Category: Headlines

by AspiDimitrov

RAPTORS IN THE NEWS

After their unforgettable win on Sunday, the Herts Raptors have been hitting the headlines around the country.  Their incredible win away at the league leaders, Braintree, has been described as “the result of the weekend, and one of the results of the season so far” by Matt Smith, author and founder of baseballgb.co.uk.  Read the full article.

Next up for the Raprots is a clash with the leader in the other Pool of the Single-A League.  The Richmond Dragons will be travelling to Grovehill Ballpark on Sunday 18 July with their impressive 9-2 record so far this season.  Can the Herts Raptors shock British Baseball again?

by AspiDimitrov

YANKEES AND RED SOX WIN PITCHING DUELS ON INDEPENDENCE DAY

 

Report by Herts Little League correspondent, Tracey Manning

Herts Little League had a change of day this week by playing on Sunday coinciding with American Independence (4th of July) so a slight change of events. Many people helped with setting up fields and general things to get the day ready. After performing the American National Anthem it was time to play baseball.

HERTS RED SOX vs HERTS CUBS

Red Sox starting pitcher Zack Longboy kept the pace fast and accurate with many strike outs and a very impressive catch to get Cubs slugger, Nick Martinez, out. The rest of the Red Sox team did some very effective base-running. On the mound for the Cubs, Nick Martinez also matched Zack Longboy’s pitching with a string of strikeouts Cubs kept things interesting but lost 2-1.

HERTS CARDINALS vs HERTS YANKEES

Over on the other field Cardinals met the Yankees. First up to pitch for the Cardinals Aki Matsuo kept his cool in what was to be another battle. Kieran Manning catcher for the Cardinals throws to first base it gets back to home and the ball then passes to 3rd base (Kyle Lloyd-Jones) who proceeded to tag out two players from the Yankees making that an amazing triple play. Opening pitcher for the Yankees, Marty Cullen Jr, happily made some well timed strikeouts for his team only one run in the game and this was scored by Aaron Witter from the Yankees so the final score stayed at 1-0 to the Yankees.

After the league games Little Leaguers, families, friends enjoyed barbeques and many other yummy dishes donated by Little League families, while supporting the Herts adult team, the Hawks in their league game against the Richmond Knights.

With lunch settled a family game of softball took place this was a great fun, who cared what the end score was….I do!! because I happened to be on the winning side 9 to the Minute Men and 4 for The Herts Smiles.

 

Majors
Team W L % F A Run +/- GB Streak
Herts Red Sox 6.5 2.5 0.722 41 30 11 – W1
Herts Cardinals 5 4 0.556 39 26 13 1.5 L1
Herts Yankees 4.5 4.5 0.500 39 42 -3 2 W1
Herts Cubs 2 7 0.222 26 47 -21 4.5 L1
Minors
Team W L % F A Run +/- GB Streak
Herts Tornados 1 1 0.500 18 19 -1 – L1
Herts Crocs 1 1 0.500 19 18 1 – W1

 

by AspiDimitrov

RAYS GUNNED DOWN BY RAPTORS

Some things only happen once in a life time. Your national team winning a major tournament, or your favourite team coming top of the league, or for the Raptors who played on Independence Day, being a part of 'THAT' game. Ken Pike reports:

The team travelled away to the top team in the league, the Braintree Rays, with coach Ken Pike urging them to treat it as a training game. As late as the night before, the team were thinking of calling it off because of a lack of players. There were no expectations, and the command was to relax with the pressure off, and to focus on doing what we knew we could do right so that we could take something on for the next game. Funny how these things work out though.

It seemed to do the trick in the first inning with Ken Pike taking the mound. Although the Raptors scored nothing in the first inning, they also only conceded 1 in the bottom of the frame. The second was trickier, with 7 Rays crossing the plate, but no one was surprised or too gutted — the team had been expecting a rocky ride, and to be fair had seen worse innings against worse opponents. Nevertheless, Raptors had 2 back at the start of the inning and another two in the next to keep within touching distance.

As is so often with baseball, one inning made the difference. A crushing 9 runs were scored by a Raptors lineup simply enjoying the nice weather and the friendly opponents, and only 3 came in reply at the bottom of the inning. Suddely they were in the lead, and people started to wonder if something might even come of this. Would the Rays simply turn up the heat? Would fielding errors creep back into the game?

With Pike still pitching to the calming influence of Kal Dimitrov behind the dish, the Raptors team held firm with brilliant catches and throws all round the field. They had hit their groove and were suddenly playing with a serious purpose. From there on til the end of the game — which was closed out for the last 3 innings by Bryan Drummond as Pike took his familiar spot at short –the Rays never once hit more than 3 RBIs in an inning, repeatedly stranding players as the two Raptors' pitchers played with a cool that flew in the face of the 26 degree heat.

So came the last inning. One out came swiftly, but there were now runners on base. A pitch by Bryan Drummond, a crack of the bat, up goes the ball….William Belbin sets himself deep in left field…and the ball sinks into his glove. A quick throw back in and it's in Ken Pike's glove, who looks confused when Tak 'The General' Ashida is screaming “go three, go three”. Then it dawns on him that the runners have all advanced, thinking that it had cleared Belbin in the outfield, and the simple throw to Ashida meant a double play. A moments silence ensued as Drummond looked at Pike and asked…”have we just won?” The response was screaming, jumping and a massive team hug as everyone flooded infield to celebrate.

What a way to break a duck, against the division leaders, and completely down to a rock solid performance from every person on the field. Senna Ashida had to learn fast at second base, a position he had not played before; his father Tak and Ralph Bartholomew gave excellent hitting performances, getting on base more often than not, Simon Elkington was a wall through which balls would not pass at first; Will Belbin taking in 6 catches for outs, and Ken Pike and Bryan Drummond pitching their hearts out and the Hawks' Kal Dimitrov keeping the pitchers calm and being the best possible target; and Matt Johnston playing as the centre field general. There was not one poor performance.

Box score:                                                                                  final
Inning:       1   ¬   2  ¬   3   ¬   4   ¬   5   ¬  6  ¬   7  ¬   8  ¬   9  
Raptors :    0  ¬  2   ¬  2   ¬   9   ¬   2  ¬   3  ¬   1  ¬   1  ¬    2 ¬      22
Rays:         1   ¬  7   ¬  3   ¬   0    ¬  1  ¬   1  ¬   2  ¬   2   ¬  1  ¬      18

by AspiDimitrov

NBL WEEK 12: SURPRISE 9-INNING WINS MARK EXCITING NBL FESTIVAL

This article was first published on www.britishbaseball.org

From NBL special correspondent Simon Fitzjohn

It was a day for surprises, as Croydon toppled Bracknell.  It was a day for teams to emerge from a slump, as Herts pasted Essex.  It was a day for close-run things, as Southampton squeezed Mildenhall.  And it was a day for the London Mets to further stretch their lead in the standings with a win over Richmond.  All eight teams took to the fields at Croydon on July 3 for a National Baseball League bonanza.

Croydon Pirates @ Bracknell Blazers

The story of the day undoubtedly came from the host Pirates, who sneaked by the high-flying Blazers 12-11 in a thriller. Croydon jumped out to a 6-0 lead early on, only for Bracknell to slowly chip away at that lead. The Pirates again surged ahead, taking a 12-9 lead into the bottom of the final inning, with the Blazers scoring twice before their rally came to an end.  Tim Ssali took the win, and also clubbed a home run along with Alex Von Rosenbach. For Bracknell, Mike Cattermole was saddled with the loss. Pirates coach Dave Ward said: “This is a great day for us. Over the past few weeks we have had to try and fight our way back into games but today we took the lead early. It looked like we could still throw it away at the end but we held on. This is very uplifting for us and we know we can compete with the better sides in this league.” Bracknell coach Rob Rance said: “All around it was a bad day at the office. We just did not turn up to play. I do not want to dwell too much on the result as it was an awful performance. But credit Croydon as they played very well and I do not want to take that from them.”

Richmond Flames @ London Mets

The clash of the heavyweights took a late twist as the Mets battled back for a 12-5 win. Trailing 5-0 early on, London chipped away but took until the sixth inning to get back into the contest, where a flurry of runs eased them into the lead. Jason Roberts took the win, his 11th of a magnificent season on the mound. Mets coach Alex Pike said: “It was a tough game. Richmond really came out firing. We kept chipping away but we did not find an answer until late. I am pretty happy with the boys as they did what they had to do to find a way to win.”

Herts Falcons @ Essex Arrows

Herts got things back on track by pounding the Arrows 18-6, backed by strong pitching from Pete Kikel. Richard Chesterton took the loss as Essex were well beaten in a battle between teams looking to kick-start their seasons. Herts’ Aspi Dimitrov said: “It is a real boost for us to get a win like this. We have suffered a bit recently and it has started to weigh on the minds of the players. It is great to get back on the winning trail. Apart from the top couple of teams it is still a tight league and we have to be looking for a play-off spot.”

Mildenhall Bulldogs @ Southampton Mustangs

Another thriller saw Southampton move their season record to 10-10 after a comeback 7-6 win over Mildenhall. The Mustangs grabbed two runs in the bottom of the ninth, erasing a 6-4 deficit and then struck again in the bottom of the tenth as Phil Johnson bunted home Oscar Sierra. Southampton coach Ben Davis said: “It was a really big win for us. Mildenhall had some of their players back that were huge early this season and it was a tough game. We played a really good game – we kept plugging away and we managed to sneak the win.”

by AspiDimitrov

ALL 8 NBL TEAMS HEAD TO CROYDON FOR ANOTHER BASEBALL EXTRAVAGANZA

We are now into the second half of the National Baseball League (NBL) season and the teams are jostling to qualify for the postseason automatically or via the Playoffs. All eight NBL teams are still very much in with a chance to make it to the postseason and this Saturday, 3 July, they all head down to Croydon for the NBL Independence Day Weekend.

This is the second of the NBL Special Events introduced by the British Baseball Federation (BBF) this year and it provides an excellent opportunity to see all of the teams from the country’s top league on the same day and at the same venue. This is also a chance to see a large number of the players who were included in the Great Britain National Team preliminary 40-men roster announced this week as the team prepares for the European Championships in Stuttgart, Germany (23 July to 1 August 2010).

 

 

Jonathan Cramman for the London Mets is one of the many NBL players

who were called up as part of the preliminary

40-men roster  of the Great Britain National Team (photo by www.event-photos.co.uk)

 

LONDON METS (17-2) vs RICHMOND FLAMES (11-6)

First pitch 3:00pm (Main Diamond)

A serious injury to short stop Robbie Unsell meant that Richmond could not complete their game against Bracknell last Sunday. They will be hoping that the swelling on his eye would reduce sufficiently and that he will be given the all clear to return for the Flames in this key game. This is a must-win game for them if they are to stay in the battle for the top two places which would give them automatic qualification to the National Baseball Championship.

 

BRACKNELL BLAZERS (17-2) vs CROYDON PIRATES (5-12)

First pitch 12:00pm (Main Diamond)

Despite being the visitors in this game, the Croydon Pirates will have a significant advantage as they are playing on home soil and can count on their fans’ support. Bracknell know that automatic NBC qualification is not secured yet and they would not want to slip up especially as they are expected to be hit the most out of all the NBL teams during the European Championships with as many as six Blazers included in the preliminary 40-men GB roster and likely to miss key NBL games at the end of the month.

 

 

(photo by www.event-photos.co.uk)

SOUTHAMPTON MUSTANGS (9-11) vs MILDENHALL BULLDOGS (3-12)

First pitch 3:00pm (Diamond 2)

After taking the league by surprise and leading in the NBL Standings in the early weeks of the season, the Mildenhall Bulldogs are suffering from the absence of a large number of their players who are away on military duty. However, they expect their key players to make their return gradually in the coming weeks and they can still reach the playoffs if they can pick up wins against their direct opponents starting with the game against Southampton on Saturday. The Mustangs have been the surprise team in this year’s NBL. A win on Saturday will bring their win-loss percentage back up to .500 and a step closer to securing a Playoff spot.

ESSEX ARROWS (3-14) vs HERTS FALCONS (4-11)

First pitch 12:00pm (Diamond 2)

The Essex Arrows come into the game with momentum on their side. They have won 3 of their last 6 games while the Herts Falcons have not won a game since 5 June 2010. In their last meeting the two teams served up a thriller which the Falcons won 12-11. The game had everything you could ask for, including 4 home runs. The fans who will be coming to this event will be hoping for more of the same. Both teams still have a chance to reach the playoffs but a loss would be a major setback for either team.

For a map and directions to the venue visit the official Croydon Pirates website

Car park spaces will be available on the field behind the Main Diamond. Food and drink will be on sale throughout the day.

 

by AspiDimitrov

BOOST FOR FALCONS AS FISHER FLIES IN FROM AUSTRALIA

The Herts Falcons have had a difficult first half of the 2010 season.  They find themselves with a 4-11 record, but they are still very much in the race for the playoffs.  The Falcons face the Essex Arrows this Saturday at the NBL Independence Day event which will take place in Croydon and ahead of this vital clash they have received a major boost.  Riley Fisher, who moved back to the Australian League after the 2009 season with Herts, is flying in to join up with the Falcons for these crucial weeks of the season.  Fisher was one of the most influential players from last season.  He will reinforce the team's injury-ravaged pitching staff and his ability to play in any position on the field will certainly re-energise the team.

The game against the Essex Arrows starts at 12:00 at Roundshaw Plaing Fields in Croydon this Saturday, 3rd July.  The event also includes three other NBL games so baseball fans will be able to see all eight NBL teams on the same day and at the same venue as we enter the second half of the season and the games start to get that October feel.

by AspiDimitrov

HAWKS STRUGGLES CONTINUE AGAINST NEAR-PERFECT POOLE

On Sunday the 27th June the Herts Hawks travelled to top-of-the-table Poole in search of their first win in three. Instead, the Hawks would suffer a similar fate to that of England’s footballers later on the same day.

Game One had few high points for the Hawks in offense, as they did not register a single hit or walk. Had it not been for a dropped third strike, Poole would have recorded a perfect game against them. The defensive effort was slightly more encouraging. Simon Langton took the mound and in the first inning was able to keep the home team scoreless. The second and third inning, however, proved to be very different, with a grand slam setting Poole’s bats on fire and starting a two inning rally during which Poole would score twelve runs. Young Jesse Reinebold took over pitching duties in the fourth. Having already made some great catches in left field, he pitched well enough to keep Poole to just two more runs. However, it would still be too many, and the game was called on the slaughter rule at 14-0 after just 5 innings.

Game two saw a much better offensive effort from the Hawks. Ilya Dimitrov led off the order with three hits, while the manager Greg Bochan also contributed significantly with two hits and three RBIs. These efforts — added to RBIs from Hunter Devine, Simon Langton, Perrie Sherman and Phil Crooks — helped the Hawks total ten runs, which was a great response to the shutout which had occurred just hours earlier. Unfortunately Poole’s offense was even stronger than it had been in game one. Bochan started the game on the mound, but a tough twelve-run first inning meant that he had to come off half way through the second and Jonathon Reinebold finished off the inning. Jesse Reinebold — who had continued to make great catches in left field — then had to retake the mound for the third, and suffered a tougher time than he had in game one. To finish the game, Perrie Sherman came on to pitch for the fourth and was able to hold a great offense to just three more runs. By the fifth inning Poole had totalled 25 runs and the game was again called after five on the slaughter rule 25-10. This, added to the news of England’s similarly lop-sided score, made for a long journey back to Hemel for the Hawks.

by AspiDimitrov

PRINCE HARRY THROWS OUT FIRST PITCH AT NEW YORK METS GAME

This article first appeared on www.telegraph.co.uk

 

The prince was given the honour usually reserved for presidents, politician and pop stars but did not disgrace himself despite his initial fears.

When asked how he felt before making his way to the pitcher’s mound the 25-year-old royal replied “don’t ask”, then joked “can I have a practice first?”.

 

Pointing towards his private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton he said: “He wants to bat against me.”

The prince appeared a little apprehensive when he finally walked out in front of the crowds and prepared to throw the ball to the catcher at the New York Mets’ Citi Field stadium in the suburb of Queens.

But he received a rapturous welcome from the near capacity audience of around 40,000 people who applauded and cheered as the prince was introduced.

He pointed at the Mets catcher Rod Barajas as if to warn him about the thunderbolt about to come his way.

Harry was wearing the local team’s blue baseball cap and a T-shirt supporting the Walking with the Wounded expedition.

The fundraising trek, which has Harry as its patron, will take a group of injured British servicemen on a gruelling trek to the North Pole next year.

The 25-year-old royal wound up his right hand to deliver the ball to Barajas, who was standing just behind home plate, and as he let go the pitch slammed into the sportsman’s glove and the crowd cheered wildly.

The prince took his cap off and wiped his brow in relief before running down the mound to shake hands with the catcher.

VIDEO: Click here to watch the Prince in action…Nice pitch! Atta boy Harry!

 

by AspiDimitrov

CARDINALS GAIN GROUND ON RED SOX. CUBS END 5-GAME LOSING STREAK

Report from Herts Baseball Little League Correpondent, Tracey Manning

As the sun beats down on the 4th week the Herts Little League gets going to a keen start after a week off. On Field One Cubs versus Cardinals the game started fast. Big hits of the day came from Nick Martinez and Brodie Caress to give the Herts Cubs the lead. Cardinals starting pitcher, Kyle Lloyd-Jones, helped himself out catching a fly ball and was always close to the action. Cubs third baseman, Oliver Durer, made a nice catch and throw to 2nd base, but at the end it wasn’t enough for theCubs, as they continued their losing streak with a final score of 8-3 to the Herts Cardinals.

Over on Field Two the Yankees and Redsox got down to business with the usual zest to take a win from their rivals. It proved to be a pitching duel.  The Yankees took a one-run lead into the bottom of the last inning but the Red Sox had plans of their own and delivered with clutch hits when it really mattered to earn a walk-off win 2-1.

 

In the second games of the day the Herts Cubs faced the Yankees. The struggling Cubs went into the game trying to end a 5-game losing streak.  With new found energy after lunch, they showed a lot of determination and desire to give the Yankees a tough time. Nick Martinez provided the much needed starting pitching for them to shut down the Yankees offence.  Ben Jones came in to close the game in the final inning.  Despite mounting a come back in the final inning to load the bases, the Yankees ended without a run after some amazing fielding by Nick Martinez first throwing out the batter at first base all the way from centerfield and then reaching over the outfield fence for the final out after a big hit from Marty Cullen Jr..  Final score 9-0 to the Cubs.


The finala gam,e of the day was a top of the table clash between the Cardinals and the league leading Redsox. Ozan Martin of the Cardinals hit a couple of big hits whichhe followed with some aggressive base-running. Despite great defensive work by the Red Sox, which included a double-play, the Cardinals came out on top winning 5-0.

After 8 games the Red Sox lead the way, but the chasing pack has closed the gap and the race for the title is hotting up.

Majors
Team W L % F A Run +/- GB Streak
Herts Red Sox 5.5 2.5 0.688 39 29 10               – L1
Herts Cardinals 5 3 0.625 39 25 14            0.5 W2
Herts Yankees 3.5 4.5 0.438 38 42 -4               2 L1
Herts Cubs 2 6 0.250 25 45 -20            3.5 W1
Minors
Team W L % F A Run +/- GB Streak
Herts Tornados 1 1 0.500 18 19 -1              –  L1
Herts Crocs 1 1 0.500 19 18 1              –  W1