Category: Headlines

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts starts plans to form 4th adult league team and invites applications for manager

WAITING LIST FOR NEW SINGLE-A AND DOUBLE-A PLAYERS

Every year in January Herts Baseball Club assesses the number of players registering to play in the upcoming season and on that basis determines how many teams to enter in the various leagues of the British Baseball Federation (BBF). The assessment this January indicated that the club would have enough players to enter three teams in the BBF adult leagues and entered the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League, Herts Hawks in the Double-A League and Herts Raptors in the Single-A League.

The Herts Raptors and Herts Hawks roster sizes have reached the maximum limit

Since January Herts has seen an enormous number of new players joining the club’s adult league teams – a much faster growth compared to previous years. For the first time in the club’s history it has reached a point where the roster size of its Single-A and Double-A teams is too large and the managers would struggle to give players sufficient playing time if it increases any further. For example, Herts Raptors had 12 players sitting on the bench in a recent league game. On the basis of this the club has announced that any new players applying to join the Herts Hawks (Double-A) and Herts Raptors (Single-A) will be placed on a waiting list until a place opens up in one of those teams. There are still places available in the Herts Falcons (NBL) roster so that team will continue to welcome new players who meet the NBL criteria.

PLAYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYERS ON THE WAITING LIST

The club has pointed out that it will do everything possible to offer enjoyable and fulfilling baseball experience to new players while they are on the waiting list, including:

• The club is about to announce the launch of the Herts Recreational League, which will be played on Saturdays. This is an exciting announcement the timing of which is perfect.

• Players can register as Non-Roster members which entitles them to take part in Midweek Evening Baseball sessions and selected tournaments such as the Hunlock Series played in September and October.

• For those who are interested in playing softball while they wait for a place to open up in the Single-A or Double-A League teams, the Herts Softball programme can offer regular league and tournament play.

Players who have already been placed on the waiting list or have just contacted the club and are interested to find out more about the above playing opportunities, can contact the club for more details.

FORMING A 4TH HERTS ADULT LEAGUE TEAM

Herts Baseball Club  has started to plan the formation of a fourth Herts adult team to enter the BBF Single-A League. This will most likely happen in 2018, but the club has also submitted an official request to the BBF to be kept updated if another BBF Single-A team withdraws from the league with a view to taking their place to complete their 2017 league schedule, as soon as Herts is ready to enter a fourth Herts team.

HOW TO APPLY AS MANAGER OF THE 4TH HERTS TEAM?

The first step in this planning process is to invite candidates to apply for Manager of the fourth Herts adult league team. For more details about the role, including financial terms click here.

If you wish to apply for this role or if you have any questions, please contact the club.

 

by Rob Jones

Herts Hawks leave Redhawks blue

The Herts Hawks had a stand in manager for the day, their young catcher Hunter Devine, but the change did not disrupt their continuing unbeaten run.

The Hawks went charging out of the blocks in their AA-league game at home against the Brighton Redhawks, scoring 14 runs before the first inning was over. They went through the line-up twice.

Winning Hawks pitcher and manager

Devine ended the day 4-4 with the bat, while Gilberto Medina’s 3 hits drove in 5 runs. He came close to two more home runs (to add to one from the previous week), but hit the top of the fence both times.

The pitching win went to Ernie Ayala. It’s his second of the year, in his second start.

Hawks won 20-4 in five innings. They have now won 23 games in a row. Their next opponent is the East London Latin Boys, who have an unbeaten 7-0 record and lead the AA-league.

Continued offensive fireworks for Moises Velazquez of the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League (NBL) gave them a great start away to the Brighton Jets.

His 2-run home run helped Herts lead 3-2 until the bottom of the fourth inning. But then young pitcher Tyler Badenhorst, who had been turning in a great performance, lost some of his control and the Jets pounced.

They piled up runs, including a walk-off grand slam homer, and won 15-4. Brighton also won the second game 15-5.

The Falcons showed off some impressive defense, with catches in centre-field from Jamie Warren and John Blose. But overall they were left rueing too many defensive errors.

The Herts Raptors were facing a tough challenge at home to the powerful London Musketeers in Single-A but they, too, took an early 3-2 lead.

Tom Carson at bat

Again, a grand slam home run turned things upside down and the visitors surged out to a 9-3 lead in the third inning.

But Herts fought back. Good defense prevented hits turning into runs. Shortstop Rob Jones made a diving stop to haul in a hit up the middle and secure an out, while rookie first baseman Will Pettitt made a superb sliding catch in foul ground.

The offense was powered by Tom Carson, driving in 6 runs with 6 hits. Ken Pike, playing his first game since an emergency appendectomy barely a fortnight ago, went 4-for-4 with the bat and stole 6 bases.

Herts took the lead in the bottom of the sixth, 15-13.

But another London homer struck the decisive blow in the next frame and although the Raptors rallied they ultimately went down 29-22.

Stand-in manager for the day Rob Jones was impressed: “The guys can take a lot of pride in that game. Scoring 22 runs against two excellent pitchers is brilliant work, and they gave everything in the field as well.”

Raptors are now 2-2 on the season and after a week off will travel to the Kent Mariners.

 

by Rob Jones

Raptors rally over Old Timers, as Herts do monster mash

It was a weekend of offensive fireworks for the Herts teams, perhaps inspired by the surprise arrival of some Spring sunshine. Five home runs and three wins were put in the bank.

Let’s start in Single-A, and start with a question. When was a Herts Raptors batter last given an intentional walk? And if you can answer that one, here’s another — when was the last time a Raptors batter was intentionally walked twice in the same game?

It was a fitting reward for a dominant offensive display by Ben Sinclair in Sunday’s home game against the Old Timers. His first at-bat produced an inside-the-park home run, the second a triple.

Before the third he mused about whether to aim for the cycle, and it was suggested that two home runs would look better on the write-up. It seems that Sinclair was listening, as he hit another inside-the-parker.

He reached on an error on his fourth plate appearance, but hit the ball hard so the Old Timers did not pitch to him again.

Michael Johnson, one of the top performers with the bat

This all suggests a rosy picture for the Raptors’ day in the sun at Grovehill, but actually they had started the game poorly. The Old Timers hadn’t managed to get a full team to the field, but the players they did have struck hard in the first two innings.

A handful of Herts defensive errors, and too much pressing at the plate, combined to give the visitors a 7-1 lead after two innings. The Old Timers were looking to make their experience pay.

Sinclair drove in three of the first four runs for the home team, but as the game went on more of the young Herts talent settled down and started to deliver, too.

Centre-fielder Michael Johnson went 4-for-6 with three RBIs, and was just a home run short of the cycle. The story was pretty much the same for Tom Carson, making his first ever appearance as catcher, whose four hits included a single, double and triple.

Veteran Arnie Longboy was doing sterling work on the pitching mound. A day after he played for Herts first ever softball team, the Buzzards, in their maiden competition, he threw over a hundred pitches for the Raptors.

He struck out four and walked only three before handing the ball over to Ben Sinclair for the final innings. Longboy helped his own case with four hits, and stayed in the game after an injury as the home side was also pretty short on players.

With improved defense, the Raptors made their superior numbers pay — and perhaps their youth, too. They scored runs in bunches in the second half of the game.

It ended 21-14 to the home side and the Raptors now move to 2-1 on the season.

Rob Jones, the stand-in manager for the day, paid tribute to the performance: “It was great to see the team come back from a bad start. Instead of getting down, they had confidence in their abilities and turned things around.”

Up in the AA-league, the Herts Hawks were stretching out their year-long winning streak to 22 games. Gilberto Medina hit the team’s first home run of 2017 to help them to a 22-6 win at the Guildford Mavericks.

Gilberto Medina struck a big blow for the Hawks

 

The Hawks’ joint manager, Greg Bochan, was back on the mound for the first time since the epic Single-A final at Farnham Park last year. On his return from a knee injury, he pitched a complete game and took the win.

The Herts Falcons of the National Baseball League were playing at home at Grovehill, hosting the London Capitals. A home run from Moises Velazquez was the big blast early in the first game to give Herts the lead.

It was tied at two apiece by the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Falcons scored six to blow it open. It ended 9-4. Young South African phenom Tyler Badenhorst got the win, with Darren Meintjes getting the save.

Cris Hiche drove a no-doubter over the fence at the start of game 2 of the double-header. But the Capitals came back, and a 2-run homer from their Ben Mercal in the top of the fifth gave them the lead.

The Falcons fought hard but came up short in this one, losing 7-5. They are now 3-6 on the year, and travel to Brighton next.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Hawks breathing down Latin Boys’ necks after win over Marauders

Herts Hawks kept their winning streak going with a win against the London Marauders on Sunday and it is fair to say that this was their toughest test so far this season in the Double-A League.

Herts Hawks co-managers Andrew Slater and Greg Bochan were both away and they asked Andy Cornish to step into the manager’s role. Cornish is very familiar with being the manager of the Hawks having co-managed the team alongside Greg Bochan three years ago so there was no change of management style for the team.

The game saw the official league debut of father and son, Ernie and EJ Ayala, both of whom are major additions to the team this year. In the absence of starting pitchers Bochan and Slater, Ernie Ayala was given the responsibility of starting on the mound.

When you have not tasted defeat for 19 months there is a risk of becoming complacent, but the Hawks didn’t have time for much complacency as the Marauders struck in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. All winter the Hawks have been looking forward to the greater challenge of playing in the higher league, so in a strange way this early blow didn’t faze them and instead whet their appetite. Ernie Ayala took control from the mound and over the next four innings did not allow any London runs.

After being shut down in the bottom of the first, the Herts offense scored runs in each of the next six innings.  Michael Cresswell and Gilberto Medina had another good day at the plate. Herts took the lead in the third inning and extended it in the sixth, but the Marauders stayed in touch.  In the fourth inning the visitors brought in pitcher Billy Atkinson-Warne, a familiar face for Hawks fans having faced him in the epic 5-4 win in the Single-A League National Semi-Final last September when he was a member of the London Musketeers.  Atkinson-Warne proved to be just as effective as he was last year so it was something of a surprise that he didn’t start the game, especially given the fact that prior to this game he had not allowed any runs or hits so far this season. He also had a great day at the plate batting 3-for-3 with two doubles and 3 RBI which gives him a season batting average of 1.000 and season slugging average of 2.000.

After six innings of outstanding work, Ernie Ayala’s job was done. For the final 3 innings Louis Hare stepped onto the mound with a task of keeping the lead.  The Marauders certainly didn’t give up and stayed in the game right to the end thanks to some fine defensive plays including a Play of the Year nomination from Chris Gregory after a diving catch in left field. Hawks fans would probably say that the spectacular leaping catch by Dan Bartram or game-ending sliding catch by Ilya Dimitrov on opening day against the Daws Hill Spitfires were better, but it has to be said that there was much less margin for error in Chris Gregory’s head-first diving play.

Louis Hare shut the door on the Marauders in the final inning fittingly ending the game with a reflex catch on a line drive back to the mound and a final score of 14-9.

 

This was the visitors’ first loss of the season, but they shouldn’t be too worried as on Sunday’s display they will certainly be involved in the playoff race.

Next for the Hawks is an away game at the Guildford Mavericks this Sunday, 7 May. The game starts at 2pm. Can they keep their winning streak going and stay in touch with the East London Latin Boys who are also unbeaten and half a game ahead of the Hawks.

by Rob Jones

Raptors burn Inferno to spark their season

Herts Raptors 25-14 Bracknell Inferno, April 23rd 2017 – by Rob Jones

This victory by the Raptors, on the Opening Day of the Single-A season, was the perfect illustration of old and new working together.

One of the crucial runs to seal the deal in the bottom of the seventh inning was scored by Darren Butterworth, who had never played a league baseball game before. And he was driven in by Arnie Longboy, who’s been with the club for nigh on a decade.

Substitute catcher Brad Charalambous at bat

Somewhere neatly between the two categories is the fact that the actual winning run was scored by Arnie’s daughter Theo, a European champion at softball with the GB team, but new to baseball.

The Raptors had started slowly in the sporadic sunshine at Grovehill, with Bracknell’s hard-throwing pitcher Bruce Webb getting the best of the early exchanges.  He racked up three strikeouts and just one walk in the first inning.

But catcher Paul Auchterlounie got the first Herts hit in the second inning, and scored the first run. He ended the day 2-for-2 with a walk.

Third-baseman Tom Carson — another debutant in the Raptors lineup — closely followed him, and outfielder Joseph Osborne-Brade hit a double.

The Raptors kept their lead as the game wore on — 7-4 after three, 15-9 after five — but could never blow it open. Bracknell kept hitting against both starting pitcher Paul Barton, and reliever Longboy. And the two defenses were pretty even.

The top of the Herts order kept on walking and scoring steadily, with Matt Jackson and Rob Jones having 7 of each between them.

First baseman Giuseppe Basilea – making the step up from under-17 baseball – had perhaps the standout defensive play for Herts, in the top of the sixth. He caught a sinking line drive and immediately saw a chance to double off the Bracknell runner at second who had strayed too far.

Giuseppe Basilea at first base

He actually threw to third, but it didn’t matter. Because that was followed by the second-best defensive play as Ben Sinclair — yep, you guessed it, another rookie — quickly made a strong and accurate throw to second to nab the runner.

Bracknell had stayed close until the late innings, when Webb had tired and the fresh new Herts recruits came in to help stretch the lead. The Raptors scored 5 in the bottom of the sixth and needed 4 in the bottom of the seventh to secure a walk-off via the mercy rule.

Longboy Sr. duly delivered with a hit to right field, and the team celebrated. Both Bracknell and Herts had turned in strong performances to start their 2017, and are looking forward to what’s ahead.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

VIDEO: Herts Hawks open the 2017 season with a win over the Champions


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The Herts Hawks opened their 2017 season with a win away at the reigning BBF Double-A League Champions, Daws Hill Spitfires.  This was a major upset as the Hawks had just gained promotion from the Single-A League and were not expected to be able to compete against the champions. The game was played at Farnham Park and the final out was captured from a camera high up in the sky (see video).

by Cristobal Hiche

Herts Falcons sweep on Opening Day

Jarrod Pretorius marked his Herts Falcons debut with a home run (photo by Richard Lee richardleephotography.org)

by Cris Hiche, Grovehill Ballpark, Hemel Hempstead

As the saying in sports goes, a new season brings new hope! Herts Falcons were looking for this after a challenging 2016 season. Their addition of Jarrod Pretorius, Miguel Hector, and the return of Cris Hiche were a good improvement. Furthermore the youngsters were a year older, stronger, and with a year experience in the NBL under their belts. This had the fans bullish for this season. But all is fine on paper but this Sunday was the opportunity to test the team against a strong, young Brighton Jets team.

Harry O’Brien and Matt Gilbert were the starting pitchers for the Jets and Falcons respectively on a pleasant day conducive to a good game of baseball. Matt took the mound and looked poised for a great start by getting ahead 1-2 to leadoff Jacob Dean. However Jacob was able to square a pitch inside to send it over the fence and put their team quickly ahead. Oh no! Fans were already thinking this might be a very looooooong season ahead. However Matt Gilbert was able to finish the inning with only one run on the scoreboard. Now he was hoping his teammates would pick him up…and they did by scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st. With the score 2-1 for the Falcons, the 2nd and top of the 3rd inning went scoreless. In the bottom of the 3rd, Cris Hiche put the first big smiles for the fans by connecting a 2-run homer and putting the Falcons 4-1 ahead. Meanwhile, fans were starting to enjoy some fine pitching by Matt as he was controlling batters with wicked control, crucial K’s, and when needed some great plays like John Blose in left field with a diving catch near the left side fence risking his body to catch the ball. The offense was slowly increasing the gap, including a bomb by Jarrod Pretorius to leave the score 7-1 in the bottom of the 5th. By the end of the game, Falcons celebrated their 1st victory of the year with a final score of 8-1. Everybody played very well both defensively and offensively. Generally, the home runs take the spotlight but the player of the match needs to be Matt Gilbert who pitched a gem not seen in many years in British baseball. Complete game, 2 hits allowed, 7K, and using only 107 pitches to do the job!! That’s a challenge for any pitcher to beat this year!

The 2nd game was a different story. Young starting pitcher Will Zucker started for the Falcons and quickly allowing some walks and the Jets capitalising with some key hits. Will Zucker was struggling with his command and although post-match interviews has him quoted as “It just wasn’t my day…”, sources tell us he was suffering from a hand injury which would have certainly affected his performance. Regardless, the Jets took advantage and were 5 runs ahead by the middle of the 1st inning. Manager Lee Manning had to even bring Jarrod to finish the inning. It was now going to be a long day for the bullpen. On the other hand, Jacob Dean started the 2nd game for the Jets and after 3 innings he had allowed only 1 run. Brighton was playing a sound game and it was almost a flip from the 1st game. Both teams playing well but Brighton capitalising the little advantages given by Herts and in the 4th they scored another one to make it 6-1 in the middle of the 4th. But then Herts got a lucky break when Jacob Dean developed some sort of cramp which sidelined him from the game. The Jets had to use their bullpen with Dan Whitton taking the mound. He was also doing well but soon the Jets went to relief pitcher Connor O’Shaughnessy. With Connor’s fastball a few mph slower than Dan and Jacob, the Falcons hitters were able to make adjustments at the plate and start to put the ball in play. Timely hits, some lucky bounces, and a great “See-ya-later” by Darren Meintjes meant putting 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th and 6 in the bottom of the 5th. That offensive punch put the Falcons ahead 9-6 changed the whole momentum of the game. The Falcons added some insurance runs in the bottom of the 6th with the final score of 11-6 for the Falcons. Worthy mentions for Miguel Hector who went 2-2, 3R, and Moises Vasquez with some nice defensive gems and starting the 1st double play of the season. However the player of the match goes to Darren Meintjes who went 2-5,HR,3RBI at the plate and pitched 5IP, 1R, 6K. Outstanding performance!

The Falcons will be tested this upcoming weekend when travelling to Southampton to face the reigning champions Mustangs who split their first two games against the London Mets.

Follow the Falcons and show your support through Twitter and attending the next home games!!!

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons, Hawks and Wildcats win the HSL titles after 23 games in the sun and the longest coin toss in history

After 23 games over 3 weekends in perfect Florida-weather the teams are ready for the 2017 British baseball season. In the HSL Majors Division, Herts Falcons came out on top with a 100% record. In second place were the Taunton Tigers, who will feel a little hard done as they also had a 100% record but missed out on first place due to having played fewer games and thus ending up half a game back on the Falcons. When they entered the HSL we advertised them as the team from Taunton playing in the South West Independent Baseball League, but since then we have learned that this is a brand new team based in Taunton which will be playing in the BBF Triple-A League. They have an array of international talent including several GB Under-23 National Team players. It will be interesting to see how they will do in their debut season going straight into the third league tier of British baseball.

The biggest shock in the HSL came just hours before the first games when rumours started circling around that the South London Pirates are about to withdraw from the National Baseball League. In fact there will be no Croydon-based teams at all as their second team will not be playing in the BBF leagues either. The hope of everyone in British baseball is that this famous baseball club will manage to somehow get back on its feet, especially as it has such a rich history and a high standard baseball venue. It would be a big loss if Roundshaw Playing Fields disappears.

Dennis Grogan on the mound for the impressive Birmingham Bandits

In the HSL Double-A Division the Birmingham Bandits and Herts Hawks ended up at the top of the standings with identical record of 3 wins and no losses. The HSL rulebook came into action as one tie-break rule after another could not separate the teams. They even had the same 0.815 runs per inning conceded over the course of the competition which meant that the winner had to be decided by a toss of a coin. It proved to be the longest coin-toss in history, 3 hours and 21 minutes to be precise. With the final HSL game day coinciding with MLB Opening Day, the HSL organisers announced that the New York Yankees opening day game at the Tampa Bay Rays would be used instead of a coin toss. A 7-2 win for the Rays meant that the Herts Hawks were awarded first place. In fairness, Birmingham Bandits looked impressive throughout the HSL and they wouldn’t have been out of place in the HSL Majors Division.

Herts fans who think they have seen this pitching delivery before, are not wrong.

The HSL also revealed that former Herts Falcons pitcher, Pete Kikel, will be making his come-back in the British leagues but this time with the Essex Redbacks as he has relocated and is no longer close enough to Hertfordshire. He looked impressive making a major contribution in the Redbacks 6-7 loss to the Birmingham Bandits which was arguably the best game of the 2017 HSL.

In the HSL Single-A Division Tonbridge and Herts Raptors finished at the top of the standings with identical records of 2 wins and 1 loss. First place was awarded to Tonbridge on the tie-break rule as they had beaten the Raptors in the head-to-head matchup. This was an exciting division as the top 4 teams in the table were divided only by half a game at the end.

On the final weekend umpire Dr. David Jones set a HSL record umpiring 42 innings at the plate over a 48-hour period. We must tip our caps to him and all the umpires without whom the Herts Spring League would not be possible.

View HSL scoreboard

View HSL standings

With Spring Training completed, British baseball teams up and down the country will hope that this will be their year. The NBL teams already opened their 2017 season, while the other three leagues commence this Sunday, 9 April. Follow us on twitter and facebook for a comprehensive coverage of the 2017 baseball season.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Two-time NBL champion joins Herts Falcons in time for Opening Day

With only three days before the start of the 2017 National Baseball League (NBL) season, the Herts Falcons have added two-time NBL Champion, Jarrod Pretorius. The 31-year-old slugger was a key member of the Harlow Nationals team which dominated the NBL winning it in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Many would argue that if Pretorius was not with the Nationals, the Falcons would have become NBL Champions in 2012. In Game 6 of the NBL Final it was Jarrod Pretorius’ 3-run home run after a memorable at bat versus pitcher Ryan Bird which proved to be the difference in the Nationals’ 6-3 title-clinching win.

In that year the South African was also voted as the NBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). In 2013 he was once again instrumental when the Nationals eliminated the Falcons in the NBL Semi-Final at Farnham Park.

A look at the NBL archives from the 2012 and 2013 season shows Pretorius leading in various statistical categories, including best batting average (.500) and slugging average (.760) in 2012, NBL Third Base Gold Glove in 2012 and First Base Gold Glove in 2013.

Safe or out? Cris Hiche (left) and Jarrod Pretorius (right) in one of the many titanic battles between the Falcons and Nationals in 2012.

In 2015 he signed for the Tubingen Hawks in the German Bundesliga. In a key game he suffered a serious arm injury. This kept him out of the game for a lengthy period, but he is ready to make his comeback now and Herts fans can look forward to seeing him in a Herts jersey. It may take some time for him to get back to full fitness but even at less than 100%, he is a formidable force and his energy is expected to add enormous value to the club on and off the field. His arrival adds to the large number of South Africa-born players who will be wearing the Herts jersey this season including Duane, Josh and Tyler Badenhorst, Robert Smith, Darren Meintjes, Iain and Dylan McCrimmon.

Jarrod Pretorius is expected to make his debut this Sunday, 2 April, as the Falcons start their NBL season with a home doubleheader versus Brighton Jets. The first game starts at 1pm at Grovehill Ballpark.