Category: Featured

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Home Run Derby with a difference

(Note: Event schedule updated to fit in rained out U17 games from earlier in the season, as London Mets U17 confirmed availability)

The superstars of Major League Baseball gathered in front of a packed Citi Field in New York last week for the annual Home Run Derby as part of the MLB All Star week. This week it is the turn of the Herts Home Run Derby.

Herts Baseball Club has members who play in the five senior baseball leagues, but the club also has the youth team players aged from 6 to 16 as well as softball players and all of them will be competing for the Herts Home Run Champion title. Different outfield fences will be set up for the different teams and age groups reflecting the field distances they play on during their league games. This will mean that, for example, 5-year-old William Morillo will be able to compete against his 15-year old brother Jose Morillo, his father Jose Antonio, and also against Herts Falcons and NBL All Star centerfielder, Cris Hiche.

There will be the added angle of buckets filled with water scattered around the diamond. If a hit ball drops into the bucket the batter will be awarded a free drink from the Herts concessions bar.

EXHIBITION GAMES

The day will begin with an exhibition game between the Herts Harriers and a Herts All Star team featuring players from the club’s five senior league teams. There will be baseball activities for all other age groups before the Home Run Derby as the club welcomes newcomers to the game as part of the Olympics Legacy Festival of Sport in Dacorum Borough.

The day will end with an exhibition softball game involving baseball and softball players as well as parents of the Herts youth team players.

FOOD AND DRINKS

Throughout the event, the concessions stand will be running at full capacity offering hot and cold drinks and various traditional baseball snacks from hot dogs to Big League Chew.

EVENT SCHEDULE

10:00am, Updated: Herts Harriers vs London Mets (New Diamond) U17 League Game

11:00am, Baseball drills and exercises for all age groups, youth and adult (Old Diamond)

12:00pm, Lunch

12:15pm, Home Run Derby (New Diamond)

1:00pm, Updated: London Mets vs Horsham Hornets (Old Diamond) U17 League Game

2:00pm, Exhibition Softball Game

3:00pm, Event ends

VENUE

The event will take place at Grovehill Ballpark, the home of Herts Baseball Club (click for venue address and details)

CONTACT US

If you are not already on the club’s mailing lists contact us for details how to take part in this event. Everyone is welcome – male and female players of all ages.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Play baseball in Herts as part of the 2013 Olympics Legacy Festival of Sport

Dacorum Borough in Hertfordshire celebrates one year on from the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012 in London, and one to go until the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow. Most importantly, the event brings the Olympic Legacy to life by giving people in Dacorum, of all ages and abilities, the chance to experience a range of sporting events and activities.

If you’re not already involved in sport, want to get back into sport or if you just want to have fun with the family and try something new, then this week provides the ideal starting point. Throughout the festival period, local sports clubs and other sporting organisations across the borough are opening their doors and running events such as offering free taster sessions at their clubs.

There are more than 15 sports to try at more than 30 events right across the borough – and we are very pleased to confirm that baseball is part of the Festival.

WHERE?

Herts Baseball Club, Grovehill Ballpark, Washington Avenue, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 6BB

WHEN?

6pm to 8pm on Wednesday, July 24

11am to 2pm on Saturday, July 27

EVENT DETAILS

On Wednesday, July 24, there is an opportunity for anyone to come and give baseball a try at Grovehill Ballpark. Participants will be able to sample all aspects of baseball – fielding, batting, throwing and catching, base running and more.

On Saturday, July 27, apart from the opportunity for newcomers to come and try baseball, they will also be able to take part in games, the home run derby and other baseball contests.

On both days they will be able to meet and play alongside players from the Herts youth and adult teams.

WHO IS THE EVENT AIMED AT?

Boys and girls aged 6 to 16 and men and women aged 14 to 55+, from complete beginners to accomplished players is welcome – So Basically Everyone

COSTS?

Anyone can take part free of charge.

FOOD AND DRINKS?

Throughout the event on Saturday, July 27, the Herts Baseball concessions will be selling hot and cold drinks and all sorts of traditional baseball snacks from hot dogs to Big League Chew.

WHAT IS PROVIDED BY THE ORGANISERS?

All equipment will be provided by the organisers during the events.

WHAT WILL PARTICIPANTS NEED TO BRING?

Any sport clothing for a hot summer’s day and footwear suitable for grass surface.

DO WE NEED TO CONTACT THE CLUB IN ADVANCE?

We advise all those who are considering attending one of these events and who are not already in the Herts Baseball mailing lists to contact us ahead of the event providing an email address or telephone number so they can be notified if the event is cancelled due to unsuitable weather conditions or other circumstances.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Is Marques the first British player to hit 2 grand slam home runs in the same game?

On Sunday the Herts Raptors won at the Guildford Mavericks to stay top of the British Single-A League and in the process catcher, Ben Marques, hit two grand slam home runs. For readers who are new to the game, a grand slam is a home run with the bases loaded to score four runs with one swing of the bat.

According to legendary pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine “chicks dig the long ball” (see their Nike video below) and we asked Marques whether he has experienced a surge in interest from females since Sunday. He said “my phone has been ringing off the hook all day and night”.

 

Marques’ achievement is certainly a first for Herts Baseball Club. The club has had the back-to-back-to-back 3-homerun game by Jim Denison in the Herts Falcons vs Cambridge Monarchs AAA League game in 2005, but there have been no Herts players who have hit two grand slam homeruns in the same game.

We are now going through the records to see if this feat has been done by any player in any of the British leagues. We contacted Joe Gray of Project COBB for assistance, who said “from my records for the top tier I have only one instance where two grand slams were clobbered in the same game, but that was by two different players (Robbie Unsell and William Schmitt on 21 August 2011 in a Bracknell Blazers vs Richmond Flames NBL game). I don’t have anything formal for lower league tiers, but I have done a fair bit of reading of old match reports and never come across this occurrence”.

Gray added: “Many congratulations to Ben for a tremendous achievement. I just hope that he does not do a “Tony Cloninger” who hit two grand slams in his entire MLB career, and they came in the same game while playing for the Atlanta Braves in 1966.”

If you have come across a player hitting two grand slams in the same game in Great Britain, we would be interested to know, so please contact us or send us a message via facebook or twitter.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons extend winning streak to 14 to stay top of NBL

photos by Richard Lee (richardleephotography.org)

written by Cristobal Hiche

After a weekend off where some Falcons players joined the Herts Team in the London Tournament and a few others played with the NBL All-Star Team, it was back to business to finish the season strong and continue with the winning streak. However, the always dangerous Lakenheath Diamondbacks were standing in the way. If they have all their players available they can be a real threat and it started that way in the first game.

NBL (Game 1) Herts Falcons 7 Lakenheath Diamondbacks 2 (click to view box scores)

Dbacks got ahead early in the game and every Falcons player was trying to adjust their strike zone and Kevin Carr was pitching very well for the Dbacks, exploiting the outside corner of the plate and a good repertoire of fastballs and wicked curveballs. By the bottom of the 4th Falcons had only 1 hit and had left few men on base. Kevin was striking out too many Falcons (8 in total) and the Falcons realised they needed just to put the ball in play if something was going to happen. With Carr getting a little bit tired, he walk a few batters and with bases loaded and 1 out, Michael Osborn being down 0-2 battled to a 2-2 count and put the ball in play on a grounder to second base but an error was made on the catch and then trying to rush the throw to first base it went wild and two important runs were scored. This changed the momentum of the game and gave the Falcons the lead. That was probably a psychological boost for the Falcons and also the realisation by Lakenheath that the game might be slipping away. Why? Because, although Robbie Unsell allowed an early run, he was still pitching a gem and for the most part taking control of the game. However with the score 3-1 in the top of the 5th, Robbie made a small but costly mistake hanging a slider in the middle of the plate which Kevin Carr smashed to left field reducing the Herts lead. However Falcons regained control and ended up scoring 4 more runs with the help of Ryan Bird who went 2-3 (1RBI, 1R, 1 double) to give Falcons a final score of 7-2.

NBL (Game 2) Herts Falcons 17 Lakenheath Diamondbacks 0 (click to view box scores)

The second game ended up being a slug fest for the Falcons. Let’s make no mistake, Lakenheath starting pitcher Shawn Benton had a good slider and curveball. In fact, he managed to strike out Cris Hiche twice who up to these games had only 5 all season. However, he abused too much of his breaking balls and Falcons jumped all over them. With a final score of 17-0 is difficult to find the player of the match. Although Robbie Unsell (2-3, 4R, 1RBI, 1BB), Xavi Gonzalez (2-3, 3R, 4RBI, 1 Triple) and Jordan Farkas (2-4, 1R, 2RBI) had their usual amazing performances, it was once again Ryan Bird who stole the show (in the reporter’s opinion) finishing 2-3, 3R, 1BB, and an impressive 6RBI, including a clearing bases double. That’s Bingo Bango right there!…And even though it now sounds like a broken record, it’s impossible to avoid mentioning another stellar performance by Michael Osborn who pitched a shutout.

Manager Lee Manning had this to say at the end of the day: “I’m very happy with the way the whole team played today. It was a slow start in Game 1 but we found the runs when we needed to”. He then added: “Game 2 was a hitting show with Michael doing an amazing job once again on the hill. Bingo Bango!”

Falcons have another weekend off since they have only 2 weekends left in their regular season in the next month and a half. It seems such a shame since Falcons are playing so well, carrying lots of momentum and the beautiful weather screams for baseball games. But although in the US summer is associated with baseball, beers, hot dogs and apple pie, given UK’s recent rainy summers it makes complete sense to have started the season quite early in the cold days of spring. Unfortunately there wasn’t any rain and now there won’t be much baseball in the best UK summer in decades. With playoffs pushed all the way to September, and God forbid there isn’t a downpour that weekend, let’s hope Falcons can keep the winning streak going until the end. So Falcons fans can relax this weekend, spend time with the family, and plan for the last two home dates for the team on 11 and 18 August and of course the September playoffs.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Ravens unable to stop impressive Metros

The Herts Ravens were not able to upset the odds and lost both games of their doubleheader with the AAA League leaders.

AAA League (Game 1) London Metros 17 Herts Ravens 5 (click to view box scores)

The London Metros produced an impressive hitting display in the first game outhitting the Ravens 16-4. Ten of their 16 hits came in the top of the first inning which produced 13 runs. Herts did well to recover after that, scoring 5 and conceding 4 runs from the second inning onwards, but the early deficit was too much to come back from.

Johan Villanueva hit one of three homeruns for the Metros, but it was lefty centerfielder, Andrew Vargas, who stood out for them batting 4-for-5, with 2 home runs and a double, just missing out on the cycle. His two home runs went deep over the right-centerfield wall falling on the new diamond and interrupting the NBL game between the Falcons and Dbacks which was being played at the same time. Given the power which he displayed on the day, it is surprising to see that he does not have any other home runs so far this season and has only 2 extra base hits over the course of the season. On today’s display he is certainly worth a call up to the London Mets NBL team.

AAA League (Game 2) London Metros 10 Herts Ravens 6 (click to view box scores)

In the second game Herts turned the table on the Londoners taking an early 1-run lead. They were still holding on to a 1-run lead going into the fifth inning. Liam Green was in control on the mound for Herts allowing only 3 hits through the first 4 innings, but in the fifth the Metros produced another devastating inning scoring 5 runs. Herts stayed in touch right to the end with debutants JP Prouty and Matt Bucher contributing both defensively and offensively. London reliever, Johan Villanueva came in to pitch very effective sixth and seventh inning to close the game for the save.

The Herts Ravens will be looking to return to winning ways next Sunday, 28 July, when they welcome the Oxford Kings (first pitch 12pm).

by Rob Jones

Fastballs, hot dogs and underpants: Herts in Croydon 2013

One of the most famous sayings in sports goes something like this: Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.

But there are times when it isn’t true — and the annual London Tournament is one of them. For me anyway. Perhaps not everyone comes with the same attitude. But I see this weekend as a chance to relax on a baseball diamond while still playing a competitive game. If I have to choose a pithy quote, I’d prefer Grantland Rice’s “it’s not that you won or lost, but how you played the game”.

For anyone who hasn’t been, the London Tournament in Croydon is a weekend bunfight of baseball, with teams competing from around England but also from further afield. Clubs have come over from Ireland, France, and the Netherlands.

Herts players
Cris Hiche (R) gives his first team talk of the weekend

Some are complete teams. Others are made up from random bits of clubs and from collections of players who make shifting rosters. The Herts offering this year was one team, made up of the very best from the NBL Falcons, down to the Sunday hackers like me from Single-A.

That is a great opportunity to play against and alongside some classy players. Xavi Gonzalez has been causing a stir in British baseball this year, so to see him up close is fun. Chilean international Cris Hiche was managing the squad, so it was good to watch him handle some of the rising young stars he has helped to develop at Grovehill.

I took first base for our first game of the day, against the MK Bucks. I really enjoy playing first, as you can be in on virtually every play. You coach players to always want the ball, and to always expect the ball — at first base, there is never any question about that. I’d gladly do it more often, though manages would probably want me to grow five inches.

It can be a little daunting to be taking the throws from cannon arms like Liam Green and Carlos Velazco-Caruz, but at least you know that the ball is definitely going to reach you! It’s not like Single-A here (I would still quite like it if Liam took something off his throws though!)

I safely caught a couple of routine ground-outs which the infield had snared. There was another which I caught, but then lost as I pulled my hand out from the runner’s path, before gathering it again. MK argued their guy was safe, the umpire gave him out. I honestly don’t know, but I did think that I had got him before the ball came out the glove.

Lee Manning
Falcons manager Lee Manning suits up. Form an orderly queue, ladies.

Hitting was a challenge against a strong pitcher. The downside of getting to play with great players is that you have to face some, too! My scoresheet shows that the Bucks starter struck out 8 in his four innings of work, so I should feel no shame in being one of them!

At least the second time up I managed to get a bat on it. I figured it was best to go the other way to help me deal with the high speed fastballs, but I lined out to second base. If I’d come up a third time, I’d have got him! Definitely.

The second game went slightly less well for me, though much the same for the team (a defeat this time by the Midland All Stars, one of those pick-up squads which seemed to have players from the Latin Boys, the Nottingham Rebels, and the Essex Redbacks). I never got to hit, and in the field was a party to three balls which were just too far out of reach. The one play I could have made — receiving a force-out at second — Lee threw instead to first and muffed it. But I won’t hold it against him…

Of course, as the first words of this article suggested, the London Tournament experience is not just about playing competitive baseball. It is about beer and hot dogs in the baking sun. About reading the Daily Telegraph sports section while relaxing on the bench.

It’s about endlessly ribbing Lee Manning, and fighting off unpleasant visions of him in his underpants. It’s about empathising with catcher Dave Westfallen as he took a foul ball directly to the crown jewels. When I say empathising, obviously I mean that we laughed cruelly, but we always had a good heart behind it.

It’s about catching up with former team-mates and old faces. Ex-Falcon Marty Cullen was helping run the show for the GB team, so he was busy lugging beer, hawking merchandise and shooting the breeze. Simon Langton, now with Hull, again lent Herts his soft hands and strong arm for the weekend.

I should also make honourable mention of my Herts Eagles team-mates, who did us proud with their performances on Saturday. Duncan Hoyle and Tom Kosak scored our first runs in both Saturday games, and hit well against higher league pitchers. Hopefully that will boost their confidence for the stretch run in Single-A.

Attention at the club now returns to the serious business of qualifying for playoffs, and hopefully securing a national title. This sun-soaked experience in south London — this small-time equivalent of the All Star break — could be the springboard for even better things.

 

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts add two American outfielders

J.P. Prouty with the Grinnell Pioneers

With big games coming up this weekend, Herts have confirmed that they have added two players to their roster.

J.P. Prouty is a 25-year-old outfielder. He comes from Stilwell, Kansas. The 6’1” tall right-handed batter has played at the college level in America for several seasons with Grinnell College alongside Herts Falcons pitcher and infielder, Robbie Unsell. His stats with Grinnell College are shown below.

Also joining is Matt Bucher, who played high school baseball at Marquette Catholic High School and is currently a history/business teacher and the head American Football and junior varsity baseball coach at Marquette Catholic.

Both players have been registered in time for this Sunday’s league games.
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J.P. Prouty statistics with Grinnell College Baseball

Year Avg. GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI Slg% OB%
2007 0.286 22 56 9 16 0 1 0 6 0.321 0.328
2008 0.292 33 113 16 33 5 0 0 16 0.336 0.346
2009 0.302 29 96 21 29 4 1 1 16 0.396 0.382
2010 0.243 14 37 3 9 1 0 0 2 0.27 0.282
Totals 0.288 98 302 49 87 10 2 1 40 0.344 0.347
by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Giants end Dodgers’ winning streak

The U11 series between the Herts Giants and the Herts Dodgers is now tied after the Giants secured a convincing 15-6 win on Saturday. Before the game the Herts Dodgers were on a 3-game winning streak threatening to take the series beyond the Giants but this win has blown the contest wide open.

Nicholas Durer (4-5), Josh Jones (4-5), James Dullea (3-4) and Lewis Auchterlounie (2-3) stood out with a multi-hit game, but in fact the Giants performed with the bat from the top to the bottom of the batting lineup outhitting the Dodgers 17-10.

Halfwway through the game the Haines family gave both teams a treat with ice-cream for everyone and that seemed to give the Dodgers the boost they needed, but it wasn’t enough to get back into the game.

U11 Series: Herts Giants 15 Herts Dodgers 6 (click to view box scores)

With the start of the school holidays the U11 series will be taking a break over the next few weeks, but it is perfectly poised for a climactic U11 championship decider when the players return from the holidays.

 

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts pick up Tournament Bronze Cup. Attention firmly on upcoming league games.

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Herts players prepare to face the Midlands All Stars (photo by Rob Jones)

Similar to the All-Star Week in America, British clubs had their traditional midsummer break at the weekend taking part in the International London Tournament. Herts was represented at the event by a team made up of players from its various squads of the four tiers of the British baseball leagues. They had a difficult start losing their first two games to the Milton Keynes Bucks and the Midlands All Stars. Herts bounced back on Sunday with wins over the Milton Keynes Coyotes and the South London Pirates to claim the Tournament’s Bronze Cup. Sunday’s games saw Herts Falcons pitcher, Darrin Ward, hit two homeruns.

Tom Everex-Armstrong was one of many Herts players who wore the Great Britain National Team jerseys this weekend (photo by Rob Jones)

The various Great Britain National Baseball Teams, from Under-16 to Under-23, were also involved and they featured a large number of Herts players.

The focus now turns back on the all important league games as we enter the final 6 weeks of the regular season which will determine who will play in the postseason playoffs to decide the national champions in the four senior and two youth league tiers.

The Herts Falcons will host the Lakenheath Diamondbacks this Sunday, 21 July, in a doubleheader. They cannot afford to slip up. Anything less than two wins and the chasing London Mets and Southampton Mustangs could leap over them into first place. The game starts at 12:00 at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead (free admission).

On the same day the Herts Ravens will face the Triple-A League-leaders, London Metros. This game will also start at 12:00pm at Grovehill Ballpark.

The Herts Hawks currently occupy the last playoff spot in the Double-A league, which is the third league tier of British Baseball. This Sunday they will travel to Richmond to face the Dragons, who are just outside the playoff zone and will see this as their golden opportunity to overtake the Herts Hawks. The Herts Raptors and Herts Eagles travel to Guildford and Essex, respectively, in the Single-A League. The Raptors have already secured a playoff spot, but need to keep their winning run going for a higher playoff seeding.

 

by ChrisJones

The Only Way is Essex

When Herts under-11s played the Essex Redbacks in Richmond a few weeks ago, the two teams contested a pair of closely-fought games. Essex coach Jamie Cairns suggested that we schedule a couple more meetings between the two neighbouring counties. And so, the travelling Herts All-Stars found themselves in Billericay on a glorious, baking-hot Saturday.

I don’t know much about Essex, so I turned to my trusty web browser for some deep background. As a result, I can reveal the following:

  1. Essex boasts the sunniest place in the UK. (This comes as no surprise as I inspected my pink legs on Sunday morning.)
  2. Essex has the largest population of adders in the UK
  3. Stansted Airport in 1983 was the site of the only known theft of Space Shuttle equipment
  4. People in Essex are 38% more likely than anywhere else in Britain to be hit by falling aeroplane parts
  5. The 1974 Paper Lace hit “Billy, Don’t be a Hero” was written in pub near Brentwood, and if you’re over 45 you’ll be humming it for the next three days
  6. Although it might have been more useful to know this before our trip, Essex also has more speed cameras per mile than anywhere else in the world
  7. Essex is the home of the oldest door in England, the longest pier in the world, the driest place in Britain, the world’s first public broadcast, the oldest wooden church in the world, and the longest coastline, the smallest town, the largest village and the oldest town in the UK

So it seems that Essex has plenty to offer, if you’re not Chris Huhne, nervous of snakes or running a space programme.

Game One was scheduled for four innings with Herts as the visiting team. Singles by Lewis Auchterlounie and Lucas Lebrato, and a Nicholas Durer hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Lewis scored on a fielders’ choice with error, and Lucas scored when Josh Jones was also HBP. That was it for Herts, who then took the field with Alex Trautman on the mound. Two quick Ks, but then Essex loaded the bases with a single and a couple of HBPs, before Alex got the third strike-out of the inning. 2-0 Herts.

The second inning was scoreless on both sides, despite singles from Christian Lynch and Lewis. In the third, Alex Trautman and Josh Jones hit singles, both converted into two-base hits with good base running and a fielding error. Joe Gipple hit a line drive single to bring Josh home, and a combination of a single from Alex Jones and a ground rule double from Lewis Auchterlounie brought the third run as Herts took a 5-0 lead. Some good control from Alex Trautman again shut out the Redbacks.

Into the fourth. Nicholas Durer was again hit by a pitch, and some good batting by Alex Trautman, Josh Jones, Joe Gipple and Jonathan Wakelam brought four more runs. Josh Jones then took over as pitcher, and disposed of Essex with a strikeout, a 1-3 groundout and a flyball caught by Lucas Lebrato.

After a break for lunch and plenty of water, it was time for game two. This was a three-inning contest, with Herts now the home team. Josh Jones continued with pitching duties. Essex scored their first run of the day through some good hitting and a couple of fielding errors, and were 1-0 up in the middle of the first. Herts again dominated with the bat, with singles from Joe Gipple and Christian Lynch and doubles from Lucas Lebrato, and Josh Jones.

Christian Lynch now came on to pitch, giving up three hits and three runs as Essex found some form with the bat. In reply, another double from Lewis Auchterlounie started the ball rolling for Herts, followed up with hits for Alex Trautman, Joe Gipple, Jonathan Wakelam, Alex Jones and Nicholas Durer (finally connecting with his bat rather than his chest). Lucas Lebrato fired a big ground rule double to score the maximum fifth run and leave Herts 10-3 ahead.

There it remained as Christian picked up three strike-outs to close out the game.

These were two fairly comprehensive wins for Herts; the difference between the two teams was probably the speed and accuracy of Herts’ pitchers. We are fortunate to have a number of good pitchers on the Herts roster, whose skills have been sharpened over the season in the regular tussles between the Dodgers and the Giants. There were some good performances at the plate, too, particularly from Lewis Auchterlounie, 4-4 in the day (and climbing up the batting averages as a result), Josh Jones (3-3 and 4 RBIs), Joe Gipple (4-5) and Lucas Lebrato who hit two doubles and claimed two RBIs.

Another Dodgers/Giants battle takes place this coming Saturday. This will be followed the following week by a return fixture when the Essex Redbacks come to Hertfordshire. We can’t offer snakes, tumbling aeronautical components or even much in the way of a coastline, but we do provide a warm welcome, quality doughnuts and a stiff northerly wind.

Game Statistics

Season Statistics