Category: Featured
Herts Futures Tournament this Saturday.
7 teams will be in action at the 2022 Herts Futures Tournament (HFT) which will take place this Saturday, 1 October 2022. The number is considerably lower then in previous years but it is in the context of the BBF national youth baseball championships being cancelled last week due to lack of teams so this is positive news and an opportunity to end the 2022 youth baseball season on a high.
U15 Division
- Essex Redbacks (U15)
- Herts Falcons (U15)
- Northants Centurions (U15)
U11 Division
- Essex Redbacks (U11)
- Herts Hawks (U11)
- Herts Londoners (U11)
- Nottingham Rebels (U11)
The opening ceremony will take place at 10:45am. The first games begin at 11:15am and games will be played right up to around 3:30pm.
To view the games schedule click here.
“Herts Baseball Club welcomes new players at any time of the year” said the club’s co-Director of Youth Baseball, Aspi Dimitrov. “Any children aged between 6 and 14 who are interested to give baseball a try should contact the club. It is not too late to play in these games, regardless of whether you are a complete beginner or an advanced player.”
The HFT was first held in 2008 and is now a permanent fixture in the British baseball calendar. It brings together youth teams from across the country for a day of baseball at one of the best baseball venues in the United Kingdom.
For more information about the event visit the Herts Futures Tournament homepage.
Hunlock Series starts this Sunday. League and playoff games will adopt the 9th Inning game format.
The 9th Inning game format is back
The game schedule for the 2022 Hunlock Series has been published and it has been confirmed that the “9th Inning” game format is back which means that all games will be decided over a single inning only. This format was first adopted in the 2017 Hunlock Series. It recreates the tension and drama of the ninth inning.
The Green Pilgrims open the competition with a 4-game series against the Black Bears at 10am at Basing Hill Ballpark, followed by four more of these 4-game series with the day ending at around 5:30pm.
The following regulations will apply to the “9th Inning” format.
• The batting order of each team remains unchanged for the duration of the day unless a substitution is made.
• A substituted player cannot re-enter the same game, however that player can re-enter a subsequent game.
• The batter who was next to bat upon completion of the previous game will be the first batter in the next game with the rest of the batting lineup coming up to bat in order.
What is also noticeable from the schedule is that the home team alternates over the course of the 4-game series which implies that the fielding team in the bottom of the inning will remain on the field in the top of the inning of the subsequent game. This scheduling approach was adopted in previous years and it sped-up the games enormously as that halved the number of times teams go in and out of the field. There even was no need for warm-up pitches as the pitchers were ready. The downside is that a pitcher will need to stay on the mound for 6 outs without a break as opposed to the usual 3 outs, which could mean twice as many pitches thrown in an inning. This is where the defence can really help pitchers, by minimising errors and not adding to the pitcher’s pitch count.
League and Playoff Format
The first two weeks of the Series will see a league format where each team will play a total of 16 games, 4 games against each of their opponents.
The difference this year is that there will be a postseason playoff format in week 3 which will also feature the one-inning game format. See playoff tournament tree above.
Other rules
The other rules which differ from what teams are used to in the BBF leagues are:
• Pitching Restrictions. A player can appear as a pitcher in one, two or more games per day, but no player shall accumulate more than 3 innings (9 outs) as a pitcher over the course of the day. It is the responsibility of the opposing team to inform the umpire when a pitcher reaches the limit. Managers must inform opponents of the number of innings pitched by each of their pitchers during the day prior to the start of each game.
• No Mercy Rule will be in force.
• If the game is tied after completion of the final inning, each team is awarded half a win and half a loss in the standings.
The 2022 Hunlock Series Draft took place on Thursday night. See more details here.
If you have not signed up to play in the Hunlock Series, it is not too late. Contact Herts Baseball Club for details on how to sign up.
Carter, McMenamin, Dearing, Wong and Ferroni are the first round picks.
The 2022 Hunlock Series Draft was completed on Thursday night. The managers of the teams had a plethora of talent to choose from with 87 players drafted over 18 rounds.
THE FIRST ROUND PICKS
It was no surprise that four of the five first round picks were pitchers.
On a toss of a coin, the Herts Ducks had the first pick. Manager, Brad Charalambous, determined to keep as many players from his 2021 roster as possible, selected Kent Bucs pitcher, Chris Carter.
Green Pilgrims manager, Mike Cresswell, was next to pick. He selected one of the top performers of the Herts Hawks, pitcher and third baseman, Harry McMenamin.
Red Roosters boss, Jack O’Brien, chose Herts Cardinals player-manager Brian Dearing whose primary positions are starting pitcher and shortstop.
The Black Bears went for pitcher, Stephen Wong, who has settled very well on the mound in his first season with the Herts Cardinals in the Triple-A League.
Finally, the Blue Buzzards picked another Herts Cardinals player Giorgio Ferroni who will bring a lot of speed on the bases and in the outfield. It would be interesting if we could see him in a race with Herts Falcons legend, Robbie Unsell.
FREE AGENTS AND TRADES
The full team rosters determined at last night’s draft are shown here. Shortly after the end of the draft the Blue Buzzards traded infielders Vytas Macenas and Miguel Gibson to Black Bears in exchange for Giorgio Ferroni and catcher Hunter Devine.
As more players sign up to play they will be able to join the teams as free agents.
One of the players who has just appeared on the Free Agents Block is Herts Falcons and Great Britain catcher and pitcher, Conner Brown (pictured above), who would usually be a first round pick. 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, 1 October. The first games start at 10:00am at Basing Hill Ballpark in north west London. Admission is free. For complete Series schedule click here.
Falcons U15 and Cardinals U11 are the 2022 Herts Youth League champions.
The Herts Youth Baseball League Finals had everything – drama, home runs, walk-off, web gems, comebacks, pitching duels, and most importantly lots of smiles on the faces of players, parents and fans.
These were the first youth league games since the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the teams and fans held a minute of applause to express their gratitude and respect, which was followed by the playing of the national anthem.
A large number of fans came out to enjoy this occasion and they were not disappointed as the boys and girls put on a show.
First up were the Herts Cardinals and Herts Falcons in the U11 final. Both teams dominated in the regular season with records of 8-3 and 7-3, respectively. The Cardinals took an early lead and in the first three innings it looked like they would cruise to victory but in the fourth the Falcons U11 struck back with four runs to reduce the deficit to 8-4. This included a home run by debutant Flynn Dunn.
Cardinals U11 responded immediately in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead to 13-4 and their defence shut the Falcons down in the final inning to clinch the Herts U11 championship.
In the U15 Final, we saw a proper pitchers’ duel. Ben Peters started on the mound for the Falcons U15 and Chi Laam Wong for the Hawks U15. The Falcons put up one run in the first and one in the fourth but every other inning had a zero on the scoreboard until the fifth inning when the Hawks hit back – Sammy Assael-Francis with the head-first slide beating the tag at home to tie the game at 2-2.
Relief pitchers Kobby Kofuor Darteh and Yaroslav Yefimov continued the dominance which we saw from the starting pitchers and no runs were scored in the next inning.
This final had to be decided in extra innings. The rule putting runners on second base was in force. With one out, the Hawks advanced that runner to third base and put a second runner on first base, but an outstanding double play by the Falcons defence ended the threat and the inning.
It was time for a hero to emerge and that hero was 11-year-old Violet Jones. With runner on third base and one out, she drove the ball up the middle to bring the winning run home prompting wild celebrations to end the 2022 Herts Youth League season on.
Next up is the season-ending Herts Futures Tournament on Saturday, 1 October, at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. New players can still register in time to play at this event.
Hunlock Series managers announced. The Live Draft is on Wednesday night.
We are counting down to the 2022 Hunlock Series Live Draft which will take place this Wednesday, 21 September at 8:00pm.
For those who are new to the Hunlock Series, in the days leading up to the Draft, the 100+ Herts players (aged 14 and over) and newly registered players mark their availability for the three weeks of the Hunlock Series. The team managers then take turns picking players one by one over the twenty or so rounds of the Draft. It will be interesting to see which players among the club’s 100+ players will be picked in the first round and who will be the very first pick. In previous years, that honour has gone primarily to Conner Brown.
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, on Herts Twitter and in WhatsApp groups as the managers make their picks.
The team managers
Five teams go into this year’s competition. The managerial appointments have just been announced.
- Black Bears – Matt Bell
- Blue Buzzards – Danny Preston
- Green Pilgrims – Mike Cresswell
- Herts Ducks – Brad Charalambous
- Red Roosters – Jack O’Brien
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 Wednesday’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 in 2023.
Historically the Herts adult league team managers have used the Hunlock Series games to evaluate current and new players in preparation for the new season, to populate their rosters and positions and to decide which leagues the Herts teams should go into in 2023.
How to regsiter
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 Wednesday, 21 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 2022.
Entry fee
2022 club members, including non-roster 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 price is £8. Many players already have Hunlock Series team shirts from previous years and, to keep costs down for players, an online group will be set up where they can exchange their shirt if they have been picked by a team wearing a different colour team shirt.
New players or players from other clubs can play by paying the £18 entry fee which includes a free Hunlock Series shirt of the team which has drafted them.
For more details about playing in the Hunlock Series, contact us.
Herts youth baseball league U15,U13 and U11 finals moved to 24 September
Herts Baseball Club received the news that only one other baseball club is likely to enter teams in the BBF national youth baseball championships which were expected to be played on 24-25 September. In view of the difficulties which this presents, Herts has decided not to enter its teams in the various age divisions of the tournament.
In place of that event, the club has now moved the finals of the Herts U15, U13 and U11 leagues to Saturday, 24 September. All games will be played at the newly upgraded Basing Hill Ballpark in London.
In the U15/U13 division, the Herts Falcons and the Herts Hawks find themselves tied in the standings and they will meet in the final at 12:15pm to determine the champion.
HYBL U11 Standings
| Pos | Team | W | L | Pct | GB | RS | RA | Diff | Strk | Next Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mets U11 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 48 | 11 | 37 | W4 | - |
| 2 |  Raptors U11 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 2 | 29 | 32 | -3 | T1 | - |
| 2 |  Falcons U11 | 3 | 3 | 0.500 | 2 | 69 | 75 | -6 | W1 | - |
| 4 |  Londoners U11 | 5 | 6 | 0.455 | 2.5 | 54 | 71 | -17 | L2 | - |
| 5 |  Cardinals U11 | 2 | 3 | 0.400 | 2.5 | 24 | 26 | -2 | W1 | - |
| 6 |  LYBL U11 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 2.5 | 5 | 7 | -2 | L1 | - |
In the U11 division the final will be contested between the Herts Cardinals (8-3) and Herts Falcons (7-3) who are in first and second place in the standings, respectively. The winner will become the U11 champion. The game will start at 10:30.
In the following week, the Herts U15, U13 and U11 teams will be joined by teams from around the United Kingdom to play in the 2022 Herts Futures Tournament. All the games will be played at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead on Saturday, 1 October.
Hawks are left stranded by Islanders; comeback not enough
The Hawks post-season run came to an end in a roller-coaster semi-final game in which two fierce rallies were not quite enough to secure victory.
The game was a mirror of the previous weekend’s battle against the Herts Londoners, with the Hawks on the ropes early and then pulling it out of the bag. But the Formosa Islanders were ultimately able to hang on and progress to the Farnham Park final.
Herts travelled to neutral ground in Bristol for this contest, and had seen Bracknell Inferno win a close first semi-final against the local Bats team.
Giuseppe Basilea got the start on the mound for Herts — who were the home side — but had a rough time. Three walks and a couple of hits allowed the Islanders to score the maximum 5 runs. Add a fielding error to the mix and the day looked difficult.
But the Hawks got one back in the bottom half of the frame, with Jack O’Brien doubling and scoring on a wild pitch. And Basilea settled down to keep the second inning scoreless.
Formosa Islanders tacked on a couple more in the top of the third, but then the Hawks were able to stage the first of their big comebacks to cut the lead to 7-6. A series of walks and wild pitches served up by the pitcher Sam Lin allowed 5 runs, with Harry McMenamin and Danny Preston among those reaching home.
Basilea got two more outs but then the game got away again, with the Islanders able to restore their lead. Manager Ken Pike came in as relief pitcher and the next couple of innings were much more nip and tuck.
Pike struck out 3, and limited the Islanders to 2 earned runs. But going into the bottom of the seventh and final inning Formosa had a 14-6 lead and seemed in a commanding position.
Herts were not surrendering, though. Substitute Dale Hardwick started it off with a walk, and was driven in by McMenamin. Wild pitches again damaged the Islanders’ cause, and helped Herts as they clawed back runs and forced a call to the bullpen for Harry Yang.
Cameron Schultz brought in Jack O’Brien, before Todd Neville really amped up the drama with an inside-the-park home run. That made it 14-11 with just one out and the extraordinary seemed possible.
There was to be no walk-off celebration this time, though. The homer was the only hit Yang gave up, and he coaxed a fly-out from Charlie O’Brien to secure the win.
The Formosa Islanders are in their first year in the BBF league, and started their schedule 1-6. But they grew throughout the season and will now play for the Single-A title.
The Herts Hawks had been drawn up as a team to compete for silverware and they delivered on that in spades. Their powerful bats and array of consistent pitchers took them to a 20-5 record, and a quarter-final win over the Londoners.
Manager Ken Pike was gutted by the defeat, but lavished praise on his “amazing” team. “What a year, and what a progression from last year”, he said – adding that as manager he had been “standing on the shoulders of giants”.
The Hawks players will next join the rest of Herts in taking part in the club’s Hunlock Series in October.
Brent Cross Town funding to enhance baseball experience and activities at Basing Hill Ballpark
Herts Baseball Club has confirmed that the Brent Cross Town Community Fund has awarded them £2,632 to fund the purchase of a baseball pitching machine for Basing Hill Ballpark.
Herts Baseball Club established its north west London branch in 2019. The playing field had deteriorated over many years. It was last used by football teams more than 15 years ago. The club ran two successful crowdfunding campaigns raising over £40,000 to level and resurface the field with new grass and also to install the baseball elements including the backstop, infield perimeter fence, infield cutouts and pitcher’s mound.
The club is now aiming to expand and enhance the baseball activities on offer for the local community. In addition to adult and youth league games, the club wants to bring the experience closer to the standard enjoyed in other countries where there are baseball batting practice places in every neighbourhood.
This funding from Brent Cross Town will be used to purchase a pitching machine which will enable the club to offer an even better product and experience to children and adults to try baseball and fall in love with the game.
Hawks rally over Londoners in playoff derby
“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish”.
That might be the phrase ringing in the ears of the Herts Hawks after they dug themselves out of an early hole to win their playoff match-up against friends and club-mates, the Herts Londoners.
The two teams faced off at Grovehill on Sunday (September 4th) in the first round of the Single-A playoffs. This seven-inning game was the first playoff derby for Herts since 2016, and the first time since 2019 the club had a side reach the BBF post-season.
The visiting Londoners struck first, and struck hard. Leadoff man Hunter Devine doubled and stole third, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Sonam Lama. A double by Greg Bochan and a triple from Norman Peng helped bring in the maximum 5 runs.
In reply, the Hawks also got their leadoff man aboard, Harry McMenamin. He ultimately came home on a throwing error, but would be the only run of the inning. It was 5-1 Londoners.
The visitors threatened again in the second, but scored only one. They suffered a setback when Devine was thrown out stealing second base thanks to a move by pitcher Ken Pike which the Londoners thought was illegal. There was a long debate – with both dugouts consulting the rule-book – but the umpire did not see a balk, and no amount of debate changed that fact.
The powerful Hawks offense then got into gear in the bottom of the second. Paul le Guillou hit a double and Pete Hogg a triple, and the home side brought in 4 runs.
The Londoners loaded the bases in the third but couldn’t get a run across the plate. The Hawks saw their chance, and jumped into a 7-6 lead. Antony Lavender and Jack O’Brien were among those doing the damage, and chasing starter Andrew Slater from the game.
Hawks extended their lead to 9-6 in the fourth but the Londoners were not rolling over. A single from Bochan – who ended the day 4 for 4 – got them started, and they loaded the bases again. This time, they would capitalise. Devine was hit by a pitch to bring home one, while Zak Beller’s hit scored Arnie Longboy and Nic Goetz. Momentum had switched.
Now it was the Londoners who were 11-9 up, and in the driving seat. Goetz was pitching in relief and, for the first time, the visitors kept the Hawks off the board in the bottom of the fifth. This game was always going to be close, now it was tense, too.
The home side turned to their bullpen, and Giuseppe Basilea did the business. The former Herts youth player, only recently returned to the club, struck out two and induced a flyout to record a scoreless inning.
A Dale Hardwick single in the bottom of the 6th chipped into the Londoners lead, driving home Lavender. In return, a sac fly from Beller brought home Lama to tack a run back on. Going into the bottom of the seventh and final inning, Herts Londoners led the Herts Hawks 12-10.
The final and decisive rally was started by Todd Neville, hit by a pitch to lead off. Then Pedro Martins singled. McMenamin got another hit — and by the time he had stolen his way round to third base, he represented the winning run. Nobody was out.
As the Hawks dugout shouted for calm, they knew they were touching victory. Cam Schultz grounded out, but there was no way to stop McMenamin racing home on the play to be mobbed by his team. A 13-12 walkoff win.
The Hawks will travel to Bristol for their playoff semi-final, where they will face the Formosa Islanders on Saturday (10th September).