After Sunday’s NBL doubleheader between the Herts Falcons and Southampton Mustangs, Herts Baseball correspondent Daniel Levitt put his questions to Darrin Ward who went 2-for-6 with 2 RBI over the two games.
The video footage was captured and produced by Richard Lee of richardleephotography.org
After Sunday’s dramatic encounter between Herts Falcons and Southampton Mustangs, Herts Baseball correspondent Daniel Levitt caught up with Cristobal Hiche who was standing-in as manager while manager Lee Manning was required in the field. The video footage was captured and produced by Richard Lee of richardleephotography.org
Jose Sosa was majestic on the mound from start to finish of game 1 (photo by Paul Holdrick)
Daniel Levitt reporting from Grovehill Ballpark
Everybody on the Herts Falcons knew the stakes, it was now matter of everyone fulfilling their expectations.
The Falcons sat three games behind the playoff spots heading into their double-header with the Southampton Mustangs on Sunday, after losing a pair to the London Mets last week that crippled their postseason hopes
In the week leading up to crunch two-game series, the Falcons learned that they would again be without star pitcher and hitter Abel Salas, out with an illness for the second straight week.
Their mission just got a whole lot tougher.
With their fate in their own hands still, the team knew that they could not afford any more hiccups. The table-topping Mustangs were no pushovers by any stretch of the matter, but for 13 of the 14 innings played on Sunday, the Falcons looked as though they would escape this chapter unscathed and with two wins under their belts.
In Salas’ absence, centre-fielder Jose Sosa stepped onto the pitcher’s mound to produce perhaps the best outing of his career. Facing a stacked Mustangs line-up, Sosa was military like, sitting down hitters as though they were being ordained.
Sosa had just two rough innings, not bad for someone known more for his offensive exploits. After giving up a solo shot in the second and facing bases loaded with nobody out an inning later, the Cuban took advantage of his pinpoint fastball and some heads up defense by third-baseman, Jamie Gregory, to escape the major jam with just one run given up.
Having weathered the storm early on, it only got better for Sosa and his team.
Entering the sixth inning down 2-1, the Falcons unleashed a rally as if their lives depended on it.
Sosa himself started the comeback by reaching base for the third time in the game, courtesy of a throwing error to first and even managed to advance to second on the play. A Darrin Ward single between the third-base-shortstop gap prevented Sosa from advancing, and when a sacrifice bunt forced the pitcher to be tagged out at third, you couldn’t help but think it just wasn’t their day.
Enter John Blose.
The left-fielder has been largely unmentioned thus far this season, but he seldom fails to get in on the action. A double to straight away centre-field cleared the bases and, just like that, the Falcons had taken the lead. A wild pitch was enough to score Blose and make it 4-2.
Sosa then reeled off 1-2-3 in the last inning to seal the deal, including a terrific grab off a line-drive that would have otherwise taken his face off, had his glove not been there.
The sweep was on the cards and another step towards the fourth and final playoff spot, but the finale could not have panned out worse for the Falcons early on.
Starting pitcher Michael Osborne, suffering from lingering inflammation around his throwing shoulder, could only manage one inning before the pain eventually got too much. Third-baseman Jamie Gregory stepped into to try and fill the void, but he too was unable to do so.
After two innings, the Falcons found themselves down 11-2.
As Ryan Hackle took control for the last 5 innings of the second game, Herts fans arriving late for the game were asking whether this is Robbie Unsell (photo by Paul Holdrick)
But as Falcons fans have been accustomed to for much of the season, they were about to witness a soaring comeback that forced them to stand for the rest of the game.
Very rarely does a team score double digits in one inning, so the Falcons knew the deficit would have to be broken down inning by inning.
When Gregory swapped the glove for the bat and hit a single to lead off the 4th inning, Phil Clark then slugged his third home run over the right-field fence to make it an 11-6 game. A nervous energy began to fill the ground.
Phil Clark greeted at home after his 2-run homerun in the second game (photo by Paul Holdrick)
Ryan Hackel led the 5th inning off with a double and then proceeded to score on a throwing error. Darrin Ward cashed in Zac Malone to put the game on a knife point at 12-8. Another run batted in by Gregory and the Falcons were within a long-ball of tying the game.
That’s where it all ended however, as failure to convert a Jose Sosa double in the sixth meant the Falcons were on the wrong end of yet another agonizing defeat.
The Mustangs on the other hand, will count themselves lucky to escape Hertfordshire with even one game, and return to the south coast knowing they had been within three runs of a humiliating collapse.
The Falcons remain three games out of the playoff spots and face a double-header at home against the Bracknell Blazers on Sunday. The series proves to be the most important of the season thus far and, the ability to move within one game of the Southern Nationals will be on the minds of the home team.
Jose Sosa willing Ryan Hackel on to score against the Mets (photo by Paul Holdrick)
Daniel Levitt, reporting from Grovehill Ballpark
The Herts Falcons saw their playoff hopes take a huge dent on Sunday, as they dropped a pair of games to the London Mets in Finsbury Park.
Starting the afternoon already two games behind the reigning champion Southern Nationals, the Falcons knew they had to escape the capital with at least one win under their belts. The fact that they departed with zero, serves as yet another major hump in a bumpy road this season.
The Falcons, whom have been plagued with injuries all season long, were up against it from the start, after news broke that star pitcher and hitter Abel Salas would be unavailable for both games due to illness. A testament to the team was that they fought right to the death, and could have actually walked away as winners of both games.
It wasn’t to be however.
Game 1 saw centre-fielder, Jose Sosa, step in at the eleventh hour and perform a quality outing in just his second start on the mound this year. The Dominican flashed the heat throughout, striking out 11 in total and appeared in control and relatively unfazed, but a run in the each of the first, fifth and sixth innings proved to be his downfall.
On another day, Sosa would have played the hero, instead he was the losing pitcher.
There were positives that the Falcons could take into the second game of the afternoon, with Michael Osborne and Liam Green each tacking an RBI onto their season totals, while shortstop Ryan Hackel once again flashed the leather on defense, turning another string of impressive double plays.
One trend the Falcons continued was their indefatigable commitment and unwillingness to give in, and relentlessly fought back to just a 3-2 deficit heading into the final inning.
With runners on second and third and two outs, the game could have gone either way. It wasn’t meant to be however, as Mets closer Jamie Thomas sealed a tough loss for the Falcons.
Falcons manager, Lee Manning, will not know how his team lost game 2, but a mid-game collapse may have just cost his side a spot in the postseason. After sprinting to a 6-0 lead in the third inning, the Falcons steadily surrendered the lead and eventually lost in extra innings.
Having gone ahead early through a Hackel RBI single, a two-run double by Osborne and three RBIs courtesy of three consecutive walks, the Falcons seemingly took their foot off the gas and began thinking about next week’s match-up.
By the sixth inning, they were tied.
The Mets then took the lead in the sixth, scoring on a single to go up 7-6.
The seesaw game took to another turn when the Falcons managed to tie the game once again, courtesy of a John Blose RBI single in the top of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings.
The Falcons’ fate was sealed when they allowed the Mets to score the winning run on an overthrow, a bitterly disappointing way to lose a thrilling game.
Osborn and Ward combine to pick off a London runner (photo by Paul Holdrick)
With that, the Falcons now find themselves at 4-10 for the season and 3 games out of the playoff places. With a crunch 2-game series coming up against the table-topping Southampton Mustangs, the Hertfordshire based club cannot afford to lose any more ground if they are to be serious playoff contenders.
The double-header takes place at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hemstead, with the first pitch scheduled for 12pm.
The Herts Falcons (4-8) are preparing for their biggest game of the season so far as they travel to the London Mets (8-6) this Sunday, 13 July, aiming to get right back into the playoff race.
If they win both games of the doubleheader they will be within one game of the Mets and may even move into the playoff zone depending on other results. The games will be played in Finsbury Park and Herts are expected to have a good number of travelling fans supporting them. The two teams met on opening day of the 2014 season and shared a win each. The pressure is on the Falcons to win both games on this occasion as they need to catch up with the rest of the pack.
Cris Hiche greeted by his teammates after his home run against the London Mets on Opening Day (photo by Richard Lee richardleephotography.org)
Cris Hiche is still on the disabled list and he will need some more time to recover from the injury sustained in the game against Bracknell earlier this year. With the exception of Hiche, all other injuries appear to be clearing up so it looks like the Falcons are returning to full strength at the right time.
This is the business end of the season. The team from Hertfordshire has 12 games to reverse the injury-hit first half of the season and battle back into the playoff zone.
There is only one other Herts adult league team in action this Sunday. The Herts Raptors will be making the trip to Richmond still looking for their first win of the season. This has not been an easy season for the team, however, the noises coming out of the Raptors clubhouse have been good all week long as the players seem determined to end this painful winless streak. The Raptors met the Richmond Dukes three weeks ago and came very close to ending the hoodoo, losing 9-12. It is expected to be another closely-fought battle. Jonathon Lewys and Ross Asquith are expected to be back in a Herts uniform playing their first games of 2014.
Let’s not beat around the bush here, my batting so far this season has sucked, writes Rob Jones. It has sucked to high heaven. It has sucked so hard that it could probably suck a golf ball through a hose pipe. From six games, I think I have probably hit three balls well.
But I didn’t come here just to moan, or to have you agree with me about how much I suck, or even to have you assure me that I am great and that I shouldn’t worry. I mention my batting because the universal truth I take from it is a positive one, and it applies to all of you as well as to me: I can still make things happen.
Facing the London Musketeers, I think I registered one real hit. Otherwise I reached on errors, on confusion, on infield mishits, and on a walk. But I still scored three runs, a quarter of our total. Once I am on base, I can steal more bases. In those first games of theyear, I may have had one good hit, but it was equally important that I struck out only once (obviously I would argue that’s the umpire’s fault, but we all have to say that don’t we?)
This past week I was rung up 3 times in one game, which is extraordinary for me. Pretty bad, and certainly frustrating. Again I’ll blame it all on the umpire…. OK, it was a bit of me too. But even in that game I got more hits than anyone else on the team.
Even in a slump, or in a bad patch, we can still make sure that we are a tough out to get. Hustle up the line on every ball. Protect on every two-strike count. We may not be the most gifted athletes on the field, but we will do our damnedest to get on base, score runs and win games. There is enormous value in that.
The baseball gods
Of course, even as we go out and grab the game, it has ways of coming to grab us. You can get no action all game and then a big play to make. In my outfield days you would often find that to be true. It is less true on the infield, but still happens. In our home game against the London Musketeers I had a couple of routine plays at second base – a ground ball, a catch.
But in the final inning I had to move over to shortstop as we shuffled our players. Theoretically short should be the busier station. But in the top of the ninth I think four plays went to Clive, who had been brought in to man second for the first time in his nascent baseball career. Nothing at all came to me. Clive handled it all pretty well, securing one ground ball out and narrowly missing a second one.
I am pleased that he took it all in good spirits. It was a bit of a thankless task with the game on the line. But you cannot make the baseball gods smile on you. They do their own thing.
The thought of baseball this year has been an oasis in the desert of building dust which has covered my house. The Grand Designs nonsense has combined with the usual work and family commitments to keep me away, but for most of us baseball is a release from normal life — and that is only intensified the less you play.
Devotion
One week, I came agonisingly and absurdly close to a game. I had been due to play but those builders intervened, and so once we were sure of a full squad, I pulled out. However, I still had to drive to Haverhill to deliver the equipment, and to watch the team all suited up and throwing. That’s more like a torment than a release.
Admittedly, I can’t quite claim that such a folly of a trip showed my devotion to Herts. It showed as much about the fact that training had been rained off — when a more sensible sharing out of the equipment could have been accomplished — and my difficulty in juggling different needs to get the team and the bats in the same place. However, a bit of exaggeration never goes amiss. So I shall claim that the trip to Haverhill spoke volumes about my desire for any whiff of baseball.
This coming weekend we travel to Richmond, but work commitments mean I cannot take part. For some reason I love playing at Richmond. Some of my first friendly games were there, and I remember a couple of sun-drenched league epics there.
I actually missed a friendly there once, because we sat for so many hours in traffic on the South Circular that by the time we got there the game was nearly over. Once it was finished, everyone agreed to play some extra innings, but I was due to work a night shift so had to leave again without ever throwing a ball. Really, I should hate playing at Richmond!
This missed opportunity this week feels more poignant as chances for playing baseball are now slipping away for 2014. And it’s only July! Here’s hoping my final appearance will be a fitting finale — and that I will, at last, hit the ball properly.
In the British under-17 leagues, last month the Southern Conference overcame the Northern and Midlands conference to secure their place in the Europe and Africa qualification stage of the 2014 Little League World Series. This phase of the competition will be held between 6 and 12 July in Novara, Italy.
The Southern Conference All Star team, which will compete as UK’s representative, has now arrived in Italy. It features players from the Herts Harriers, London Mets and LYBL Bulldogs. Team UK has been placed in a very competitive group with Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic which is a country making major strides and attracting a lot of attention from the multi-million dollar teams of Major League Baseball in America. Team UK’s first game is against the Czechs on Monday, 7 July, under the lights starting at 7:30pm UK time.
In the other group are France, Italy, the Netherlands and Lithuania, who already caused a major shock by beating last year’s winner Italy 9-4 in extra innings last night in the opening game of this competition.
The overall winner will progress to the Little League World Series which is shown live on ESPN around the world. Last year Italy qualified for the World Series by beating Team UK.
Herts Baseball Club’s representatives are infielder Carlos Casal Jr, third baseman and catcher Sebastian Molina and pitcher Zack Longboy.
Over the course of the competition this week most of the games will be televised on the internet (click to view). You can receive alerts about the TV schedule and regular updates from Italy by following Herts Baseball Club on twitter and facebook.
2014 LITTLE LEAGUE (UNDER-17) – EUROPE AND AFRICA QUALIFYING
(the win-loss records of the teams in the groups stage will be updated in orange over the course of the week)
Pool A
Belgium (BEL) 0-3
Czech Republic (CZE) 3-0
Great Britain (GBR) 2-1
Spain (ESP) 1-2
Pool B
France (FRA) 0-3
Italy (ITA) 2-1
Netherland (NED) 1-2
Lithuania (LIT) 3-0
SCHEDULE OF GAMES
(the final scores will be updated in orange as they come in over the course of the week)
Sunday July 6th ( Opening Game )
1 ITA 4 LIT 9 (8:30pm) Novara
Monday July 7th
2 FRA 5 NED 9 (10.00am) Novara
3 ESP 11 BEL 2 (1:30pm) Novara
4 CZE 4 GBR 0 (8:30pm) Novara (game suspended in 3rd inning due to lightning/rain with Czechs leading 3-0, will be resumed 9:30am UK time on Tuesday, 8 July.)
Tuesday July 8th
5 LIT 11 NED 10 (2:30pm) Vercelli
6 BEL 6 CZE 18 (5:30pm) Vercelli
7 FRA 1 ITA 14 (2:30pm) Novara
8 GBR 5 ESP 4 (F/9) (5:30pm) Novara
Wednesday July 9th
9 GBR 11 BEL 4 (10.00am) Novara
10 ESP 9 CZE 14 (2:00pm) Novara
11 LIT 10 FRA 6 (5:30pm) Novara
12 NED 0 ITA 10 (8:30pm) Novara
Thursday July 10th
13 3rd Pool A ESP – 4th Pool B FRA 2:30pm Vercelli
14 3rd Pool B NED – 4th Pool A BEL 5:30pm Vercelli
15 1st Pool A CZE – 2nd Pool B ITA 2:30pm Novara
16 1st Pool B LIT – 2nd Pool A GBR 5:30pm Novara
Friday July 11th
7th – 8th place
17 Looser game 13 – Looser game 14 2:30pm Novara
5th – 6th place
18 Winner game 13 – Winner game 14 5:30pm Novara
Saturday July 12th
3rd – 4th place
19 Looser game 15 – Looser game 16 2:30pm Novara
1st-2nd place – CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
20 Winner game 15 – Winner game 16 5:30pm Novara
Note: For each game the first team indicated in the schedule is the home team .
Falcons’ rally caps couldn’t get them the run they needed in the final inning (photo by Paul Holdrick)
Daniel Levitt, reporting from Grovehill Ballpark
The Herts Falcons took on the Southern Nationals in a double header on Sunday, in what was the most anticipated series of the season thus far. Heading into the two games, both teams stood on the cusp of the playoff spots.
Soaked in glorious sunshine, Grovehill Ballpark was once again drenched in perfect playing conditions. The Falcons knew they would have to be at their very best to topple the reigning champion Nationals.
The Nationals opened Game 1 with one run in the top half of the first without even registering a hit, but the Falcons quickly answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning, when Phil Clarke scored on a Jose Sosa double, who was then thrown out at third stretching for a triple.
The Nationals slowly built a solid three run lead by tacking on a run in each of the next three innings. But as the home team has done all season long, Herts battled back and climbed within one run in the fifth inning.
Carlos Velzaco got things started with a lead-off walk and when Clarke also got a free pass, Sosa delivered his second hit and RBI of the game. Abel Salas then walked to load the bases for power-man Darrin Ward.
First baseman Ward displayed a mature approach at the plate by getting on base any way possible. Instead of swinging aimlessly, Ward managed to frustrate the pitcher enough to draw a hit-by-pitch and make it a 4-3 contest.
It looked as though the game was out of reach when Nationals’ Moses Vasquez launched a two-run home run in the top of the sixth to make it a 6-3 deficit, but the Falcons once again fought back.
They added an RBI single courtesy of Clarke in the bottom of the sixth and, when Salas launched his second solo home run of the season, the Falcons were suddenly just one run down again.
Despite having a runner in scoring position with two outs, the Falcons would fall just short however.
Falcons’ starting pitcher, Michael Osborne, was unlucky to be the losing pitcher, but a couple of critical errors by the Falcons led to the crucial runs being scored. Sosa completed an inning of work on the mound, striking out two in the process.
Click here to view Game 1 box scores
Game 2 saw Abel Salas take the mound for the Falcons, coming off a majestic outing a fortnight ago against the South London Pirates. In the win over the Pirates, Salas pitched a complete game giving up just the single run. This week was another solid performance, coming up just short against a tougher line up.
The final game of the day was a different story with the Falcons leading for most of the way and the Nationals this time staging the late comeback. Heading into the bottom of the fourth tied at two, the Falcons opened up some daylight between their pesky opponents.
Velazco drew his second lead-off walk of the game and Liam Green followed by being hit by a pitch, and when John Blose drew the second walk of the inning, it led to a bases loaded situation for starting pitcher Salas. Just as he did a fortnight ago against the Pirates, Salas helped his own cause by cashing in two runs with a double to deep centre field.
Click here to view Game 2 box scores
After the game Falcons manager, Lee Manning, said of Salas, “he just goes to work every time”.
“He is integral to our team and what Herts Baseball is all about. Especially with the younger guys, he’s a great role model”.
Salas’ efforts weren’t quite enough this time around, as the Nationals slugged their second home run of the game in the sixth inning to tie it up, and then scored the go-ahead run in the seventh. Salas struck out a season high fourteen batters in seven innings.
The Mexican won’t be too crestfallen as the Falcons sit just two games outside of the playoff spots, with the team heading into a three week break before their next game.
The Falcons’ next game is a double header away to the London Mets (7-5 ), who currently sit in third place. Join us in Finsbury Park for what promises to be a crunch series for the Herts Falcons.
View of Farnham Park from the skies (photo by BSUK)
The baseball weekend begins at Farnham Park as a Herts under 12 All Star team is unleashed on the national scene for the first time in the careers of that age group. They will be competing in the under 12 bracket of the Little League UK Championship and will face the London Mets first up at 12:30pm. Depending on the outcome of that first game they will battle through the tournament tree shown below:
Saturday, 14 June
10:00 London Sports vs Essex Redbacks (Game 1)
12:30 Herts vs London Mets (Game 2)
15:00 Loser Gm 1 vs Loser Gm 2 (Game 3)
Sunday, 15 June
10:00 LYBL vs Winner of Game 1 (Game 4)
12:30 Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 2 (Game 5)
15:00 Winner Game 4 vs Winner Game 5
The tournament will be held at Farnham Park and will be hosted by BSUK and BBF.
Herts will also be represented in the U17 Little League UK Championship as an All Star team representing all U17 teams from the South of England go head-to-head with an All Star team representing the Midlands and the North. The U17 UK Champions will be decided in a best-of-3 series over the weekend. The winner will progress through to the European qualifying stage which will be held in Italy next month, for a chance to reach the Little League World Series in August.
At the same time at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead the Herts Ravens have an U17 League doubleheader versus the Forest Glade Redbacks. First pitch is at 12pm. Food and drinks will be on offer throughout the day.
Baseball and pretty much everything else in the UK will stop on Saturday night as the England football team plays its first World Cup 2014 game against Italy.
The baseball action continues on Sunday at Grovehill Ballpark with two games from the British adult leagues. In the Double-A League the Herts Hawks will be looking to put their season back on track with a win against the Bracknell Inferno, while the Herts Raptors will be looking for their first win of the season in their Single-A League encounter with Tonbridge. Both games start at 12pm.
Abel Salas had a big day on the mound and with the bat (photo by Paul Holdrick)
The Herts Falcons continued their quest for postseason baseball on Sunday, when they took on the South London Pirates in a double header at Grovehill Ballpark.
Coming off of a well-fought split series against the Southampton Mustangs last week, the Falcons’ play matched the glorious sunshine with which the games were soaked in. Despite giving up two runs in the first inning, Abel Salas got Herts on the score sheet with a scorching line-drive solo home run in the second, his first of the season. Salas’ offensive involvement did not stop there however, as the lefty walked and stole second base in the fourth inning, only to be doubled home by Darrin Ward to put the Falcons up 3-2.
Starting pitcher, Michael Osborn (pictured right), settled down by the fifth inning to strike out two Pirates on his way to a total of ten strikeouts for the game. The bottom of the fifth was when the sunshine really shone on the Falcons’ hitters, as they blew the game wide open with nine runs.
The inning started with a line-drive single that hit the left-field wall by Ryan Hackel, and when Jose Sosa singled in two runs to make it 6-2, the Falcons were just hitting their stride. Salas continued his mammoth game with an RBI double to straight away centre-field, while new signing, Zac Malone, had an RBI single in his debut for the Hertfordshire club.
Game 1 finished 12-2 and was called early due to the mercy rule.
What had become a pitcher’s duel early on, turned into an offensive onslaught very hastily. Every batter reached on base at least once, with all but two notching themselves a hit.
“Michael was terrific on the mound today” Falcons manager, Lee Manning, said after the game.
“Up until the fifth inning it was a very close game and we did well to stay in it. We got some great hits and were able to blow the game open.”
Game 2 had a slightly different feel to it than the opener, yet delivered the same result. While Game 1 was a nail-biter to the very last inning – before it was called – the second game of the day was in the clasp of the Falcons’ claws from the third inning.
Salas, the star of game one, took his talents to the mound this time around. After giving up his only run of the afternoon in the first inning, the Mexican was dealing his best stuff the rest of the way, leading to his finest pitching performance of the season thus far and striking out ten Pirates on his way to the victory.
Carlos Casal Jr. drove in the game winning run in the third. With runners on the corners, Casal Jr. then attempted to steal second, and as he did so, drew a wild throw from the opposing catcher that sailed into the outfield. That was enough to send first-baseman, Darrin Ward, home and put the Falcons up 3-1.
Phil Clarke went deep for his first home run of the season (photo by Paul Holdrick)
The game was put to bed when Phil Clarke hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-field.
The Falcons managed to tally twenty plus hits for the day, but what was more impressive, was the maturity they showed at the plate by only striking out three times in each game.
Manning said after the game, “Abel pitched an amazing game today. He allowed the hitters to establish an early lead and never looked back”
New signings Zac Malone and Ryan Hackel flourished on both sides of the plate. Malone stole three consecutive bases in his debut, while Hackel made playing shortstop look effortless, with six seamlessly faultless plays.
Manning added, “Zac and Ryan have come in and immediately contributed on both offense and defense. The team is very happy and cannot wait to play out the rest of the season with them”.
The Falcons now have a week off before they welcome the reigning National Champions Southern Nationals to Grovehill Ballpark, in a clash the Falcons hope to gain some revenge from their semi-final defeat to the Nationals a year ago.
Game 1 is scheduled to start at 12.00pm BST with Game 2 following at 14.30 BST on Sunday, 22 June.