Category: Events

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Doley, Gregory and Deacon are the first round picks

The 2019 Hunlock Series Draft was completed on Monday night. The managers of the teams had a plethora of talent to choose from with 64 players drafted over 22 rounds.

THE FIRST ROUND PICKS

On a toss of a coin Black Barracudas had the first pick. Manager, Duane Badenhorst, selected Herts Falcons’ slugger, Chris Doley (pictured above). The Australian joined the club just a few weeks ago but he has already shown enough to warrant a pick in the first round.

Next up was the turn of Blue Halibut’s managerial duo, Geoff Hare and Mike Cresswell. With their first pick they selected Herts Londoners right handed pitcher, Chris Gregory. He has had a phenomenal debut season with the Londoners leading the team in wins. He also played his part with the Herts Falcons in their European Federations Cup campaign earlier this year. he was the starting pitcher who picked up the ‘W’ in the team’s only win of the competition against the Lithuanian champions.

The third team to make their pick were the Red Carp managed by Mantas Poderys and Tetsuro Shinkawa. They too went for one of the young pitching prospects of the Herts Falcons, Alex Deacon, who earlier this year received a call from the Great Britain Under-18 National Team in their European Championship qualifying tournament in Sweden. This is the second consecutive year that Deacon is picked in the first round of the Hunlock Series Draft.

FREE AGENTS AND TRADES

The full team rosters determined at last night’s draft are shown here. As more players sign up to play they will be able to join the teams as free agents. We will keep you updated about free agent signings and trades over the course of the Series.

New players aged 14 or above, regardless of whether they are members of Herts or another club or completely new to baseball, can be added to the teams at any point. To be added to the teams or for more details contact Herts Baseball Club.

OPENING DAY

The Series commence on Sunday, 22 September. The first games start at 12:30pm at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. Admission is free. For complete Series schedule click here.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hunlock Series managers announced. The Live Draft is this Monday.

We are counting down to the 2019 Hunlock Series Draft which will take place this Monday, 16 September at 8:00pm. This year the Draft will not be televised, but players and fans can follow the Draft picks here as they happen. Participants will also be able to interact and chat about the Draft on the Herts Facebook Page and Herts Twitter as the managers make their picks.

Three teams go into this year’s competition and the managerial appointments have just been announced.

Last year’s winners, the Black Barracudas, are back with their manager Duane Badenhorst. They dominated in 2018 and will be looking to retain the title. Badenhorst has an uncanny ability to put together strong rosters which feature some of the most talented South African players around. Will he manage to do it again during Monday’s Draft?

The experienced duo of Geoff Hare and Mike Cresswell will aim to knock the Barracudas off their perch as the co-managers of the Blue Halibut. Mike Cresswell is the manager of the Herts Hawks and this year he also appeared for the Herts Falcons in the European Federations Cup. Geoff Hare needs no introduction. He has been involved in the game since the 1980s first with the Hemel Red Sox and then with the Herts Falcons since the 1990s. Over the last 13 years he has been umpiring in the National Baseball League and is one of the most respected officials in Great Britain.

The third team is the Red Carp who will managed by co-managers Mantas Poderys and Tetsuro Shinkawa (pictured below). This could prove to be a winning formula as Shinkawa played for the Herts Londoners and Herts Falcons in the European Federations Cup this year, while Poderys has spent the year with the Herts Raptors and also has knowledge of the Herts Eagles. Their ability to evaluate the vast number of players in the Hunlock Series could work in their favour especially during the Draft.

It is noticeable that the fish theme is running through the team names. The Black Barracudas name was already in place as the reigning champions. Tetsuro Shinkawa then went for Carp – perhaps he has allegiance to the well-known Japanese baseball team, Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Before that they were seriously considering naming the team the Red Flying Mantas, sticking with the fish theme while paying homage to co-manager Mantas Poderys. Not to be outdone, Geoff Hare and Mike Cresswell went for a fish which can weigh 10 times as much as carp and barracuda. Is this a sign that the 2019 Hunlock Series will see mind games on a par with Ferguson-vs-Keegan?

Fans will see some new faces in the Hunlock Series this year who have joined the club in the last few weeks, so there will be an element of surprise in Monday’s Draft. Some of them may be new to Herts fans but they are not new to the game. The Hunlock Series could be a glimpse at some of the new players who will be wearing the Herts uniform for the first time in 2020.

HOW TO REGISTER

All Hunlock Series players will be drafted into teams. To be eligible for the Draft players will need to update their availability for all the Hunlock Series dates in the online Clubhouse by 7pm on Monday, 16 September. If you miss the deadline or the first one or two weeks of games, don’t worry. New players will still be eligible to play but will have to be assigned as free agents after the Draft.

If you already have a Clubhouse account you can update availability by logging on with your existing username and password. Click here to go to the Clubhouse.

If you do not have a Clubhouse account but wish to play in the Hunlock Series, please register here and select “Play Hunlock Series” in the membership category list. After registering you can log on and mark your availability.

To be eligible to play in the Hunlock Series, players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2019.

ENTRY FEE
2019 club members do not have to pay an entry fee as the Hunlock Series is part of their membership package. If you don’t have a Hunlock Series team shirt, you can buy one before your first game. The cost is £5.

New players or players from other clubs can play by paying the £10 entry fee which includes a free Hunlock Series shirt of the team which has drafted you.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Players have started registering for the 2019 Hunlock Series

The 2019 BBF league season will soon be coming to a close, but arguably the best part of the season is still to come.

Every year, just when the MLB season enters its most exciting stage, players come to Grovehill Ballpark for a competition in memory of Herts Baseball Club’s number 36, the late Kyle Hunlock.

This is the fourteenth year of the Hunlock Series. In its inaugural year in 2006 two teams were involved, the Falcons and the Hawks. Herts Baseball Club has been growing rapidly since then and the format of the competition has evolved. As players sign up over the next few weeks we will know how many teams will enter the Series this year.

SERIES FORMAT

This year’s competition will be played over three Sundays. The opening games will be played on Sunday, 22 September. The second round of games will take place on Sunday, 29 September, with the final round scheduled for Sunday, 6 October. If weather conditions affect the first three weeks, 13 October is available as a backup date.

In 2014 we introduced “The 9th Inning Games” where games are played over a single inning. We will be doing this again this year. This format recreates the tension and drama of the ninth inning. Can the teams manufacture the all important go-ahead run? Can they deliver the walk-off hits? Can the pitchers and defence execute with the game on the line?

THE DRAFT

As in previous years, the teams will be selected by the team managers during the Hunlock Series Draft. Who will be the first round picks? How will minor league players and newcomers perform alongside NBL players?

Over the years we have seen how decisions made during the Draft can shape the outcome of the Series before a pitch has been thrown. The managers will have to make carefully-calculated decisions if they are to put together a team which can compete for the Hunlock Series title, otherwise they face miserable few weeks.

With all of the club’s managers and coaching staff observing these games, players who have been pushing for promotion to a higher league team will have the perfect opportunity during the Hunlock Series to make a claim to play on the bigger stage in 2019. The club has also received enquiries from many potential new members over the last few weeks and this event is the ideal opportunity for them to come and play.

HOW TO REGISTER

All Hunlock Series players will be drafted into teams. To be eligible for the Draft you will need to update your availability for ALL the Hunlock Series dates in the online Clubhouse by Friday, 13 September. If you miss the deadline or the first one or two weeks of games, don’t worry. You will still be eligible to play but will have to be assigned as a free agent after the Draft.

If you already have a Clubhouse account you can update availability by logging on with your existing username and password. Click here to go to the Clubhouse.

If you do not have a Clubhouse account but wish to play in the Hunlock Series, please register here and select “Play Hunlock Series” in the membership category list. After registering you can log on and mark your availability.

To be eligible to play in the Hunlock Series, players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2019.

ENTRY FEE
2019 club members do not have to pay an entry fee as the Hunlock Series is part of their membership package. If you don’t have a Hunlock Series team shirt, you can buy one before your first game. The cost is £5.

New players or players from other clubs can play by paying the £10 entry fee which includes a free Hunlock Series shirt of the team which has drafted you.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

British baseball teams have started entering the 2019 Herts Futures Tournament

Herts Baseball Club has announced that the 2019 Herts Futures Tournament will take place on Saturday, 21 September 2019.

The Herts Futures Tournament (HFT) has been held every year since 2008 and is now a permanent fixture in the British baseball calendar. The number of teams entering the tournament has been going up. The highest number of entries which we have managed to accommodate in previous years has been 21 teams. It will be interesting to see how many teams will enter this year. If the number continues to increase the club will have to consider ways of expanding the venue further.

The event brings together youth teams of all age groups from across the country for a day of baseball at one of the best baseball venues in the UK. Grovehill Ballpark is the home of Herts Baseball Club. Over the years the venue has been selected to host some of the biggest events in the British baseball calendar including the National Baseball Championships and Great Britain National Team events.

During the Herts Futures Tournament additional diamonds are added to cater for all the age groups.

This year’s edition is expected to cover the Under-18, Under-15, Under-13, Under-11 and Under-8 age groups.

For more information about the event, how to enter your team in the Tournament or how players can join the Herts teams in time for the HFT, visit the Herts Futures Tournament homepage or contact Herts Baseball Club.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons, Sidewinders and Bobcats are the HSL champs

 

NBL/TRIPLE-A

The Herts Falcons won the NBL/Triple-A Division of the HSL convincingly with a 100% record (4-0). The London  Mammoths were tied with the Herts Londoners both with a .500 record, but the Mammoths took second place based on their two wins over the Londoners in the head-to-head games.  The Falcons and Londoners rosters were mixed for the HSL games as the managers of the two teams were assessing their squads for the 2019 season. We expect the Opening Day rosters of the two teams to be announced shortly. The London Archers impressed everyone and they now head to the Czech Republic where they will represent Great Britain in the PONY Tournament in Prague.

There were some flame-throwers on show and coaches came prepared (photos by Rob Jones)

DOUBLE-A

In the Double-A Division the Sidewinders overcame all challengers to clinch the HSL title. MK Bucks and the London Marauders were not not far away which suggests that we will see a very competitive race in the BBF Double-A League this season. The Hawks finished in last place, but don’t write them off. Over the last few years they have been one of the front runners in Double-A.

SINGLE-A

There was a very close three-horse race in the Single-A Division and the tie-break rule had to be applied to determine the HSL winner. Tonbridge’s superior head-to-head record against the London Musketeers nudged them into first place. We saw a large number of new players in the Eagles and Raptors rosters during the HSL and the managers of both teams experimented with various lineups, trying players in different positions.  This would have given them valuable information and, as the league games commence, players will get a clearer idea of the positions and roles which they will be playing this season.

View HSL scoreboard

View HSL standings

GB NATIONAL YOUTH TEAM TRIALS

The HSL schedule also featured the Great Britain National Youth Team Trials which Herts has now hosted for a second consecutive year. We saw around 100 young players take part and they impressed. The GB coaches will now have the difficult task of whittling the list down before announcing the National Team squads for the upcoming international competitions. Many of the candidates were members of the Herts youth and adult teams and we hope to see them in action around the world this year.

2019 OPENING DAY JUST DAYS AWAY

We saw home runs, spectacular defence, lights-out pitching, many players who will be making their BBF league debuts in 2019 and a whole lot more over the last three weeks of the HSL.

With Spring Training completed, British baseball teams up and down the country will hope that this will be their year. Stay tuned as we build up to the 2019 Opening Day in the coming days. Also follow us on Twitter and Facebook for a comprehensive coverage of the 2019 baseball season.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts teams announce preliminary 2019 rosters for the HSL

The five Herts teams have announced their preliminary rosters for the 2019 Herts Spring League .

We understand that these rosters are not fixed and it is likely that there may be movement between teams over the course of the HSL. Some players may play for more than one team as managers look to evaluate them ahead of the announcement of the 2019 Opening Day rosters. The Falcons and Londoners rosters are combined for this reason and it is expected that there will be a large amount of crossover between the two teams throughout the HSL.

The HSL games commence on 16 March 2019.

New players are registering every week, therefore some new names may be added to the rosters over the course of the HSL and throughout the league season.

                        

HERTS FALCONS / HERTS LONDONERS

Aaron Witter
Alex Deacon
Andrew Roberts
Carlos Casal Jr
Christopher Gregory
Colin Whitton
Cristobal Hiche
Daniel Whitton
Darrin Ward
Dennis Grogan
Dominic Hill
Duane Badenhorst
Gary Davison
Hector Miguel Sarmiento de la Cruz
Jamie Warren
Jarrod Pretorius
John Blose
Kimiyoshi Saionji
Lucas Lebrato
Marco Pestana
Matthew Moran
Miguel  Rodriguez
Moise Vasquez
Nicolas Goetz
Petar Kikel
Phil Clark
Robert Gibson
Sebastian Molina
Tetsuro Shinkawa
Tom Carson
Tyler Badenhorst
Wade Lynch
Walter Bates
Yosdany Bueno

HERTS HAWKS

Andrew Slater
Andy Cornish
Antony Lavender
Brian Morgan
Charlie Mayhew
Dan Bartram
Edoardo Lisi
Gilberto Medina
Giuseppe Basilea
Greg Bochan
Hunter Devine
Jamie Lang
Jonathon Lewys
Josh Morgan
Louis Hare
Michael Cresswell
Rod Naghar
Sonam Lama

HERTS RAPTORS

Alex Coakley
Bobby Gould
Callum Barwick
Daniel Gipple
Daniel Moran
Daniel Shaw
David Grindstaff
Francois Earp
Jay Curtis
Jack O’Brien
James Emblow
John Kjorstad
Jordon Fox
Kai Rajah
Laurence Currington
Lee Manning
Mantas Poderys
Matthew Jackson
Michael Johnson
Nicholas Durer
Oliver Durer
Paul Barton
Rob Jones
Stephen Patmore

HERTS EAGLES

Adam Collins
Adam Scales
Alessandro Antonini
Alexander Trautman
Andy Stratford
Antonio Lourenco
Arnold Longboy
Aspi Dimitrov
Clive Johnson
Darren Priest
Kumail Jaffer
Max  Trautman
Mohamed Abdule
Robert Gibson
Tom Lock
Trevor Clissold

 

Adult and youth players, from beginners to advanced players, are now registering for the 2019 baseball season. For more details about how to join any of the Herts adult and youth baseball teams in Hemel Hempstead and in NW London or for more details about the HSL or if you are interested to give baseball a try in this competition contact Herts Baseball Club.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Countdown to HSL – first chance to see the teams ahead of the 2019 British baseball season

The biggest pre-season baseball competition in Britain is back. Commencing on March 16, the Herts Spring League (HSL) will see 15 teams compete over the 3 weeks of the HSL. Organised by Herts Baseball Club, it is Britain’s version of MLB’s Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues currently under way in the US, and it signals that the season is just around the corner.

FORMAT

The 15 teams will be entered into three HSL tiers – NBL/Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A – based on the ranking of the teams going into the 2019 BBF League season.

The organisers considered the possibility of a tournament format, but ultimately adopted a league format in the same way as the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in MLB. “The objective of the HSL is to enable the teams to prepare for the new season and we have noticed that teams are increasingly starting to approach the HSL in the same way as MLB teams approach the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues” said HSL Commissioner, Aspi Dimitrov. He added “we have taken this into account when formulating the schedule putting greater emphasis on the preferences and preparatory requirements of the teams over the format of the competition”.

The teams finishing at the top of their respective division will be the HSL champions. The “games-back” column in the standings will be critical, but undoubtedly some teams will end up with the same record and so it may go down to the number of runs conceded per game to break the tie.

THE VENUE

The action will take place at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, the home of Herts Baseball Club.

SCHEDULE

Over the three weekends 32 games are scheduled to be played on the two diamonds. The competition begins on March 16 with a clash between the Milton Keynes Bucks and the Herts Hawks in the HSL Double-A division. The HSL NBL division commences on the same day when the Herts Falcons will come up against the London Archers.

Click to view full 2019 HSL schedule

EXCITEMENT BUILDING UP

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.

GET IN THE GAME

Adult and youth players, from beginners to advanced players, are now registering for the 2019 baseball season. For more details about how to join any of the Herts adult and youth baseball teams in Hemel Hempstead and in NW London or for more details about the HSL or if you are interested to give baseball a try in this competition contact Herts Baseball Club.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

15 teams will signal the arrival of Spring in the 2019 HSL

 

Herts Baseball Club has confirmed that 15 teams have entered this year’s Herts Spring League (HSL). The teams come from all British baseball leagues including the National Baseball League (NBL), Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A Leagues.

The London Archers are also back for their second year in the HSL.  They are Britain’s reigning Under-17 Champions and they will use the HSL as part of their preparations for the PONY European Tournament later this year.

The HSL teams will be divided into three divisions as follows:

 

SCHEDULE AND FORMAT

The HSL will be played over three weeks commencing on the weekend of 16-17 March and ending on 30-31 March. The HSL format and games schedule are expected to be announced shortly and hertsbaseball.com will bring this and all other HSL news as they happen.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Teams starting to enter the 2019 Herts Spring League

The Herts Spring League (HSL) has confirmed the game dates for the 2019 edition of the competition*.

HSL (Week 1 of 3)
Sat, 16-Mar-19
Sun, 17-Mar-19

HSL (Week 2 of 3)
Sat, 23-Mar-19
Sun, 24-Mar-19

HSL (Week 3 of 3)
Sat, 30-Mar-19
Sun, 31-Mar-19

Spring is the time when managers put together their teams and aim to turn them into winning machines ahead of Opening Day. Similar to the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in MLB, the HSL provides a competitive edge to spring training. This is the twelfth year of the HSL. Every year this competition keeps growing. The geographic spread of participating teams seems to be expanding as well. For more details visit the HSL site.

LEAGUE FORMAT
Teams will be placed in two or more divisions (e.g. NBL, Triple-A, Double-A, Single-A) based on the teams’ ranking going into the new season. The exact format will depend on the number of teams entering the HSL. Full details will be published when the league line-up is confirmed.

TEAMS
Over the years the HSL has featured teams from the National Baseball League (NBL), Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A Leagues, as well as international teams such as the GB Under-19 and Under-16 National Teams and the ASL Eagles.

“The number of team entries has been going up every year. Last year we somehow managed to fit all of the entrants, however in 2018 we have to be mindful of the fact that we may once again reach our full capacity and we may have to restrict team entries when we reach that level again.” said HSL Commissioner, Aspi Dimitrov.

The addition of U19 and U17 league teams in previous years has worked very well. The high standard of most of the BBF U19 and U17 League teams will certainly enable them to comfortably compete at the level of adult teams from the Double-A and Triple-A League teams, or perhaps even the NBL.

Teams from around the United Kingdom will be submitting their entries over the next few weeks and the HSL lineup and games schedule is expected to be published in early March.

* – The HSL dates are based on the indication that the BBF league season is likely to start on 7 April 2019 for all senior leagues (NBL, Triple-A, Double-A, Single-A).

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Black Barracudas win the 2018 Hunlock Series

The final and deciding round of Hunlock Series games on 14 October was postponed due to the heavy rain which made it impossible for the grounds crew to make the diamonds playable. With no more available dates, these games will not be played and the current standings are now final. This confirmed Black Barracudas as the 2018 Hunlock Series Champions.  They dominated from the very first game and are the deserved winners. 4 games back on them are the Red Roosters who finished as the runners-up after their dramatic revival in week three which saw them rise from last to second place.

Despite the rain-out, the Hunlock Series once again provided the best possible end to the British Baseball season. We saw some very high quality baseball – pitchers throwing at over 85mph, power-hitting display by Conner Brown who hit three home runs, spectacular defence including diving plays by Pete Hogg and Jarrod Pretorius, both of which were nominated for Play of the Year.  There was an international flavour with the participation of the Toulouse Astros. We hope to see them again next year.

The Hunlock Series also gave the players an opportunity to say thank you to legendary umpire, Darrin Muller (pictured above), who is retiring after 17 years during which he umpired over 2250 games including World Cup, Senior and Youth National Championships Little League, PONY, European and other games. We hope to convince him to come out of retirement from time to time for special events.

The Series saw around 100 players take part and more than 20 of them were new players who we hope to see wearing the Herts jersey when the 2019 British baseball season commences.

During the off-season Herts Baseball Club will be preparing for a very special 2019 baseball season. When we say “special”, we are not referring only to the long-awaited arrival of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees for the MLB London Series. The Club has ambitious plans for 2019 and beyond. We will keep you updated in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned!

If you are not a member of the club yet, the best way to keep up-to-date is to be added to the club’s mailing list. Contact us for more details about joining the club or to subscribe to the mailing list.