Category: Featured

by Herts Baseball News Editor

First road trip for Herts U13 and U11 teams

report by Mike Wakelam

With Brighton setting up a new youth baseball programme in 2016, Herts U13 and U11 teams headed south for their first road trip of the season. With great weather and a warm welcome, a great day was had by all. The U11 teams had a couple of very competitive coach pitch games, with the first tied at 10, and Herts mixed team prevailing 10-8 in the second game.

Herts U13 team kicked off the first game by scoring 3 in the first inning with Mizuki Hosoi doubling before James Dullea drove in one and Joshua Jones drove in two. Rikuto Maruse, new to the baseball in September 2015, pitched the first 3 innings, giving up only two runs. The game was a tight one run affair until the top of the 6th, when Herts scored six more runs to break it open, the final score 11-4. Mizuki Hosoi and Cal McCreavy pitched effectively in relief.

In the second game James Dullea took the mound and threw 4 innings of two run ball, striking out the first 7 batters he faced, and 10 overall in a stellar performance. Alex Trautmen came on and pitched 2 strong innings in relief. Herts bats once again came alive scoring in all but one inning. The final score in this one was 11-3.

There were several defensive highlights during the day, with Joshua Jones firing a bullet across from 3rd to 1st to nail a runner and Oliver Sparks making a diving stop at 2nd base. Offensively, Mizuki Hosoi went 6 for 8, with 4 doubles and 4 RBI, Rikuto Maruse continued to hit the ball hard going 4 for 5 with 3 RBI, James Dullea showed poise at the plate in clutch situations, going 5/6 with 4 RBI and Joshua Jones went 5 for 7 with 6 RBI on the day.

“This team is really looking great not only on the field but as a team, “ manager Mike Wakelam said, “we have two players out injured at the moment, including one of our main catchers, and to see players step into that role temporarily for the team is great. The numbers looked great today, but the way they’re working together is their biggest strength at this stage of the season. The hospitality in Brighton was first class, and we look forward to hosting them in a couple of weeks at Grovehill, hopefully we can provide the same sun we saw down here!”

Herts U13 and U11 teams host LYBL at Grovehill next week, Saturday the 8th of May.

by Rob Jones

Herts youngsters chosen for GB rosters

A clutch of young Herts baseball stars have been named to the rosters for Great Britain’s development programme.

The national team development programme (NTDP) is divided into three sections — under-15; under-18; and seniors. It’s intended to give a wide pool of players the chance of elite preparation and training, and these rosters will be used for selecting the teams for international competitions.

Brodie Caress has been selected for the U-18 roster

At U-15, Herts is represented by Jamie Warren, a new arrival at the club. He and his family have already made an impression with both the U-17 programme and the Herts Hawks in the BBF adult leagues.

Coaches see potential in Jamie for a high quality player — a feeling that GB obviously shares — and he has already been part of the national high performance academy.

Great Britain will send an U-15 team to the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) European Championship Qualifier in Switzerland in July.

Several young stars from the revamped Herts Falcons have been chosen for the U-18 roster. Having risen through the club’s ranks they have also been familiar faces to GB for several years.

Conner Brown and Brodie Caress have been turning out for the Falcons already this season as catcher and pitcher and have performed superbly. Carlos Casal and Zack Longboy — who have long, successful connections to Herts — have also been selected for the NTDP. 

The U18 programme will send a GB national team to the CEB European Championship in Spain in July. This year’s championship will also serve as qualifier for the 2017 World Cup.

Last but not least, Will Zucker has been named to the GB Lions. This team is intended to bridge the gap between the Under-18 and the senior national team.

Will’s pitching helped take the Herts Raptors to national playoffs just a few years ago and, despite heading off to university, his links to Herts remain strong. The Lions will take part in an All-Star game against NBL talent later in May.

Will Zucker in pre-season action

Most of the players on these rosters are British-based, and a wide range of clubs across the country are represented. Over time, GB Baseball says it hopes to include players from even more clubs.

The NTDP will see the players benefit from a strength and conditioning coach, as well as a sports science expert and — of course – top baseball coaches.

There have been tryouts in March, and more will take place later in the year. On top of that, coaches will be scouting British baseball games for the best talent available.

by Rob Jones

Hawks stay hot, Falcons frozen out

The Herts Hawks continued their impressive start to the Single-A season with a 26-10 victory over the Mercenaries, part of the London stable of teams (on Sunday, April 24th).

A huge outburst of offense in the second inning of this game at Grovehill was decisive. After a fairly even first frame, the Hawks scored 13 runs in the second and never looked back.

The powerhouse with the bat was Gilberto Medina, who went 5-for-5 with 2 doubles and 6 RBIs. Hunter Devine and Jon Lewys pitched in with 2 RBIs each, while the joint managers Greg Bochan and Andrew Slater scored 3 runs each.

Bochan also contributed from the mound, striking out a pair, but the win went to Sonam Lama. He struck out 2 over 3 innings, and yielded just 2 earned runs. The Hawks are now 2-0 on the young season, and face Northants next.

Conner Brown of the Herts Falcons (pic: Paul Holdrick)

An icy day at Grovehill blew no good news for the Herts Falcons of the NBL. They were hosting the three-time champion London Mets for a doubleheader.

The visitors jumped out to a 4-run lead in the top of the first, but the Falcons stayed in touch. Darrin Ward started on the mound, and over five innings he gave up only 6 earned runs. But the Falcons were charged with 9 errors and the Mets piled up runs in the sixth inning to make it a blowout. The game ended 20-4.

Conner Brown got two hits and Luis Goncalves drove in two runs with a double. Brown went 2-4 in the second game as well, and drove in a pair of runs, but it wasn’t to be enough.

The Mets started even faster out of the blocks this time, scoring 4 runs in the first and 6 in the second to take a stranglehold. The Falcons rallied in the fifth but this one ended 18-8.

This is a young Herts team and the season was always expected to be one of rebuilding. Brodie Caress, who has come up through the clubs ranks, pitched 4 innings and gave up just 5 earned runs. Osmel Vazquez was tagged with the loss.

The Falcons have opened their season against some of the most powerful teams in the league and must look to take the positives from these games into their next encounters. They face the London Capitals this weekend.

by Rob Jones

Former National Vazquez joins Falcons

Another championship-winning baseball player has joined the Herts Falcons to help the club push for the National Baseball League (NBL) title in 2016.

Osmel Vazquez was part of the Southern Nationals team in the NBL in 2014.  He hit .386 with 2 doubles and drove in 13 runs in that year . The Cuban also stole 11 bases, and scored 18 runs.

Osmel Vazquez
Osmel Vazquez in action against Herts with the Southern Nationals

He has a rich baseball experience, which began in Cuba with the National Series team, Matanzas. Moving to Italy, he played with clubs such as Castenaso and the Yankees di San Giovanni in Persiceto, winning two league titles. In the UK, Osmel has also played in the Richmond organisation, pitching as well as continuing his hitting performance.

Last year, the Falcons had Maikel Azcuy on board setting home run records, but the team has been remodeled this year and Osmel Vazquez provides valuable spark and experience. He’s excited to help out Herts, and he has been welcomed by manager Lee Manning.

“2016 will be a transitional year for the Falcons, but it’s definitely going to be a fun year”, Manning said.” Our main goal this year will be to develop our younger ball players – but that’s not to say we won’t win some games along the way!”

One of the team’s brightest young stars, catcher Conner Brown, has just returned from the MLB Spring Academies youth tournament in Barcelona — and has gone straight into action for the Falcons. He was one of only three British players taking part in Spain — the others being former Herts star Carlos Casal Jr and Rory Chandler of the Leicester Blue Sox.

The NBL action starts this Sunday, April 3rd, with three games. There will be a rematch of last year’s final, with the Southampton Mustangs taking on the London Mets. The Essex Arrows host the Brighton Jets while the London Capitals travel to the South London Pirates.

The Falcons will be playing their final games of another successful Herts Spring League, facing first the Milton Keynes Bucks then the London Mammoths. They open their NBL campaign on the road on April 10th against the Southampton Mustangs, before playing a home opener at Grovehill the following week, versus the newest member of the NBL, the Brighton Jets.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Fulford appointed as Herts Under-17 Manager

Herts Baseball Club has confirmed that Andrew Fulford has been appointed as the club’s Under-17 Team Manager.

In an interview Fulford expressed his excitement at being appointed and provided more details about how he plans to approach this project. He said: “The most important thing for a baseball program for children and young adults is having an absolute blast and nurturing the maturity developing within youth players. To achieve this goal, I believe acquiring strong fundamental baseball skills is key. And it’s my aim to impart my baseball knowledge in a fun, creative, and effective way.”

A few weeks ago the club announced that they plan to invest in a new business model. This will involve investing in high quality coaches for the club’s youth programme. The aim of the experiment is to see if the investment would bring sufficient growth over the next 10 months. If the experiment is successful, the next step would be to adopt this new business model across most of its teams in time for the expected arrival of MLB to London in 2017.

“It was good to receive so many applications from coaches” said club board member, Aspi Dimitrov. He added that “the club is delighted to appoint Andrew. He already has so many fans at the club after joining as a player in 2012 and in just a few weeks he has become an integral part of the coaching staff in our youth programme. We very much hope that this new approach will succeed and Andrew’s appointment gives us a really good chance to do so”.

Fulford comes from Tampa, Florida, and he moved to Hemel Hempstead in 2012. He started playing when he was 4. After spending his early years in the Citrus Park Little League, Fulford went on to play for the varsity team at Sickles High School and later with Cambridge High School finishing as Florida Sate runners-up in 2009. During his career he has played under former MLB players Jody Reed, who played as second basemen for the Boston Red Sox, and Sam Marsonek who was a pitcher with the New York Yankees. He is 25-years-old and he will have the opportunity to pass on his many years of playing experience to the Herts boys and girls. As a player his primary position is catcher and he has also played in second base and pretty much in all other positions on the field.

“Growing up in Baseball, nothing was more empowering to my self-esteem than coaches who affirmed the abilities I possessed and encouraged me in my weaknesses” said Fulford. “At the same time nothing was more detrimental to my self-esteem than coaches who did the opposite. So it’s with great enthusiasm and a heart full of empowerment that I take on the role of Herts U17 team manager”

The club confirmed that they are continuing discussions with some of the other applicants with a view to considering them for other coaching projects which may come up this season or future seasons.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts alumni to play US college baseball this year

Herts fans love to follow the progress of former Herts players.

Today we learned that Herts’ winning pitcher in the final of the 2010 U14 National Baseball Championship is now playing college baseball. Yes, that’s right Jesse Reinebold is the starting second baseman for the United States merchant Marine Academy.

They just completed their Florida trip and are now getting ready for their conference play. Given his lights-out performance on the mound in the 2010 National Final Herts fans will be surpirsed to learn that Jesse will be playing second base for his college team. You can keep track of Jesse’s progress on the official USMMA website.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hiche signs contract to play in Austrian top league. Expected to return to Herts at the end of the season.

The Herts Falcons will go into the 2016 NBL season without one of its most valuable players over the last four seasons. Centerfielder Cris Hiche has signed a contract with the Dornbirn Indians in the Austrian top league. The contract is for one season only and Hiche is expected to rejoin the Falcons after the end of the Austrian baseball season.

Cris Hiche joined the Falcons for the start of the 2012 season and it is not a coincidence that his four seasons with Herts proved to be among the best in the club’s history and included reaching the NBL playoffs in three out of these four seasons. That included finishing as NBL runner-up in 2012 and reaching the NBL Playoff semi-finals in 2013 and 2015.

His outstanding performances were recognised with the award of the NBL Outfield Gold Glove in 2012 and 2013 when he did not commit a single error. In 2013 he was also the team’s home run leader.

The Chilean has also been instrumental off the field for Herts. He joined the club’s executive board as the head of the Under-17 and Under-19 programmes. In 2013 he led the Herts Under-17 team to the National Final finishing as runners-up which is the club’s best position in that age group.

The club has already started the search for a new head of the Under-19 and Under-17 programmes, but as club president, Aspi Dimitrov, pointed out “Cris has played a massive role at the club on and off the field and it will be difficult to replace him, but it is great news for the club that he plans to be back with Herts after the end of the Austrian season”.

Hiche joined Herts in 2012 after arriving from the USA where he played at the high school, college and semi-professional league level as well as at international level representing Chile at Under-12, Under-16 and now at senior level with the National Team. In 2002 he joined the International Baseball Academy in Brazil where he played alongside the legendary Cuban player, Lazaro Vargas, who won the Olympic gold medal with the Cuba National Team twice, in 1992 and 1996. Hiche then went on to play for Glendale Community College in Arizona, followed by two seasons (2005-2007) with the Athletics in Liga Valle del Sol. Between 2008 and 2010 he played for the Sahuaripas in the Mesa Semi-Pro League alongside former or injured Minor League players trying to work their way back into the pros, as well as former MLB players such as pitcher Omar Daal, who played for the LA Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and ended his career with the Baltimore Orioles in 2003.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Unveiling the new Herts Baseball Cap model

Herts Baseball Club has unveiled its new baseball cap model, the 59FIFTY Diamond Era Technology by New Era.

The club chose New Era as its official baseball cap supplier before the start of the 2014 season and has not regretted that decision. New Era is an international brand with sports heritage that dates back over 90 years. Best known for being the official on-field cap for Major League Baseball and the National Football League, New Era is the brand of choice not only for its headwear collection, but also for its accessories and apparel lines for men, women and youth.

The brand is worn as a symbol of self-expression by athletes, artists and celebrities around the world. The Company is headquartered in Buffalo, USA and operates facilities in Canada, Europe, Brazil, Japan and Hong Kong.

The new Diamond Era model will be available to buy from club shop this weekend.

Of course the Diamond Era model is not the only one that fans can choose from. There are three other New Era baseball cap models. The original 59FIFTY cap is New Era’s signature fitted cap. It is a structured cap with a flat visor, that has the ability to curve. The 59FIFTY cap has a full crown and six panels. The cap has eight rows of visor stitching and a button on top. The 39THIRTY is a casual cap with a stretch fit. It is a structured cap with a pre-curved visor. The 39THIRTY has a contoured crown and six panels. The 9FORTY has more of a classic, collegiate feel. It is a structured cap with a pre-curved visor. All the models carry the club’s traditional letter “H” on the front which is done with raised embroidery. The New Era logo is on the left side of all the models. The 59FIFTY and 39THIRTY models also have Herts embroidered on the back of the cap similar to the designs adopted by many of the MLB teams.

New Era beanies are also available at the Herts Baseball shop and have proven to be a very popular product, especially at this time of year.

For more information about the new Herts Baseball caps and details how to buy, contact us.

 

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Baseball Club experimenting new business model

Herts Baseball Club has made an announcement which may not hit the headlines, but is something which will be followed with interest by the front offices of other British Baseball Clubs over the next 10 months.

In 2015 Herts Baseball Club grew by 21% and had over 150 members, which is more than at any point in its 19-year history. The club’s board has been considering ways to grow the club further and has identified the need for more coaches who can bring value to the youth teams, inspire a new generation of players and give them a great experience which the families would be happy to recommend to others.

As an experiment, the club has decided to invest in improved financial terms for youth team managers of the club’s Under-15 and Under-19 teams this season. The aim of the experiment is to see if the investment would bring sufficient growth over the next 10 months. If the experiment is successful, the next step would be to adopt this new business model across most of its teams in time for the expected arrival of MLB to London in 2017.

Below are links to the advertisements to appoint U15 and U19 team managers, where interested candidates will find details of these roles including financial terms.  The majority of coaches in British baseball are not paid for the work which they do, so it will be interesting to see if the financial reward offered by Herts will attract a good number of candidates.

If you are interested in any of these coaching roles, follow the links below for details how to apply.

U15 Team Manager

U19 Team Manager

For more information, contact us.

by Rob Jones

Herts youth stars invited to MLB tournament

Two of the young stars of Herts baseball club and the Great Britain youth team — Conner Brown and Carlos Casal Jr — have been invited to a prestigious Major League Baseball tournament in Spain next month.

The pair have been selected to the European All Star roster for the MLB Spring Academies Tournament which takes place in Barcelona in March. Only three British players have been chosen — the third being Rory Chandler of the Leicester Blue Sox.

He will join Conner (in catching action, above) and Carlos (pictured below) as part of a team to compete against Academy teams from Holland, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain and France. They will also have the chance to receive quality instruction from top European coaches and play with other players from across Europe.

Announcing the invites, the Great Britain Juniors head coach Will Lintern said: “You have earned this opportunity because of the hard work and determination you have put into yourselves and the HPA programme over the last 6-8 months. You, your parents, clubs and your schools should be exceptionally proud of what you have achieved. Well done!”

That praise was echoed by Herts club President, Aspi Dimitrov. “It is exciting news”, he said, “and it gives everyone at the club great pleasure to see Carlos and Conner developing as players and as people.”

“We know they will  enjoy the experience in Barcelona”, he added, “and we hope that this will be one of many upcoming opportunities for them”.

Both players have been pulling on the Herts uniform for several years now. Carlos Jr took up the sport when he was 7 years old “after seeing Herts being advertised on ESPN– and I’ve been hooked ever since”, he said.  In 2012 he had his first opportunity to play for Great Britain when he was part of the team which went to Florida in the USSSA Gold Medal Games.

Carlos said: “I’m looking forward to this opportunity, and I feel privileged to have been invited to go.”

Conner has also been playing as catcher for the under-17 GB team, and made his debut with the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League in 2013. He attended the MLB Academy in Toulouse, France, last Spring — only the second Herts player to get such an invite.

The MLB European Baseball Academy was created to provide training for European, New Zealand and African baseball prospects by former major leaguers.  It also provides a central scouting location during the weeks it is open and over two dozen Academy alumni have signed contracts with MLB teams.

Herts youth and adult players are currently in Spring Training, with pre-season games due to start in March. New players are still joining the club at all levels, and we hope that more young talent can follow in the footsteps of Conner and Carlos.