Category: Headlines

by AspiDimitrov

(AUDIO) BBC RADIO COVERAGE OF BRITISH BASEBALL

On Thursday, 6 August 2009, BBC London Radio 94.9FM aired a programme covering British Baseball.  Host Nick Godwin and guests representing all London-based teams from the NBL and AAA League who have qualified for the 2009 postseason discussed topics from the upcoming National Baseball Championship, staging an official MLB game in the UK as well as other issues facing British Baseball at the moment.

Among the special guests were Richmond General Manager and BBF Secretary, John Walmsley, London Mets President, Neil Warne, Bracknell Blazers President, Mark Salter, Essex Arrows President, David Shaer and Herts Falcons Manager, Jason Greenberg.

Click below to hear the programme in full.

 

by AspiDimitrov

YANKEES ARE CHAMPIONS AFTER REMARKABLE COME FROM BEHIND WIN

The Herts Yankees came back from the dead to become Herts Baseball Little League Champions for a second year in a row.  Trailing 4-0 going into the sixth inning they pulled off an amazing come back to beat the Blue Jays 6-4.

 

The Yankees may have finished ahead of everyone else in the regular season, but going into the Final, the Blue Jays were the team with all the momentum.  They were the hottest team in the league winning 5 out of their last 6 games and an upset was on the cards.  Yankees’ starter, Marty Cullen Jr, got the game under way retiring the first three batters in order.  Starting for the Blue Jays was Nickolas Martinez who responded with 3 strikeouts in the bottom of the first. 

 

In the top of the second the Blue Jays opened the score when Kieran Manning tripled and was driven in by Storm Frisby.  Frisby was one of the outstanding performers of the day with two clutch hits driving in two key runs for the Jays.  Lewis Paterson (2-4), Zack Longboy (2-4), Kieran Manning (2-3) and Jake Strange (1-2) were the other big hitters as the Blue Jays took a 4-0 lead. 

 

At the same time Martinez was putting up zeros inning-after-inning.  He pitched 5 scoreless innings striking out 10 and allowing only 1 hit – an absolutely amazing performance under pressure.

 

The Yankees were struggling to put together any kind of offensive threat but they were taking Martinez deep into the count.  By the end of the 5th he had thrown 76 pitches (51 strikes – 25 balls) and had to be taken out of the game.

 

The Yankees were running out of time trailing 4-0 and needing a miracle.  But they came out swinging their bats hard in the bottom of the sixth.  A combination of walks and timely hits produced the most incredible of come backs.  Both Declan Carlean and Lewis Green hit RBI singles and Robert Binns delivered the knockout punch with a triple to drive in 2 more runs.  The Yankees scored 6 runs in that inning.  This meant that the Blue Jays needed to score 2 in the 7th and final inning to stay in the game.  All the pressure was on Yankees’ pitcher Marty Cullen and he kept his nerve closing the game in style with a groundout and 2 strikeouts.  Yankees Centerfielder, Lewis Green was voted as the MVP of the 2009 Championship Game.

 

After the game Blue Jays’ Managers, Arnie Longboy and Jeff Witter, had a message for their players: ”It has been a pleasure working with such a dedicated group of players.  All season the players have worked so hard and it has been very satisfying to see them grow as players”. 

 

That was a heartbreaking loss for the Blue Jays, many of whom were in tears after the game.  In every game there must be winners and losers but in this case both teams can be very proud of themselves.  They produced a thrilling baseball game of the highest quality for the fans who had packed the spectator areas at Grovehill Ballpark.  They certainly showed that the future is bright for Herts Baseball Club.

 

Herts Yankees Manager, Marty Cullen, said:  “I may have been acting as the stand-in Yankees Manager today, but as the Commissioner of the Herts Little League, I feel that this is more than just about the Yankees winning the title.  All the teams deserve credit and now that the Herts Little League season has ended it is time for all of our Herts Little League players to turn their attention to the upcoming National Championship, which is an opportunity for our club to show what Herts is about to the rest of Britain.”

 

Red Sox survive Cubs’ late rally to win Bronze (Read more).

 

More images from the Herts Baseball Little League Finals.

 

Herts Blue Jays at Herts Yankees
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Herts Blue Jays 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 4 9 3
Herts Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 6 4 3

Herts Yankees 6, Herts Blue Jays 4
Herts Yankees Herts Blue Jays
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Lewis Green cf 4 1 1 1 Aaron Witter 2b 4 0 0 0
Dan Phillips 2b 3 0 0 0 Zachary Longboy ss-p 4 0 2 0
Marty Cullen Jr p 3 0 1 0 Nickolas Martinez p-ss 4 0 0 0
Jamie Paterson ss 2 1 0 0 Lewis Paterson 1b 4 1 2 0
Charlie Mayhew 1b 2 0 0 0 Kieran Manning c 3 2 2 1
Carlos Casal Jr c 1 1 0 0 George Beatty 3b 3 0 0 0
Alex Ringrose 3b 3 1 0 1 Storm Frisby lf 4 0 2 2
Robert Binns rf 3 1 1 2 Stella Dixon cf 3 1 0 0
Declan Carlean lf 2 1 1 1 Jacob Strange rf 2 0 1 0
TEAM TOTALS 23 6 4 5 TEAM TOTALS 31 4 9 3

E: Marty Cullen Jr, Jamie Paterson, Carlos Casal Jr, Lewis Paterson, George Beatty,
Stella Dixon. DP: Herts Yankees 1. LOB: Herts Yankees 5, Herts Blue Jays 9. 2B: Marty
Cullen Jr, Lewis Paterson, Kieran Manning, Zachary Longboy. 3B: Robert Binns, Kieran
Manning.

Herts Yankees IP H R ER BB SO
Marty Cullen Jr W 7.00 9 4 3 2 9
Herts Blue Jays            
Nickolas Martinez 5.00 1 0 0 2 10
Zachary Longboy L 1.00 3 6 5 3 1

HBP: by Marty Cullen Jr (Kieran Manning). . . T: 1:55. A: 89.

by AspiDimitrov

RED SOX SURVIVE CUBS’ LATE RALLY TO WIN BRONZE

In a day of incredible come backs, the Cubs almost pulled off a classic come-from-behind win of their own.  Their brave effort came just short as they went down 6-5 to the Red Sox in the Bronze Medal Game.

 

During the regular season the two teams were very equally-matched having won 3 games each, so this was their seventh meeting of the season and was the equivalent of a sudden-death Game 7 in a best-of-7 series.

 

The Sox jumped in front 5-0 in the first inning.  4 of those runs came after 2 RBI doubles from both Liam Green and rookie Mariana Casal playing only her third game in the Little League.  The Cubs were refusing to throw in the towel, and started chipping away at the Red Sox’ lead.  Keanu Wood (1-1) and Eddie Smith (0-1) may have been the youngest members of the Cubs, but they delivered giant blows driving in 3 runs.  That brought the Cubs to within 3 runs going into the final inning.

 

Red Sox starting pitcher, Carlos Casal Jr, had allowed only 2 hits up to that point, but in the final inning the Cubs managed to find other ways to get on base.  Aggressive base-running forced the Red Sox to commit several errors which allowed 2 runs in and made the score 6-5.  The Cubs’ were somehow staying alive with two outs.  They even managed to put the tying run in scoring position, but their luck ran out right at the end.  The Red Sox held on to clinch the bronze medal sparking wild celebrations with champagne cork flying high up in the air.  Even the Cubs joined in the celebrations with both teams ending up completely drenched.

 

Red Sox Catcher, Michael Davis, was voted as the MVP of the 2009 Bronze Medal Game.

 

Red Sox Managers, Nick White and Carlos Casal, praised their players: “Everyone worked as a team and that’s how baseball games are won”.  Kal Dimitrov, standing in as Cubs Manager for Atso Ariga, was positive despite the defeat: “The Cubs should be very proud.  They have had a fantastic season and showed great resilience fighting right to the end.”

 

Yankees are Champions After Remarkable Come From Behind Win (Read more)

 

More images from the Herts Baseball Little League Finals.

 

Herts Cubs at Herts Red Sox
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 R H E
Herts Cubs 0 1 2 2 5 2 2
Herts Red Sox 5 1 0 0 6 3 1

Herts Red Sox 6, Herts Cubs 5
Herts Red Sox Herts Cubs
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Adam White 2b 1 1 0 0 Nicolas Carlean cf 3 0 0 0
Michael Davis c 0 1 0 1 Drew Mayhew 1b 1 2 0 0
Carlos Casal Jr p 1 1 0 0 Alex Ringrose p 1 2 0 0
Liam Green 1b 2 1 2 2 Adam Smith c 2 1 0 0
Theo Longboy 3b 1 1 0 0 Declan Carlean ss 3 0 1 0
Connor Caffrey ss 0 0 0 0 Mitchell Procter 2b 1 0 0 0
Mariana Casal rf 2 0 1 2 Eddie Smith lf 1 0 0 1
Jacob Strange lf 0 1 0 0 Keanu Wood 3b 1 0 1 2
Alexander Deacon cf 2 0 0 0 Bai Frisby rf 2 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 9 6 3 5 TEAM TOTALS 15 5 2 3

E: Carlos Casal Jr, Drew Mayhew, Declan Carlean. LOB: Herts Red Sox 8, Herts Cubs 8.
2B: Liam Green, Mariana Casal, Declan Carlean.

Herts Red Sox IP H R ER BB SO
Carlos Casal Jr W 4.00 2 5 3 8 6
Herts Cubs            
Alex Ringrose L 1.33 3 6 4 9 3

HBP: by Carlos Casal Jr (Keanu Wood). , by Carlos Casal Jr (Alex Ringrose). T: 1:35.
A: 89.

by AspiDimitrov

FALCONS SLIDE CONTINUES, DROP TWO TO METS

Report from BBF Correspondent Simon Fitzjohn:

The London Mets kept up their relentless pace atop the NBL standings, but were made to work hard by the Herts Falcons in an entertaining doubleheader. London emerged victorious by scores of 7-2 and 4-3. Reed Wilson was the hero in game one, pitching another dominating game to frustrate the Herts hitters. Game two was much tighter though, with the Mets needing two passed balls, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to rally from a 3-2 deficit.

The Mets' Alex Pike said: “Reed pitched to perfection in the first game and I cannot ask for more than that. Game two was far closer but we still came through. Pressure means nothing to these guys and they always find a way to win. We are going to be missing quite a few of these guys in the play-offs so we need to try out a few new faces, but they are stepping up well.”

For Herts' manager Jason Greenberg it was a case of what might have been. He said: “In the first game we came up with only one hit, so no surprises in the result there. Game two we could have won and we are very disappointed. Even so I am very pleased that it was a game against the Mets that we controlled from the first inning. The day is getting closer where we beat this team and it is not considered an upset.”

More images from the Falcons' visit to the London Mets

GAME ONE

Herts Falcons at London Mets
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Herts Falcons 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 3
London Mets 1 0 2 0 1 3 0 7 6 2

London Mets 7, Herts Falcons 2
London Mets Herts Falcons
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Player 1 3b 3 1 0 0 Luis Goncalves ss 4 0 0 0
Player 2 ss 3 2 0 0 Kimiyoshi Saionji 2b 2 0 0 0
Player 3 lf 3 1 0 0 Lin Yuchih 3b 2 0 0 0
Player 4 c 4 1 1 4 Darrin Ward 1b 3 0 0 0
Player 5 dh 4 0 1 1 Jason Greenberg c 3 0 1 0
Player 6 1b 2 0 1 1 Dan Kerry lf 3 1 0 0
(t7) Sub 1 1b 0 0 0 0 Aspi Dimitrov rf 1 0 0 0
Player 7 cf 3 0 0 0 (t7) Carlos Casal rf 1 1 0 0
Player 8 2b 3 1 3 0 Nick Goetz p 2 0 0 0
(t7) Sub 4 2b 0 0 0 0 (t7) Lee Manning p 0 0 0 0
Player 9 rf 2 1 0 0 Jamie Munn cf 3 0 0 0
(t7) Sub 6 rf 0 0 0 0
Sub 16 p 0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 27 7 6 6 TEAM TOTALS 24 2 1 0

E: Player 2, Sub 16, Lin Yuchih(2), Aspi Dimitrov. LOB: Herts Falcons 5, London Mets
7. 2B: Player 4, Player 5, Player 6, Player 8. SB: Player 2(3), Player 3, Player 1,
Carlos Casal.

London Mets IP H R ER BB SO
Sub 16 W 7.00 1 2 0 3 9
Herts Falcons            
Nick Goetz L 6.00 6 7 2 3 1

HBP: by Nick Goetz (Player 2). . . . . , by Sub 16 (Kimiyoshi Saionji), by Nick Goetz
(Player 9). . WP: Sub 16. PB: Player 4(4), Jason Greenberg. T: 1:45. A: 97.


GAME TWO

Herts ALL at Template Team
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Herts ALL 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 3 3
Template Team 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 4 5 3

Template Team 4, Herts ALL 3
Template Team Herts ALL
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Player 1 ss 3 1 2 1 Luis Goncalves ss 3 1 1 1
Player 2 lf-2b 3 1 1 2 Kimiyoshi Saionji rf 4 0 0 0
Player 3 3b 2 0 0 0 Lin Yuchih 1b 3 0 0 0
(b4) Sub 4 3b 1 0 0 0 Darrin Ward p 3 0 0 0
Player 4 dh 2 0 0 1 Dan Kerry cf 3 0 0 0
Player 5 cf 3 0 1 0 Lee Manning c 2 1 0 0
Player 6 c 3 0 0 0 Carlos Casal 2b 3 1 2 0
(t7) Sub 6 lf 0 0 0 0 Nick Goetz 3b 2 0 0 0
Player 7 2b 1 0 0 0 Jamie Munn rf 3 0 0 0
(b5) Sub 1 2b-c 1 0 0 0
Player 8 rf 1 1 0 0
(b5) Sub 2 rf 1 0 0 0
Player 9 1b 2 1 1 0
Sub 16 p 0 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 23 4 5 4 TEAM TOTALS 26 3 3 1

E: Player 1(2), Player 3, Luis Goncalves, Carlos Casal, Nick Goetz. DP: Herts ALL 2.
LOB: Template Team 2, Herts ALL 6. 2B: Player 1, Player 5. SB: Player 2, Luis
Goncalves(2), Carlos Casal, Lee Manning. SF: Player 4.

Template Team IP H R ER BB SO
Sub 16 W 7.00 3 3 0 4 5
Herts ALL            
Darrin Ward L 6.00 5 4 3 0 0

WP: Sub 16(2). PB: Player 6(3), Lee Manning(2). T: 15:15. A: 98.

by AspiDimitrov

RAPTORS GRILL MARAUDERS

Report from Herts Baseball Newswire Correspondent, JON GAMBLE

 

The Herts Raptors travelled to Finsbury Park on a grey Sunday afternoon with hopes of edging their way closer to the season play-offs. For the London Marauders it has been a long season as they went into the game still without a single win. The barbecue sizzles in the background.

 

The Herts team came out of the pits firing on all cylinders. Nippy base-stealing and a willingness to take advantage of some erratic pitching  quickly put four runs on the board. The Marauders were unable to respond as sharp fielding by the Raptors – including their first double-play of the day – made short work of the early London batting order. Perrie Sherman, returning from international pitching duties in Belgium, was looking at home in the catcher's box.

 

The Raptors made the most of some not-so-sharp fielding errors to add a further four runs in the top of the second. However, debut pitcher Jeff Witter appeared to take a liking to his new job for the Raptors – restricting the Marauders to only one run in reply.

 

The top of the third inning turned into a walkfest for the Raptors as a combination of sound hitting, wild pitching and aggressive base stealing piled on the runs. Someone famously said that there is no defence against a walk. For the London Marauders this was the hard lesson of the day. The Raptors base-stealing operation was working like a high-octane machine but uncontrolled pitching was also making it too easy to get batters round.

 

By the end of the decisive third inning, the Marauders have been grilled to order – as the Raptors lead stretches to 20-2. The Marauders were never able to get a serious rally going. This was largely the result of the disciplined pitching performance of Jeff Witter backed up by a very tidy fielding display from the rest of the Raptors – in which Iwan Evans, Andrew Slater and Paul Curtis should all get special mention. The Raptors improvement in the fielding department – including another crisp double play in the bottom of the fourth – was the hallmark of the game.

 

Of the three contests between these two sides this season, this was the most one-sided. The London Marauders are a genial side who play the game in the proper spirit, while the hospitality at Finsbury Park sets the standard for convivial sportsmanship. For the Marauders the road to baseball success surely lies through solving the pitching riddle. It is a puzzle that the Raptors have also struggled with throughout the season. Jeff Witter's economical performance on Sunday suggest that they have gone a some way towards solving it.

 

 

Herts Raptors at London Marauders
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Herts Raptors 4 4 12 0 0 3 1 24 8 2
London Marauders 0 1 1 0 3 0 1 6 4 5

Herts Raptors 24, London Marauders 6
Herts Raptors London Marauders
  ab r h bi   ab r h bi
Iwan Evans cf 6 5 3 3 Player 1 p 4 1 1 0
Ilya Dimitrov ss 2 4 0 1 Player 2 c 3 2 1 0
Andrew Slater 1b 6 4 2 3 Player 3 1b 1 2 0 0
Jonathon Lewys 3b 3 2 1 2 Player 4 2b 3 0 0 2
Paul Curtis 2b 2 2 1 0 Player 5 3b 2 1 0 0
Perrie Sherman c 2 1 0 2 Player 6 ss 4 0 1 0
Jeff Witter p 5 0 0 1 Player 7 lf 3 0 0 0
Robert Crouch lf 5 3 1 0 Player 8 cf 1 0 1 0
Jon Gamble rf 1 3 0 0 Player 9 rf 3 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 32 24 8 12 TEAM TOTALS 24 6 4 2

E: Paul Curtis, Perrie Sherman, Player 4(2), Player 5(2), Player 6. DP: Herts Raptors
2. LOB: London Marauders 6, Herts Raptors 12. 2B: Iwan Evans, Player 6. SB: Andrew
Slater(4), Jonathon Lewys(4), Ilya Dimitrov(4), Iwan Evans(3), Robert Crouch(3), Paul
Curtis(2), Perrie Sherman, Player 3(4), Player 5(3), Player 2(3), Player 1(2). SF:
Jonathon Lewys, Player 4.

Herts Raptors IP H R ER BB SO
Jeff Witter W 7.00 4 6 3 9 5
London Marauders            
Player 1 L 7.00 8 24 9 23 5

HBP: by Player 1 (Ilya Dimitrov). . , by Player 1 (Jon Gamble). . . . WP: Jeff
Witter(3), Player 1(9). PB: Player 2(7). T: 3:15. A: 98.

by AspiDimitrov

WOLFHOUNDS TAMED BY HERTS ALL STARS

The Herts Little League All Stars faced their first ever international competition this past Saturday when they hosted an All Star team from southern Ireland in a 7 inning friendly game at ‘the hill’.

With the Herts Little League only in its 2nd season, the question on everyone’s lips was, “can they compete at a higher level?”

The Herts All Stars answered……………………and answered LOUDLY!

From the first pitch, all pre-game jitters seemed to disappear behind the determined game faces of Herts. Starting pitcher, Marty Cullen Jr retired the first 5 batters via the strikeout and didn’t allow a hit in his 3 innings on the mound recording 8 strikeouts. Pitcher Nick Martinez came in and continued the domination recording 5 strikeouts and no hits in 2 strong innings. Assistant coach Arnie Longboy said after the game, “pitching wins games, and we might have the best one two punch in the British youth system right now”. Relievers Mikito Ariga and Zach Longboy also combined for 3 strong innings allowing only 1 run in the rout providing further evidence of the depth in the Herts bullpen.

At the plate, the Herts bats came alive knocking in 25 runs with every Herts batter reaching base via the hit. Doubles and triples were the flavour of the day against a good Irish pitching staff. Herts batters had a record 14 extra base hits including a monster home run to deep center by newcomer Jamie Dix.

Manager Marty Cullen had this to say after the win, “It’s all about preparation. These kids have worked so hard, and it really showed today. I’m so proud of how they came together as a team. They did everything right. For me, this was a prep game for the BBF championships and I saw exactly what I wanted to see.”

The day itself was a tremendous success as the legendary Herts fans came out in droves, soaking up the atmosphere (as well as a record number of hot dogs and donuts). The Irish Wolfhounds also enjoyed the hospitality displayed by Herts and their supporters despite the tough loss. The Irish Manager said, “All credit to Herts. They put on a great event and they play hard. We would definitely come back.”

Next stop…….the BBF Youth Championships. Do the Herts All Stars have what it takes to bring home the Gold? I’m willing to bet that there are a few teams around the Country nervously asking that same question.

 

View More Images from the first youth international game at Grovehill Ballpark

by AspiDimitrov

BLUE JAYS VS YANKEES IN THE HERTS LITTLE LEAGUE FINAL

FOUR ONE-RUN WINS

The final day of the Herts Baseball Little League did not disappoint producing 4 games which were all decided by 1 run and set up an exciting postseason lineup. 

 

Although the Herts Yankees had already booked their place in the Championship Game, all of the other three teams were in with a chance to clinch second spot and earn the right to face the 2008 Champions in the Final next week.

 

The Blue Jays were in pole position at the start of the day standing one game ahead of the Red Sox, so the matchup between the two was a must win game for the Sox.  It turned out to be a classic with the Herts Red Sox winning 2-1.  This meant that both teams were tied in second position going into the final game of the regular season.

 

On the other diamond, the Cubs found themselves two games back on the second-placed Blue Jays so they needed two wins out of two and hope that the other results go their way.  Despite a courageous effort against the Yankees, their hearts were broken in the final inning when the Yankees came from behind to get the walk-off win.

 

NEEDING A WALK OFF GRAND SLAM

And so it came down to the final games of the regular season.  Blue Jays versus Cubs and Red Sox against the Yankees.  With the Blue Jays having a superior run difference they only had to match what the Red Sox do in the other game to clinch second place.  Both games were on a knife’s edge.

 

The Cubs were out of the race but they almost ruined the day for the Blue Jays, who won it 2-1 but the game could have gone either way.  This put pressure on the Red Sox who were being pegged back by the Yankees.  With news of the Blue Jays’ win filtering through and the Blue Jays players taking their sit on the Yankees side of the field to support them, the Sox needed to win the game by 3 or more runs.  This looked impossible as they were the home team and were trailing so the only way for them to win by 3 runs was to load the bases and then hit a walk-off Grand Slam homerun.  They certainly gave it a go but came just short with the game finishing 9-8 to the Yankees with the bases left loaded.

 

POSTSEASON LINEUP

This sets an exciting final day of the 2009 season.  First the Red Sox and Cubs will face off in the Bronze Medal game, first pitch at 11:30am.  Followed by the Blue Jays and Yankees to decide the 2009 Herts Little League Champions.  Will it be the Herts Yankees (12-4) for a second year in a row, or will the Blue Jays (8-8) cause a major upset by bringing down the team which has dominated the league all year long.

 

View Final Standings of the 2009 Regular Season

 

View More Images from the Final Day of the Regular Season

by AspiDimitrov

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY – HERTS ALL-STARS VS IRISH WOLFHOUNDS

Immediately after this Saturday’s Herts Baseball Little League games, Grovehill Ballpark will host an international matchup. 

 

Visiting from Ireland are the Irish Wolfhounds.  They will go up against a Herts All-Star team.  This will be a very useful game for the Herts All-Stars as they start to prepare for the British Baseball National Championship which will start in August with the playoffs on the way to London for the National Baseball Championship weekend on 12-13 September.

 

The game will start at 2:30pm.  This is a fantastic opportunity to come and support the next generation of Herts baseball while enjoying a hot dog at Grovehill Ballpark.

 

by AspiDimitrov

STATS ATTACK – LITTLE LEAGUE LEADERS

Last Saturday Lewis Paterson hit his third home run of the year and that gives him the lead in the Home Run category, as we go into the final weeks of the 2009 Herts Baseball Little League season.  As the number of league games scored increases it is interesting to see the league leaders in other statistical categories. 

 

BATTING AVERAGE*

Name

Team

Avg

Jamie Paterson

Herts Yankees

        1.000

Bradley Edgar

Herts Blue Jays

        0.750

Marty Cullen Jr

Herts Yankees

        0.750

Stella Dixon

Herts Blue Jays

        0.500

Lewis Paterson

Herts Blue Jays

        0.500

 

Batting Average (Number of Hits (divided by) Number of At Bats) is an indicator of a player’s ability to make good contact with the ball.  In MLB an average of .300 or higher is considered to be outstanding. 

 

SLUGGING %*

Name

Team

Slug

Jamie Paterson

Herts Yankees

            1.250

Lewis Paterson

Herts Blue Jays

            1.250

Marty Cullen Jr

Herts Yankees

            1.000

Zachary Longboy

Herts Blue Jays

            0.800

Bradley Edgar

Herts Blue Jays

            0.750

 

Slugging Average (Number of (Singles + [2 x Doubles] +[ 3 x Triples] + [4 x Home Runs]) divided by At Bats) A players Slugging Average, or Slugging Percentage, is directly defined as total bases per at-bat. To calculate a player's total bases you award a 1 for a single, a 2 for a double, a 3 for a triple, and a 4 for a home run then add them all together. Divide that by the total number of at bats a player has and you can easily determine the overall number of bases a player generally touches during his at bats.  Slugging % is one of the most popular indicators of a player’s ability to hit the ball with power.

 

ON BASE %*

Name

Team

OBA

Jamie Paterson

Herts Yankees

            1.000

Bradley Edgar

Herts Blue Jays

            0.833

Marty Cullen Jr

Herts Yankees

            0.750

Lewis Paterson

Herts Blue Jays

            0.667

Kieran Manning

Herts Blue Jays

            0.667

 

On Base Percentage ((Hits + Walks + Hit-By-Pitch) divided by (At Bats + Walks+ Hit-By-Pitch + Sac Flys)).  The On Base Percentage statistic was originally created to measure the percentage of times a player reaches any base. It is easily one of the most important statistics and it is specifically written with managers in mind.

 

 

It is notable, and probably not surprising, that the top 5 performers in these offensive categories all come from the Herts Yankees and the Herts Blue Jays who currently lead in the league standings.

 

PITCHING (EARNED RUN AVERAGE)*

Name

Team

ERA

Jamie Paterson

Herts Yankees

            0.00 

Liam Green

Herts Cubs

            4.50

Micky Watson

Herts Red Sox

            6.00

Bradley Edgar

Herts Blue Jays

            6.75

Rhys Whitney

Herts Blue Jays

          10.80

 

Experts say that pitching wins ballgames.  The Earned Run Average (ERA) is one of the best pitching indicators.   It shows how many earned runs a pitcher allows on average over 9 innings ((Number of Earned Runs x 9) divided by (Number of Innings Pitched)). 

 

PITCHING (OPPOSITION BATTING %)*

Name

Team

OBA

Liam Green

Herts Cubs

          0.143

Jamie Paterson

Herts Yankees

          0.250

Rhys Whitney

Herts Blue Jays

          0.250

Lewis Green

Herts Yankees

          0.375

Bradley Edgar

Herts Blue Jays

          0.450

 

The Opposition Batting Average simply shows how well opponents bat against that particular pitcher.  The lower the average, the more effective the pitcher.

 

* It is important to note that not all of the Herts Baseball Little League games were scored since the start of the 2009 season and therefore some player performances have not been reflected in the above stats.  The Herts Little League will be aiming to score absolutely every league game in the coming years which would give us fascinating information about player and team performances just like they do it in Major League Baseball (click to view)

by AspiDimitrov

KEEPING SCORE WITH THE HERTS LITTLE LEAGUE

This article by Matt Smith appeared first on www.baseballgb.co.uk

If you turn up at a Herts Little League day and spy some parents glancing at an electronic device, don’t be too hasty in criticising them for not paying attention.  They are probably not checking their e-mails or writing a shopping list.  They are much more likely to be playing an important role in documenting the game.

Official scorers at Little League games are an unfamiliar sight in Britain, but they are the latest example of the forward thinking that has become a hallmark of Herts Baseball Club. 

Adults and Little Leagues working together

The importance of a quality adult league system should not be underestimated in a historically baseball-resistant country.  However, the future of the sport revolves around Little Leagues.  Getting kids playing baseball at a young age is crucial in producing good adult players and coaches, as well as ensuring that future generations are interested in the sport. 

Successful Little Leagues and successful senior set-ups should go hand-in-hand.  That sentiment was at the heart of the decision by Herts to introduce official scorers to Little League games, as Club President Aspi Dimitrov explains.

“Our Club’s Executive Board came to the conclusion that our Youth Programme has to work alongside our Adult Programme.  Although the Herts Baseball Little League has existed only for two years it is gradually catching up with the Adult Programme and is incorporating many of the methods and procedures applied by our adult teams.  Marty Cullen, who is the Herts Little League Commissioner, is also the Manager of one of the Herts adult teams, so he is in a good position to do this”.

“Addicted to stats”

The benefits of keeping score are manifold.  The activity itself makes the games more meaningful as every hit, stolen base and put-out is recorded as an important event.  The consequence of recording all of these details is that they make it possible to produce meaningful statistics: the lifeblood of the sport.

“Stats play a key role for our adult teams when analysing player and team performance.  It also is a fantastic tool for the motivation/self-motivation of players to perform better and to increase their satisfaction from the game.  All of these arguments apply equally to our youth players and teams.

The first thing on the agenda for most of our club members on a Monday morning is to check their box scores from the day before and how their season stats have been affected.  Good game stats for a player on a Sunday can be the difference between joy and misery for the next seven days until the next game.  Our weekly schedules pretty much revolve around baseball stats.  We hope that our youth members will become just as addicted to stats as our adults”.

Scoring in an electronic age

The art of scoring has captivated baseball fans for over a century.  Many an old black-and-white photograph of a Major League crowd shows fans intently scribbling notes down on their scorecard and the tradition continues today.  For most fans and scorers, the traditional method of pencil and paper remains the system of choice, but Herts have decided to go down the electronic route instead and Dimitrov explains that the production of statistics was a key part of this decision.

“In the past we struggled with the time-consuming task of converting the stats from a paper score sheet into a digital form which can then be presented on our website.  As our club started expanding into two, three and now four adult teams we were desperately short of non-playing members who knew how to score on paper.  We started looking into alternatives and came across a few software packages.  Some of them had demo versions available to use which gave a chance to try them out and most of them seemed to be very easy and intuitive to use”. 

The lure of a shiny Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) was seen as another mark in favour of scoring electronically. “I guess the idea of paper and pencil does not look as attractive as holding a hand-held computer device so we thought that it may also help us to encourage more of our players to score so that all of our teams can do it on our own without relying on non-playing scorers.  As it turned out, these days Herts players simply pass the PDA from one bench player to another and we manage to maintain stats without the need for extra volunteers”.

Making your choice

If scoring electronically is deemed the way to go, a quick Google search reveals a whole host of different software options to be considered.  Herts researched several and came to a useful conclusion.

“From the various software packages which were on offer we could see that there were some differences in the graphics and one or two of the software features, but essentially the packages were offering more or less the same functions.  On that basis it came down to the price and at $49.95 (or around £30) at the time, it didn’t seem like we were taking too much of a risk by giving it a go with Fixed It!”.

Fixed It! have been producing scoring software since 1996 and their products cover several different sports, from basketball to football.  Full details about the baseball version, including the price increase since Herts bought their copy, are available on their website at http://www.fixedit.com/baseball.shtml

“The software is quite versatile and it gives us options to use it on a desktop or laptop computer, or on a Pocket PC or Palm hand-held devices” said Dimitrov.  “Members in our club already had such hand-held devices so they were happy for the club to use them for scoring, which meant no hardware costs.  Like every software product we became better at it the more we used it and in the process became more aware of the intricacies of baseball scoring and how every player’s contribution to the team is recorded as well as judgement calls on hit or error, wild pitch or passed ball etc.  I would say that anyone can score a game using the software with as little as a 10-15 minute tutorial”.

Getting started

Getting to grips with the full intricacies of scoring requires some consultation with the official rule book, but the basics of scoring should come naturally to anyone familiar with the sport.  Using Fixed It! to do the task clearly doesn’t make things any more complicated.

“It is quite simple.  You watch the game and after every play you click one or two buttons to transfer what you have seen into the device.  For example, the pitcher throws a strike and you click the strike button.   Then the batter manages to reach first base safely so you click a button to indicate that the player got on base after which you are asked to indicate how he got on base (e.g. hit a single, double, triple, was hit by pitch etc.).  The software is very user-friendly so at every stage it is prompting you the available options.  All the scorer has to do it select the appropriate option to describe what has just happened”.

From there, you can upload all of the data onto your website once the game is over, allowing the players to see how their stats have been affected and making visitors aware of how individuals are progressing over the course of a season.  This capability comes as part of the Fixed It! software, although Herts have taken it a step further.

“Initially, we used the HTML stat reports which the software provides and which could be easily uploaded on our club’s website at a touch of a button.  With the evolvement of the Club’s website, the Club appointed Greg Bochan as the Statistics Officer.  He has programming knowledge and together with Webmaster, Jason Greenberg, created code which allowed visitors of www.hertsbaseball.com to have a more interactive experience with the player and team stats”.

Parents getting involved

As with anything in British baseball, the success of the project relies on volunteers getting involved.  Herts are fortunate to have a good group of parents more than willing to do just that.

“At the start of the Herts Baseball Little League we were not sure whether the parents would be interested to contribute in various volunteer roles or whether they would see our baseball programme as going to an entertainment venue for a bit of fun for the kids on a Saturday.  With every week we are becoming more and more impressed how passionate the Little League families are about the Herts youth baseball programme.  Everyone has been so positive about volunteering and we have even reached the stage where the families are becoming really pro-active about wanting to contribute and make the baseball programme better”.

That enthusiasm has carried over to Herts’ latest project.  “Irrespective of this, we didn’t know how they would react to the idea of scoring on a PDA.  But the response has been amazing.  In Spring Training we had brought a few PDAs to see if we can convince the parents to give it a go.   So many mums, dads and even some players stepped up that we did not have enough PDAs and had to ask them to rotate in groups of 3-4 per PDA.  Some have become so interested that they have installed the free desktop version on their home computers to practice and have even referred to various scorekeeping handbooks online to learn more about judgement calls etc.  We are quite lucky actually to have such great people among our Little League families”.

Following Herts’ lead

Such goodwill may not immediately exist in all areas, but Herts are proof that dedication, ingenuity and enthusiasm can win people over.  Whether it’s developing playing facilities, successful player recruitment drives or introducing official scorers to Little Leagues, ballclubs throughout Britain are constantly coming up with new ideas, and sometimes learning from mistakes, that could be of great use to others. 

Away from the competition of ballgames, greater cooperation between ballclubs is the best way to make the sport stronger overall.  There’s growing evidence that this is becoming more common and that should be encouraged.  Perhaps some other teams will be keen to learn more about how they can develop their scorekeeping practices.  If so, I’m sure Aspi and the folks at Herts will be more than happy to provide some further advice on their system.

For more information on keeping score in the UK, please visit the Great Britain Baseball Scorers Association website.