Category: Featured

15 April 201216 April 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Southampton end Falcons unbeaten run

Dave Tretheway's bat is hotting up, with a double, triple and driving in 3 runs in Southampton. (photos by British Baseball Magazine more available on their website. Click image to view.)

The Southampton Mustangs brought an end to the Falcons 4-game winning streak, but that setback was only temporary as the team from Herts quickly recovered to win the second game of the double-header.

Before today’s third round of NBL games the Herts Falcons were the only unbeaten team in Britain’s top league, however the Mustangs have proven to very difficult to beat over the last two years. Jordan Farkas started on the mound for Herts and he had another good outing allowing only 1 earned run, 4 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings which would usually be sufficient for a win, all else being equal. However, not all else was equal. The Herts defence had a particularly bad game committing 11 errors allowing 6 unearned runs to score.

The team looked to repair the damage offensively late in the game scoring 4 runs in the last 3 innings, including doubles from Cris Hiche, Liam Green, Dave Tretheway (2RBI) and Ryan Bird (2 RBI) who made his debut in a Herts jersey. That late rally wasn’t enough and the Falcons went down 7-5. Alberto Rodriguez picked up the win for the Mustangs.

Mike Osborn started on the mound in game two looking to make it 3 wins in 3 games on the mound this season. He pitched a complete game allowing only 2 earned runs on 8 hits and 1 walk. The Falcons defence had regained its composure after the nightmare in the first game. The South African duo of Dave Tretheway (3B RBI) and Ryan Bird (2B and 2 RBI) once again delivered big extra-base hits for the team. Jordan Farkas and Kimiyoshi Saionji also contributed with the bats driving in 3 ore runs. The 3 runs scored in the top of the final inning gave the team a little extra insurance for Mike Osborn to complete the game and confirm a 7-3 win for the Falcons.

Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning, felt that the results of both games were fair. “Southampton deserved to win the first game. We deserved to win the second. The wind played a big part causing major problems throughout the game. We made far too many errors in game one. We came back well in the second game and we now have to turn our attention to the next games against the London Mets” said Manning.

The team remains top of the NBL standings. However, they are now neck-and-neck with the reigning Champions, the Harlow Nationals, who swept the Essex Arrows and now have 5 wins and 1 loss, same as the team from Hertfordshire.

15 April 201216 April 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Eagles and Hawks win on Opening Day

GOETZ GOES THE DISTANCE AS HAWKS BEAT DRAGONS

Nic Goetz - dominant on Opening Day versus Richmond Herts Hawks made the best possible start of the season with a convincing win against the Richmond Dragons. They found themselves trailing 4-3 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but they found an extra gear after that.

Starting pitcher Nic Goetz did not allow any more runs putting up zeros on the scoreboard in the remaining 5 innings. He pitched a complete game allowing only 5 hits and struck out 14 Richmond batters. Offensively the Hawks did not have their best day and only Jon Lewys and Kal Dimitrov had multiple hits in the game, but some very aggressive base running meant that once players got on base they were quickly advancing into scoring positions and crossing home plate. Last year Ilya Dimitrov was the Hawks Stolen Base king with 37 steals. Paul Auchterlounie and Nick Russell are already looking to smash that record after taking 4 stolen bases each.

Click to view box scores and play-by-play

Next Sunday, 22 April the Hawks travel South to play against the Croydon Pirates III.

EAGLES MAKE A WINNING RETURN TO THE LEAGUE

Theo Scheepers is expected to play an important role in 2012 as a member of the Eagle spitching rotation

Herts Eagles opened up the 2012 season with a convincing win over the Richmond Dukes. The Eagles’ last game was in September 2010 in the Semi-Final of the AAA National Championships. After an absence last year, the team is back in the A-League this season.

With so many new players featured in the Eagles roster Manager Duncan Hoyle will have the difficult task of building a team from scratch and judging by their performance on Opening Day, they are on the right track already.

Solid defensive play and tight pitching from debutant Reagan Wood and Theo Scheepers restricted the Dukes to just 6 runs. Wood has played for Herts in previous seasons but only in the end-of-season Hunlock Series. It looks like this season he is in for the full season which is good news for Herts.

Offensively Geoff Thomas led the way with 5 runs scored, followed by Senna Ashida and Reagan Wood with 4 runs each. Reagan Wood also starred with 4 RBI and 3 hits, one of which nearly went for a home run, but agonisingly hit the top half of the fence in left field.

The final score was 28-6 and it could have been even more one-sided but the game was called before completion at the request of the Dukes. The Herts Eagles play at home again next Sunday as they welcome the Guildford Mavericks II.

Apart from the positive news on the field of play, there was news coming out of the Eagles clubhouse as well. Manager Duncan Hoyle confirmed that David Ames and Geoff Thomas have been appointed as joint assistant managers of the Eagles for this season.

RAPTORS

The Herts Raptors and London Marauders were the only two teams in the A-League who were not involved on Opening Day. They took the opportunity to have one final Spring Training game before the start of their 2012 campaign next Sunday. The Raptors dominated the game from the start and although this win means nothing in terms of the League standings, this is a good confidence boost for the Raptors and raises expectations. Could 2012 prove to be the year when a Herts team reaches the A-League postseason for the first time? The show begins for them next Sunday at Grovehill Ballpark against the Essex RedBacks III who impressed in the Herts Spring League.

14 April 201216 April 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts youngsters start season with a win. Incredible RedBacks comeback in game two

The British Youth Baseball League season is up and running. Herts welcomed the Forest Glade RedBacks to Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead with the Under-14 and Under-17 teams of both clubs going head-to-head in two doubleheaders.

U17 LEAGUE

In the U17 games Herts started the season with a win after a very impressive offensive display. They had 15 hits over 5 innings with Kyle Lloyd-Jones (4-4), Marty Cullen Jr (3-4), Jonny Compton-Weight (2-3), Liam Green (2-3) and Tom Everex-Armstrong (2-4) each contributing with multiple hits. On the mound Zack Longboy and Liam Green struck out 5 batters each allowing only 3 and 1 earned runs, respectively. Despite being outhit, the RedBacks put up a good fight staying in the game right to end.

Click to view Game 1 Box Scores and play-by-play

In the second game the Herts All Stars continued their offensive assault taking an 8-1 lead after two innings and they seemed in control with starting pitcher Marty Cullen Jr. allowing only 2 hits and no earned runs recording 5 strikeouts over 3 innings. The RedBacks bounced right back with an amazing come back. They scored 9 runs in the next four innings taking advantage of 7 fielding errors by the Herts defence. Going into the final inning Forest Glade had a 10-8 lead. Herts reduced the deficit to 10-9 after Kyle Lloyd-Jones worked a walk and then advanced all the way home thanks to several wild pitches. Jonny Compton-Weight, representing the tying run, also reached base with a walk and quickly made his way to third base, but there were already two outs. The pressure was on Everex-Armstrong to get a hit or to see enough pitches in the hope of inducing another wild pitch from the flame-thrower. At the end the RedBacks pitcher kept his composure ending the game with a strike-out.

The Herts All Stars will be disappointed that they let an 8-1 lead slip away, but Manager Cristobal Hiche felt that the visitors from Essex deserved a lot of credit. “We played two great games with very good hitting from all our players. We need to give a lot of credit to the RedBacks who bounced back and were able to beat us in the second game” said Hiche. He added: “We still need to improve in many areas but I’m very happy with what I saw. I’m looking forward to the next two games”.

Next up for Herts is another home series this time against one of the championship contenders, the Horsham Hornets. First pitch is at 11am.

Click to view Game 2 box scores and play-by-play

U14 LEAGUE

With many of last year’s players moving up to the Under-17 age group, this is expected to be a transitional year for the Herts U14 team. A brand new generation of Herts players will be coming through this year and in the team’s first league game of the year many of the players were aged just 10 or 11. They lost both games of the double-header against the visiting Essex RedBacks U14, but the performance showed that the team has a lot of potential to build a team which will be able to fulfil its potential in the next 2 or 3 years.

The RedBacks took a 5-1 lead in the first inning, but Herts soon caught up with them and just missed out at the end losing 16-10. With the Herts coaches using the game to assess a large number of young prospects the second game proved to be more one-sided but it was still a very productive day for Herts. The Herts coaches now have the difficult task of reducing the size of the squad but this does not mean that the roster for the next game will be final. It is expected that there may be significant movement between the teams and the evaluation and development of players is likely be an ongoing process throughout the whole season.

Manager, Kent Peterson, was very much looking forward to the season ahead after the positive performance against the RedBacks. He said: “Obviously we have some very young players but I saw effort and that is many times at least half the battle.”

Next Saturday there is another home double-header for Herts U14 against London Sports, a team which is new to the BBF leagues.

U11

The Herts U11 teams commence their season next Saturday as teams from London make the 20-minute trip up the M1 to Hemel Hempstead.

10 April 201210 April 2012 by Matt Bell

Youth baseball league season opens this weekend at Grovehill Ballpark

The waiting is over. The boys and girls of summer will get the 2012 youth baseball league season underway this Saturday, 14 April 2012, at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. Players from across Hertfordshire, London and as far as East Anglia will be putting on the Herts jerseys as the race for the championships begins.

The season will open with several mouth-watering match-ups. In the British Under-17 League Herts will start their season against the Harlow Stars at 11am. The Stars will then play against the Forest Glade RedBacks, and the final U17 game will see the Herts All Stars meet the RedBacks in a repeat of the heart-breaking playoff game which Herts lost 11-10 in extra innings last season.

In the Under-14 League Herts welcome the RedBacks’ U14 team. First pitch is at 11am. Both teams reached the National Baseball Championships last year. The RedBacks finished in third place overall while Herts were the runners-up after losing in the final to LYBL. In the second U14 game the RedBacks will face the Bracknell Wildfire and in the third game Bracknell will play the Herts All Stars.

Under-11 League opens up with the Herts Giants and Herts Dodgers playing against the RedBacks U11 team which means that there will be a Herts-versus-RedBacks rivalry in every age group on Opening Day. In total nine teams will be on show with baseball from 11am to 6pm.

As always, at the start of every season, there will be many new faces with free agents joining the League and players moving to a higher age group, so it will be a fascinating opening day.

It will be the first opportunity for the Herts youth teams to play at their home, Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, after the recently announced upgrade funded by BSUK as part of the long-term project to turn it into the best baseball venue in Great Britain.

There isn’t a better way to spend Saturday then at the ballpark enjoying a hot dog and all sort so of other snacks and drinks which will be on offer. The games begin at 11am. Free admission for all.

NEW PLAYERS CAN JOIN AT ANY TIME OF THE YEAR

Many new players have signed up with the teams over the last few weeks and it is not too late for new players to start playing in the League. Herts Baseball club welcomes new members at any point of the season, boys and girls from 6 to 16 years of age, from complete beginners to experienced players. For more details contact Herts Baseball Club.

OPENING DAY SCHEDULE – Saturday, 14 April

DATE	TIME	LEAGUE	VISITING TEAM	HOME TEAM
14-Apr-12	11:00	BBF (U14)	Forest Glade RedBacks	Herts All Stars (U14)
14-Apr-12	16:00	BBF (U14)	Bracknell Wildfire	Herts All Stars (U14)
14-Apr-12	11:00	BBF (U17)	Southern Stars	Herts All Stars (U17)
14-Apr-12	16:00	BBF (U17)	Forest Glade RedBacks	Herts All Stars (U17)
14-Apr-12	11:00	U11	RedBacks (U11)	Herts Giants
14-Apr-12	13:30	U11	RedBacks (U11)	Herts Dodgers

8 April 201210 April 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons continue unbeaten run to extend lead at the top of the NBL

Jake Michels was on fire on Easter Sunday. (photos by British Baseball Magazine more available on their website. Click image to view.)

When the schedule was first announced, coach Lee Manning had highlighted the 2nd week matchup against the Essex Arrows. It would be the first time that Herts would face the former Falcon great Darrin Ward. Ward had been an integral part of the Falcons roster over the past few seasons and led them in almost every offensive and pitching category in 2011.

Darrin Ward’s first start against his old team would be short lived as the Herts Falcons exploded for 8 runs in the first three innings. Ward would be relieved by former Falcon prospect Mario Escobedo who gave up another 7 runs. The top of the Falcons order gave Essex trouble all afternoon. Jake Michels had 2 triples, a double 4 runs and 5 RBI on the day. Hitting behind Jake was heavy hitting Dave Trethway who seemed to also find his swing as he had 2 doubles, 1 triple and 6 RBI.

The Chilean speedster Chris Hiche sparked the Falcons offence with 4 runs and 5 stolen bases. Coach Lee Manning was very pleased to see his new additions dominate at the plate on Easter Sunday. Game one starter Jordan Farkas picked up his 2nd win of the season as the Falcons disposed of the Arrows in a 15-7 rout.

Essex came out in game two with something to prove and put up four quick runs off of Michael Osborn who was battling a stomach virus all day. The first inning would be the last time that Essex would score.

The resilient Falcons quickly responded to score in the second, third and fourth inning. After the rough first inning, Osborn settled in and would only allow one more hit the rest of the way as he earned his second win on the hill.

Mike Osborn picked up his second win of the season. (photos by British Baseball Magazine more available on their website. Click image to view.)

In the first two weeks of the season the Falcons have showed a lot of heart; they now have two come from behind victories. In game two the Falcons left side of the infield flashed the leather, Mike Cattermole and Jake Michels made several stellar defensive plays to keep the Arrows at bay. Lee Manning and Liam Green shared the catching duties and provided strong backstops for the pitchers.

After the games coach Manning said, “We felt we deserved the wins today. The team played good baseball and we are very pleased with the start we have made this season. We are still missing several players, some on the DL, but the roster we put together this winter will gradually be coming together over the next few weeks and hopefully we will be at full strength very soon. Great start but we have to keep our feet on the ground and focus on our next game which will be a difficult one at Southampton next Sunday“

8 April 20129 April 2012 by Matt Bell

Cambridge and Guildford win HSL Championships

The Cambridge Royals won the HSL AAA Championship while the Guildford Mavericks are the HSL AA Champions as spring training ended for minor league teams and they prepare for the show to begin next weekend.

HSL – AAA

Sunday’s HSL schedule was revised slightly due to the London Mets (U17) absence. The key clash of the day was the game between the two unbeaten teams Cambridge Royals and Essex RedBacks. Four pitches into the game and the RedBacks starting pitcher pulled a groin muscle. He suffered the same injury in the previous weekend of the HSL so this is a major blow for the Redbacks ahead of the new season. The Royals took advantage and won the game 10-2. They did lose their second game of the day against the Herts Hawks 13-1. Hawks pitcher Nic Goetz picking up the win with a strong performance in that game. Despite the loss the Royals knew that they had clinched the HSL AAA title regardless of the score in the other games involving the RedBacks and MK Bucks as they had beaten both teams and in the event of a tie in the standings the Royals would be the winners on their head-to-head record.

The RedBacks won their game against MK Bucks in what turned out to be a game to determine the runner-up of the HSL AAA. Rich Chesterton was the winning pitcher for the team from Essex.

The Sidewinders were winless so far this Spring and despite having a shortage of players on the day they did have enough quality to win both their games to climb up two places in the table. They ended the day with an exciting 6-5 win against the MK Bucks. Tadaki Junior was the starting pitcher picking up the win while Tadaki Senior picked up the save restraining a last-inning rally by the Bucks.

HSL – AA

On Saturday the Guildford Mavericks clashed with the Essex RedBacks II in the HSL AA Final. Both teams stayed unbeaten in the group stage but it was Guildford who came out on top 13-5. In the 3rd and 4th Place game the Kent Mariners dominated against the Herts Raptors winning convincingly 28-10. The second team from Guildford also had a good day beating the London Marauders 13-8. The GB cadets secured 7th place finish with a big win against the Herts Eagles who were missing some key players like starting pitcher Theo Scheepers, Oz Kemal, Will Belbin, among others.

THE SHOW BEGINS

This year’s HSL has proven to be a big success. A record 20 teams took part and with support from very high quality umpires and great venues in Herts and Guildford this felt more like the postseason National Baseball Championships than Spring Training.

Herts Baseball Club President, Aspi Dimitrov said: “We have had fantastic feedback from participating teams, players, coaches and fans” and he added that “the HSL has become a very enjoyable and productive competition in the British Baseball calendar and the best way to prepare for the start of a new season.”

With Spring Training completed all eyes will now turn towards next Sunday’s opening day games of the 2012 season with NBL, AAA, AA and A League teams all in action across the country.

Click to view 2012 HSL Scoreboard

Click to view 2012 HSL Final Standings

5 April 20126 April 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

VIDEO: Herts ScoreCentre – NBL Opening Day and HSL Roundup

Ken Pike presents a roundup of the third week of games in the 2012 Herts Spring League and of course post-match details form the NBL Opening Game of the season between the Herts Falcons and the Bracknell Blazers. The programme was first shown on Herts Baseball TV.

4 April 20125 April 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Sights of 2012 Opening Day

Over the last few weeks visitors of hertsbaseball.com have been enjoying the wonderful images of baseball games at Grovehill Ballpark. Many of them have been courtesy of photographer Jim Garnett.

Garnett has been a professional photographer since 1985 with the Toronto Sun (1985 – 2010) covering the Toronto Blue Jays at their SkyDome ballpark. In that time he received five ‘News Photograph of the Year’ awards. Covered the war in the former Yugoslavia for the Toronto Sun during 1995. Pictures published in ‘Time’ magazine, Canadian Business, Canadian Yachting, Macleans magazine and many other newspapers, magazines and web sites. He has also freelanced for the Sun [London], the Daily Express, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Telegraph. Garnett has also worked as a professional television cameraman for CBC, CTV, Global Television and Entertainment Tonight. He shot the Canadian ‘Little League’ 2010 Championship series in Ancaster, Ontario for CTV Sports British Columbia.

This year Garnett started a project covering British Baseball and the National Baseball League in particular. Apart from appearing in various regional and national newspapers, his images will appear regularly in the British Baseball Magazine – a weekly online blog-based photo-oriented publication focusing on the British Baseball Federation’s National Baseball League during the regular season.

Below you will see some of the images from the 2012 NBL Opening Game between the Herts Falcons and the Bracknell Blazers. Many more photos from the day are available here.

4 April 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons place Prasad on the DL

One significant absentee from the Herts Falcons lineup in the NBL Opening Game against Bracknell on Sunday was 2011 Falcons MVP, Mahendra Prasad.

The Sri Lanka National Team player sustained a knee injury in the Spring Training game playing for the Sri Lanka All Stars at Grovehill Ballpark on March 4. Later in that month he played in the HSL games for the Falcons but it appears that he returned to the team too quickly and aggravated the injury.

Prasad is one of the fastest players in the NBL and it would be interesting to see whether he, Cristobal Hiche or Robbie Unsell will be the leadoff batters in the Falcons line up when Prasad recovers from this leg injury and Unsell arrives from America for his Herts debut. Prasad is expected to miss Sunday’s top of the table clash with local rivals, Essex Arrows.

Everyone connected with Herts is hoping for Prasad’s speedy recovery.

1 April 20124 April 2012 by Herts Baseball News Editor

HSL ROUNDUP: Week 2 of the AAA and AA Divisions

View over the new diamond at Grovehill Ballpark as the new BSUK-funded installations start to take shape

HSL AAA

The Cambridge Royals are in pole position in the HSL AAA division after taking a win from one of the favourites, the MK Bucks. This was built as a major clash and the two teams didn’t disappoint producing a classic with the Royals coming out on top 4-2.

Joining Cambridge at the top of the standings with a 100% record are the Essex RedBacks. They made it two wins out of two with a win against the Sidewinders and the star of the show was Franklin ‘Chicki’ Martinez with back-to-back home runs on the old diamond at Grovehill Ballpark. The first was a 3-run blast over the right centerfield wall coming in the third inning and he followed it up with a 2-run home run in the fourth inning. It would take something very special to beat Martinez for MVP of the HSL.

The London Mets U17 felt they could have done better in week one against the Bucks, and they seemed determined to make that point with a convincing win against the Herts Hawks which puts them back in the hunt for the HSL AAA title.

The final round of games in the HSL AAA will all take place at Grovehill Ballpark on Sunday, 8 April. The day features a wild schedule with each team playing 3 games, so every team is mathematically still able to clinch the HSL AAA Championship.

HSL AA

In the HSL AA the Guildford Mavericks and the Essex RedBacks II find themselves at the top of the standings, both maintaining an unbeaten record with two more wins for both teams this week. They will meet in the HSL AA Final on Saturday, 7 April, at Grovehill Ballpark, to determine the 2012 HSL AA Champions. First pitch is at 11am.

The Kent Mariners and the Herts Raptors had a disappointing first week unable to pick up a win, but they certainly made up for that this week with two wins which push them right up the table into third and fourth place, respectively, and they will face each other in the Bronze Medal game on the same day at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, starting at 14:30.

The London Marauders just missed out on the Bronze medal game after losing to the Raptors in the final game on Saturday, which meant that they finish in fifth place, one below the Raptors. This was despite both teams having identical records of 2 wins and 2 losses each. The tie-break rule was applied pushing the Raptors above the Marauders as they won in the head-to-head clash. The Marauders will meet Guildford Mavericks II in the game for the 5th place in the final standings.

The game to decide the 7th and 8th place in the overall standings will be between Herts Eagles and the GB Cadets.

Full HSL Scoreboard and Schedule

HSL Standings