







































MAJORS DIVISION (GROUP 2) STANDINGS


TEAM

W

L

%

F

A

RunDiff.


London Mets

2

0

1.000

14

9

5


Horsham All Stars

1

1

0.500

9

4

5


Tonbridge Bobcats

0

2

0.000

8

18

-10


 


The tense battle in Group 1 seemed to have taken its toll on Bracknell and they found it difficult to compete against a hard hitting London team which kept putting runs on the board and won the Final convincingly.  Horsham won the Bronze Medal game against Brentwood, and Herts overcame Tonbridge to finish sixth overall, which seemed very harsh on them given the fact that they won two out of three games over the course of the day.


 


MAJORS (FINALS)





























DIVISION

VISITING TEAM

 

HOME TEAM

 


Majors (5th/6th)

(G2-3rd Place) Tonbridge

7

(G1-3rd Place) Herts

10


Majors (3rd/4th)

(G1-2nd Place) Brentwood

4

(G2-2nd Place) Horsham

10


Majors (Final)

(G2-Winner) London

18

(G1-Winner) Bracknell

0


 


The event was part of Herts Baseball Club’s fundraising effort for the development of the best baseball facilities in the country at its ballpark in Hertfordshire.  It was supported by Herts Baseball Club’s fantastic partners Dacorum Borough Council, BSUK and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.


 


           


 


More images from the 2009 Herts Futures Tournament


(Opening – Presenting the teams)


(Minors Games)


(Majors 1st Games)


(Majors 3rd Games)


(Majors Finals)