Category: Featured

by Herts Baseball News Editor

A Bridge Too Far – Raptors fall in the ninth. Blackjacks Becking hits for the cycle.

British Single-A League
Haverhill Blackjacks 27 Herts Raptors 20
Adrian Smithers reporting form Grovehill Ballpark

The Raptors arrived at Grovehill knowing that they had a tough game ahead, against the visiting Blackjacks, as they sought their first win.

The game got underway and the Blackjacks soon had their first run on the board. Trailing by three, Raptors responded patiently and plated six runners on 1 hit, 6 walks and a HBP. Haverhill replied with six runs in the second, including a triple by Becking. Smithers led off the bottom of the inning for Herts, jumping on a first pitch slider which he hit for an opposite field triple. He was still standing rooted on third gasping for oxygen, much to the hilarity of both dugouts, when a passed ball gave him the chance to advance home two pitches later. Luckily he was able to spare his embarrassment, advancing on another passed ball two batters later for Raptors only run in the second.

The Blackjacks further extended their lead in the third inning on a two run homer from their slugger in the three spot, Daniel Becking. Despite this, Herts pitcher Charlie Mayhew settled down and got out of the inning with no further damage. The bottom of the third saw Raptors pull a run back, scored by Wittter who had been walked and then stolen second (AGAIN!) before advancing home on a passed ball to Phillips.

With the score 11-8, Herts starting pitcher Mayhew recorded two outs before reaching his pitch limit. He was relieved by Andrew Slater who got the third out of the fourth inning. Herts then added three runs in the bottom of the inning to compliment the first goose egg on the scorecard. The game was tied at 11-11.

The Blackjacks scored twice in the fifth. Raptors responded, plating three runs to at last regain the lead. This included Slater advancing all the way home from first on a passed ball to Mayhew, after pitcher Phillips hurled the ball back towards the mound in a fit of pique after failing to tag an evasively sliding Smithers at the plate.

The Blackjacks tied it up again in the sixth scoring one before relief pitcher Fuentes sent the top of the Raptors line up back to the dugout in order.

The two teams then traded blows over the next two innings and the Raptors found themselves in the top of the ninth with a one run lead (20-19) and the chance to seal their first win of the season. It was not to be and with two outs and the score tied, a tiring Slater was savaged mercilessly for a further seven runs, not all earned. The Raptors seemed to sag visibly and the bottom half of the inning was almost a formality as the Blackjacks left the diamond celebrating a hard fought 27-20 victory.

Raptors manager Geoff Thomas said, “It was a tough loss today, we played outstanding against a very good team but a couple of big innings cost us and we couldn’t quite pull it back. A lot of positives to take into next week though.”

Player of the day has to go to Haverhill’s Daniel Becking who hit for the cycle with stats of,
5-6, 6R, 4RBI, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 2BB, 3SB.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts youngsters begin journey on the road to the Little League World Series

The U17 Baseball League (South) commences this Saturday as the Herts Harriers travel to the LYBL Bulldogs. Many of the Bulldogs are members of the 2013 Cobham Cougars so this is considered as something of a re-match after the 2013 Under-17 National Championship Final between the Harriers and the Cougars, which Herts lost 6-9.

The U17 Baseball League (South) is a competition which runs during the regular season. It comprises teams from the South of England. The teams are divided into two divisions, Division 1 and Division 2, based on their ranking. Herts will be represented by two teams – the Herts Harriers in Division 1 and Herts Ravens in Division 2.

An All Star team representing the U17 Baseball League (South) is scheduled to enter the Little League qualification competition. That team will meet the team representing the North/Midlands U17 League to determine which team will represent the United Kingdom in the next round. The winner of that encounter will progress through to the Little League European Qualifier which will be held in Novara, Italy. The winner of the Little League European qualifier will fly to the USA for the Little League World Series, which is broadcast live on ESPN around the world. Little League was founded in 1939. Today it is the world’s largest and most respected youth sports organization with more than 2.6 million participants in more than 75 countries across the world.

The Herts Under-12 teams will also be taking part. For that age group the competition remains at a national level and culminates with the Little League UK Championship on 14-15 June which will be played at Farnham Park.

KEY DATES
U17, U15, U13, U12 Little League UK Qualifier – 14 and 15 June 2014, Farnham Park, UK
U17 Little League European Qualifier – 6 to 12 July 2014, Novara, Italy
U17 Little League World Series – 10 to 16 August 2014, Bangor, Maine USA

For more information, games schedule, scores, standings and more visit the U17 Baseball League web pages.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Harriers prepare for Belgian challenge

This Bank Holiday Weekend almost all British baseball league teams are resting due to a GB event, however there are several Herts teams in action.

On Saturday, 24 May, Herts Harriers will make the short trip to Canons Park for the final day of the ISST Baseball Championships. Herts will join five varsity league teams – ASL Eagles, ACS Cobham, TASIS, STJ Lions and IS Brussels.

From the scores over the last two days we expect that the Herts Harriers will face the IS Brussels team from Belgium. The game was originally scheduled for 9:00am, however the organisers have moved the start time back to 9:30am, an adjustment which has been required due to the adverse weather forecast.

Herts Harriers will be missing a large number of players due to GB team call-ups and the injury to starting pitcher, Tom Armstrong, in last Sunday’s NBL game versus Essex Arrows.

Also on Saturday, at Grovehill Ballpark, there is under 12 league game between the Herts Dodgers and the Herts Giants.

On Sunday, the Herts Raptors welcome the Haverhill Blackjacks in a repeat of last season’s Single-A national championship semi-final which the Raptors lost narrowly. The game will start at 1pm at Grovehill Ballpark’s New Diamond.

 

by Matt Bell

Arrows win Herts-Essex derby

report by Daniel Levitt

The season of freak injuries continued for the Herts Falcons as they took on the Essex Arrows in a double header at Grovehill Ballpark on Sunday.

They went into the game with a 1-3 record and few expected their depleted squad to pose a threat, but despite this, the Falcons came within six outs of causing a major upset.

The visitors to Grovehill jumped out to a four-run lead before their hosts could even step up to the plate. They didn’t let up, scoring all of their sixteen runs by the seventh inning. Despite a valiant effort to steady the ship from long-reliever Phillip Clark, who pitched three innings and gave up three earned runs in three innings, the damage had already been done.

There were some positives to take away from game one and they came from the bat of Jose Sosa, who launched a three-run home run as part of a two-hit game. Third baseman Jamie Gregory tacked on another home run, his first of the season, on his way to hitting 2-3 for the game.

The Falcons looked to start afresh in game two, with control on the pitcher’s mound the primary focus. After giving up a total of ten base-on-balls in game one, the duo of Sosa and Gregory swapped the bat for the ball and halved the walks to five in game two.

Sosa, making his first start of the season, was the subject of some kind words from Falcons Manager, Lee Manning: “Jose was fantastic in his first start. He crushed the ball and was exactly what the team needed after the first game”.

Jose Sosa greeted at home plate after hitting one of two homeruns against Essex (photo by Richard Lee richardleephotography.org)

The Falcons appeared to be on their way to a series split, leading 7-3 after five innings, however the curse struck again. Tom Armstrong collided with the outfield wall while attempting a spectacular outfield catch and, after a 45-minute delay to enable the ambulance to take him to the hospital, it was difficult for Sosa to restart his engine on the mound.

Gregory couldn’t stop the onslaught, resulting in a six-run sixth and nine-run seventh. Before they knew it, Manning’s team were looking up at an 18-7 deficit, and a seemingly impossible task to overturn. Just like that, Herts were on the wrong side of a series sweep, falling to 1-5 on the season.

Regarding the mounting injuries, Manning added, “the injuries are killing us, but the lads have played through the pain and we should have a few of the injured players back for the next game”.

Up next for the Falcons is a trip to the south coast, where they will play two games against the Southampton Mustangs, who sit atop of the NBL standings with a 5-1 record.

 

 

by Rob Jones

Genesis and revelations

There have been big hits, infield dribblers and strikeouts; tag-outs, blown calls, and infield flies; late starts, rain and even sunburn. The season is only two weeks old but so far it has all the ingredients of a feast, writes Rob Jones. The Herts Raptors don’t yet have a win to show for it all but they have pretty much everything else.

The genesis of this blog, and its title Going Through the Change, was as I moved from outfield to infield. There’s always another change to go through, nothing stands still. This year I have finally moved officially into management.

My co-supremo Geoff has to do most of the work while I miss games and training as per usual — and while I oversee the wrecking and remodelling of my house — but it has been good to get another new perspective on the baseball experience. The drafting of players, the signing off of projects and purchases, and the week-long preparation of line-ups and locations. There’s an enormous amount goes into it.

 

Rob Jones
Rob Jones on base against the London Marauders

 

One of the main reasons I have played Single-A these past few years is so that I can pass on to new players the hints and tips I have learned in a decade of experience. Very few of them are revelations, but I have found that fundamentals are crucially important in baseball and if I communicate that to people then I have done good work. So far that has been fun, and there is a lot more to do. If I can do more of it, that might help win some games!

We have new and enthusiastic players again this year, to add to those who did such good work as Eagles last year. It’s always great to see new players discovering the game and maybe scratching an itch they have had for years after seeing baseball on TV or watching their kids play. I’m in a good position to say you’re never too old, as I am already “mature” enough to be an Old Timer.

My co-manager Geoff Thomas has made an impeccable start to the season, and it has deserved more than the two losses which are shown by the bald staistics. Importantly for a manager he has cultivated a personal style, and can regularly be seen on the sidelines clutching a brolly. The first week it was to ward off the persistent rain, the second week it was for shade from the glaring Essex sun. Next week, who knows.

But one of the toughest challenges for a manager at this level is to share out playing time for all those who have paid their money and put in their time. Raptors have achieved an even spread of game time, and when Geoff did need to step in to the game at Brentwood he did so in style, with a double in his first at-bat. He added aggressive steals and runs to help take the team to within a whisker of a win. Leading from the front.

One of the Raptors success stories so far has been the outfield, which has been as solid as the rock of Gibraltar. Baseball rookies often start in the outfield, but it is wrong to think it is the safe or easy place for them. In previous years we have sometimes been unable to secure all the outs we should on fly balls, and this year our boys with the big gloves have been exceptional.

Of course, it is also an extra treat to have Joseph Osborne-Brade back in centerfield after a long layoff for a broken leg. But it wouldn’t be such a treat if he wasn’t making highlight-reel catches.

My own season has got off to a steady enough start. With the bat it’s been a bit rusty, with a string of infield hits helping to get my batting average to .500. I’ve not yet walked once, which is unusual for me, but I did manage to secure a big hit when it was most important. Leading off the ninth as we tried to rally past Brentwood I smacked a double, which became a triple as the fielder lost a battle with the outfield fence, and I then crossed home when an overthrow to third went dead. Run scored, job done.

Fielding felt good the first week at London, with two nearly-catches falling just out of reach, but other plays being made securely. When I entered the Brentwood game as a substitute my arm just would not wake up and I made a poor throw to first which could have ended a tough inning. The brain worked, just not the body. We made more mistakes than we had in week one, and I certainly take my bit of blame for those.

We made a memorable base-running error, too, which you can read about in the match report. But it had an extra element for us due to the revival of a dead language.

I can’t share too many details but suffice it to say the runner called for advice in Latin. It caused confusion and hilarity and ultimately embarrassment as he was tagged out. Our runner was using a sporting motto, but when I worked out what he meant I in fact did so because of my schoolboy Latin. My wife found this hilarious when I recounted the tale to her later. When was the last time you heard Latin used for a purpose at a baseball game? I don’t think the sport was well-established in Caesar’s day. He doesn’t know what he was missing.

Raptors return to action this weekend against the Kent Mariners, and all the same passion will be there, and the same dedication to doing things the right way.  I already miss playing and on a summer evening like today it’s frustrating to not even be at training.  I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for the first win on Sunday.

NB: Thanks to the London Marauders for their fine photographs, and for making me look good in them.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Title chase setback for Herts Falcons

(photo by Joe Gray ProjectCOBB.org.uk)

National Baseball League
Game One: Herts Falcons 6 Bracknell Blazers 7
Game Two: Herts Falcons 4 Bracknell Blazers 14 

After taking a 6-3 lead against GB’s star pitcher Jordan Edmonds and seemingly in control away at the Bracknell Blazers, the Herts Falcons suffered a setback in the race for the NBL title. First the Blazers rallied with four runs in the bottom of the final inning to win the first game of the doubleheader 7-6, but perhaps what would be even more costly in the long-run are the serious injuries to centerfielder, Cris Hiche, and pitcher, Abel Salas. Hiche had to be taken to hospital where it was confirmed that he had fractured his wrist in an outfield collision with Mike Osborn as both tried to bravely make the play for the same fly ball. Salas was taken out of the game with a hamstring injury. He was slated to be the starting pitcher in the second game of the day, but the injury mean that the team’s pre-game strategy had to be scrapped. The Blazers took full advantage to win the second game convincingly 14-4.

Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning, could not be with the team as he was awaiting the arrival of his second child. “We have to battle through the storm while our injured players recover and try to pick up wins along the way to stay in the NBL playoff race” said Manning.

New arrival, Jose Sosa, made his debut in this game and it looks like he wants to give his all for the cause. He drove the ball hard and deep and went within a few feet of a home run which would have been some achievement at the enormous Farnham Park, which has not seen any home runs since it opened last year. The Falcons will hope that pitcher Mike Osborn will be able to recover from the collision with Cris Hiche and that he will be able to continue playing with the painful foot injury which he has been carrying since sustaining it in winter training.

(photo by Richard Lee richardleephotography.org)

Triple-A League
Essex Redbacks 11 Herts Eagles 4
Essex Redbacks 13 Herts Eagles 3 

In the Triple-A League the Eagles lost both games against the Essex Redbacks, 4-11 and 3-13.

Photo by Ralph Bartholomew

Double-A League
Brentwood Stags 13 Herts Hawks 14
Brentwood Stags 21 Herts Hawks 11 

In the Double-A League, the Herts Hawks pulled-off another miraculous comeback. After trailing 4-11 against the Brentwood Stags they turned the game on its head to win 14-13. Ace pitcher Nick Russell kept the Hawks in the game with another good performance, but it was clutch at bats in the bottom of the final inning and a lapse of concentration which cost the Stags dearly. They were leading 13-12 with 1 out and the bases loaded. A ground ball was hit straight at their pitcher and they were preparing to celebrate as all the visitors had to do was to turn a routine 1-2-3 game-ending double-play by throwing to the catcher for the second out at home and then a throw to first base to force out the batter for the final out of the game. It all fell apart for Brentwood as the ball popped out of the catcher’s glove which allowed the runner from third base to score the tying run while everyone else was safe. It all came down to the next at bat with Charlie Day battling against the hard-throwing Brentwood pitcher. Day battled to a full count and in the final pitch was a ball which walked the winning run in.

In the second game the pitching staff of both teams once again struggled to find the umpire’s consistently tight strikezone, which made it a great day for the hitters and resulted in many walks. Brentwood came out on top winning the second game convincingly 21-11.

NEXT GAMES

Next week all four Herts adult teams are in action. With their injury problems, the Herts Falcons go into their home game against the revamped Essex Arrows as the underdogs. Game starts at 1pm on Sunday, 18 May, at Grovehill Ballpark, in Hemel Hempstead. 24 hours before that the club’s youth teams will go into the unknown as they face several American U19 teams including a team from Paris, France.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

British baseball begins search for a new Ryan Bird


Herts Baseball Club has been trying to delay making this announcement, hoping against hope that it will not happen, but it has now been confirmed that three-time National Baseball League MVP (Most Valuable Player), Ryan Bird, has moved to America.

Over the last 6 years he has been one of the most dominant baseball players in Great Britain. His name appears prominently at the top of the majority of the defensive and offensive NBL stats. He received immediate recognition, voted as the NBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2008. This was his first season in the League and this achievement is even more significant given that this was a time of total domination by the amazing London Mets. In the following year Bird was once again voted as the League’s MVP, making him the first player to receive two MVP awards since the days of Simon Pole during the London Warriors era. In 2009 he was also the league’s home run champion with 5 dingers.

In 2012 he made a high-profile move to the Herts Falcons and the domination continued. In 2013 he was voted NBL MVP for a third time.

He has performed consistently throughout and he is the NBL leader in career batting average (.500), career on-base average (.572) and career slugging average (.808). His primary position is catcher, but he has also had a real impact as a pitcher. His career ERA is 2.72 with a record of 15 wins, 4 losses, 2 saves and, very notably, one of the highest strikeouts per nine innings ratios (16.4). Last season he pitched those memorable back-to-back no-hitters for the Falcons.

Ryan Bird won his second NBL MVP award in 2009 as a Richmond player

This season’s opening game against the London Mets was his last for the Falcons before his move to the USA and he said good bye to the fans with another outstanding performance going 4-4 with a home run which probably is still hovering somewhere over St Albans.

NBL statistics courtesy of ProjectCOBB.org.uk

Bird’s departure is a major blow not just to Herts Falcons but to British baseball as a whole which needs players like him to fill the ballparks around the country.

This is one of several high-profile departures for the Falcons this season. Dave House, Jordan Farkas, Robbie Unsell and Xavi Gonzalez are all moving overseas. The start of the year for the Falcons has felt a lot like the opening scene of the Oscar-nominated movie Moneyball as staff at the Oakland Coliseum were removing the large banners of Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen.

Xavi Gonzalez is another Herts Falcons player who is playing overseas with the Stuttgart Reds this season

However, losing these big players also means that the door is open at Herts for the new stars to rise to the top of British baseball. The addition of players like Abel Salas and Jamie Gregory has been a major boost helping manager Lee Manning to start rebuilding the roster. Last week Herts fans had an extra boost seeing video footage of catcher Andrew Fulford preparing in Tampa Florida for his upcoming NBL debut. Manning has also shown faith in the club’s talented young players. Carlos Casal Jr, Conner Brown and Tom Everex-Armstrong joined Liam Green to make their NBL debuts in 2013 and this year they have been joined by Will Zucker, with more youngsters pushing hard with the club’s Triple-A team. We will have to wait and see how far these players will go over the next few years and if they will be the next Ryan Birds of British baseball.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

BBF Single-A League
Herts Raptors 24 Brentwood Bucks 25
Adrian Smithers, reporting from Clements Park, Brentwood

The Raptors arrived in Brentwood determined to get their first win of the season. The sun was shining brightly and it was a great day for baseball.

With the Raptors ready to go, the start time came and passed, with both teams awaiting the arrival of the match umpire. However the game still did not start until after both teams had lined up to be introduced to the mayor of Brentwood. With the ceremony finally concluded the game began.

Lead off batter Mike Cresswell stepped to the plate and took strike one above shoulder height and the tone for the day had been set.

In a hard fought game the Bucks leapt out to a 12-1 lead after two innings with Herts starting pitcher Jamie Lang tiring after throwing 87 pitches in search of an elusive and ever changing K-zone. Raptors scored 3 in the top of the third before Cresswell came in to relieve Lang for the bottom of the third. He slowed the Bucks charge holding them to 1 run in the bottom of the inning to make the score 13-4. Raptors then showed their teeth in the top of the fourth scoring seven runs without an out before Bucks pitcher Cook retired the next three in a row including striking out Raptors first baseman Will Belbin (who had originally got the inning going with a single) swinging at a high pitch that today he could not afford to take. Brentwood then added 4 more in the bottom of the inning to make the score 17-11 before lefty Cresswell’s superb pick off to 1st caught Bucks’ Davenport off of 1st and with no option but to head for second and into a run down situation that the Herts infield gladly took.

With the run rate slowing and the score 19-15, Jeff Witter came in to pitch the 6th inning for Herts, relieving Cresswell. Rob Jones also came into the game at shortstop with Raptors manager Geoff Thomas shuffling round his infield. Witter held the Bucks to one run in the sixth and with Herts failing to score in the 7th, everybody stretched as the slow moving game had already been going for four hours.

Bucks tacked on two more in the bottom of the seventh after a contentious call at home plate saw Bucks run threat Harris sliding into the tag applied by Herts catcher Smithers before being called safe, much to the incredulity of the whole Herts infield who were already trotting off the diamond. Manager Thomas came out to dispute the decision and intervene before his catcher, who had finally had enough and was voicing his opinion of the umpires decision, was tossed from the game. Despite his protestations and the clear evidence in the sand of a slide that had not reached the plate, the call stood.

Raptors were incensed and Thomas coralled his team between innings and implored them to go out & score the runs needed to win this game. Despite scoring four runs in the 8th aided by a pinch hitting Thomas’s double (in his first at bat of the season) the Raptors didn’t help their own cause with Smithers caught daydreaming off the bag at second for the second out of the eighth. Brentwood added 3 more in the bottom of the 8th inning to extend their lead to 25-19. Despite Herts best efforts, including Thomas hustling to second on a ball four wild pitch, they were only able to add another five runs. Finally losing 25-24, with Lang taking the loss, they had fought determinedly. Co-manager Rob Jones offered an extremely diplomatic view upon the game. “Brentwood is always a tough place to go and play. There were times today when we felt things weren’t going our way, a few calls went against us but players showed great spirit to keep rallying back.”

Notable Raptors batting stats for the day were….

Lang 5-7, 2B, 3R, 3RBI, SB. Belbin 3-5, BB, 4R, 4SB. Landau-Smithers 2-3, 3BB, 3R, RBI, 5SB. Jones 2-3, 2B, 2R, RBI. Smithers 3-4, 2BB, HBP, 4R, RBI, 3SB, CS. and Thomas 1-1, BB, 2B, 2R, RBI, 3SB.

Now 0-2, Raptors will look to regroup and look longingly ahead to their first game of the season at Grovehill Ballpark on Sunday, May 18.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts represented at the MLB European Baseball Academy Try Outs for the first time in its history

Herts Falcons and Great Britain National Team players Jamie Gregory and Tom Everex-Armstrong have been invited to this year’s Major League Baseball European Academy Try Outs. Although there have been several other British players called up to the MLB European Try Outs in previous years, this is the first time that members of Herts Baseball Club take part in this prestigious programme.

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.

In 2011, Alex Liddi became the first Academy product to be called up to the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners. Donald Lutz was the second, making it in 2013 with the Cincinnati Reds. Instructors have included Barry Larkin, Lee Smith, Art Howe, Wally Joyner, Bruce Hurst, John McLaren, Steve Finley, Craig Shipley and Dale Murphy.

Through July 2013, over 50 Academy alumni had been signed by MLB organizations. So far there have been no British players who have gone on to sign contracts with MLB teams from the Academy, but the signs are that MLB is beginning to recognise the talented players playing in Britain, which is a boost for players in this country.

Armstrong and Gregory are taking part in this weekend’s segment of the Academy which is held in Barcelona, Spain.  Herts fans should rest assured that both will be back in time for Herts Falcons’ next league game on Sunday, 11 May 2014, at the Bracknell Blazers.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Baseball Club and Astley Cooper School establish a new baseball programme

Herts Baseball Club has teamed up with Astley Cooper School for the launch of a satellite baseball club. It will open up an opportunity for boys and girls aged 10 to 16 to play baseball. Events will be taking place on Tuesdays after school. The club commences on Tuesday, 6 May, and the weekly baseball events will continue right up until the final Tuesday of the school year on 15 July. Coaches from Herts Baseball Club will introduce students to the game of baseball.

Apart from Astley Cooper School’s 500 pupils, students from other schools are also welcome to take part in this club.

This programme is funded by Herts Sports Partnership with the goal of increasing participation in sport among youngsters.

Students don’t have to wait for Tuesday to play baseball. Herts Baseball Club is one of the leading clubs in the UK and is located just five minutes away from Astley Cooper School. They can sign up to play with the Herts youth teams covering ages from 6 to 16 and with the adult teams for those over the age of 16. The Herts teams compete in regional leagues, the national championships and internationally with Little League Inc. along with 2.6 million other participants in 75 countries.

Herts Baseball Club President, Aspi Dimitrov, was keen to emphasise the importance of this project. “Over the last 10 years we have been growing at an average rate of 27% per annum and this programme is expected to boost growth further” said Dimitrov. He added that “as it develops, the hope is that this can expand into a baseball league involving teams representing different schools from around the region”.

OPEN DAY – 10 MAY 2014

In addition to the launch of the baseball programme in Astley Cooper School, Herts Baseball Club will stage an Open Day on Saturday, 10 May 2014. Boys and girls from 6 to 18 will have the opportunity to enjoy a day packed with baseball activities alongside existing members of the club’s youth league teams.

For details about the Open Day or how to try baseball for free on Tuesdays at Astley Cooper School or on Saturdays at Grovehill Ballpark contact Herts Baseball Club.