Category: Headlines

by Herts Baseball News Editor

4 teams will fly the Herts flag in the BBF senior leagues in 2015

Herts Baseball Club has revealed that it will be entering four teams in the 2015 British Baseball Federation adult leagues, same as last year, but the allocation of those teams is different from previous years.

As expected, the Herts Falcons will play in the National Baseball League, Britain’s top league tier. The Herts Eagles will continue in the Triple-A League (second tier), same as last year. The big change comes for the club’s third team, the Herts Hawks. They will submit their application to enter the Single-A League (fourth tier). The Hawks made their league debut in 2005. That was in the Double-A league (third tier). They remained members of the Double-A League every season between 2005 and 2014. 2015 will be the first season that the Hawks enter a league other than the Double-A. The club’s fourth team the Herts Raptors will submit its entry to the Single-A League (fourth tier), a league it has played in ever since its inception in 2008.

This allocation of Herts teams is similar to the very successful 2012 season when the club had one team in the NBL, one in Double-A and two in Single-A.

Of course all of these, with the exception of the Herts Falcons’ entry in the NBL, are subject to approval from the BBF. Last year the BBF rejected the Herts Raptors’ application to move from the Single-A to the Double-A league. This was a major surprise as they were offered the alternative choice of playing in the Triple-A, which is higher class than the Double-A, so it was not clear why they would be eligible to play in the Triple-A but not the Double-A league.

If the club’s 2015 entries are approved we can look forward to a Herts derby between the Raptors and the Hawks in the Single-A. In the club’s history there have been only three seasons when two Herts teams have competed in the same league. In 2007 the Falcons and Hawks were both in the Double-A. In 2012 and 2013 the Eagles and Raptors came head-to-head in the Single-A league.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Adult and Youth players have started registering for the 2015 Herts baseball season

Player registration for the 2015 Herts Baseball season has just commenced and the club is hoping to make it a record year after 2013 saw the largest number of Herts members in the club’s 19-year history. In 2014 the club came just short of beating that record.

Herts has already completed the league entry process for the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League and in the coming days will be completing the process for its other adult and youth league teams.

ADULT LEAGUES

The Herts Falcons gave everything in the battle to reach the NBL playoffs last season but were eliminated two games before the end of the regular season. They will be eager to regain the team’s competitiveness which saw them come so close to clinching the NBL championship in 2012 and 2013. The team has already shown its intentions with two major acquisitions. GB third baseman Maikel Azcuy has joined the Falcons from reigning champions, Essex Arrows, and middle infielder, Pau Sancho, has completed the move from the German Bundesliga where he played for the Bonn Capitals last season.

The Eagles, Hawks and Raptors also struggled last year finishing their seasons below .500 in the Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A Leagues, respectively. At this time of year, there is an incredible buzz around the club with so many new faces joining the club – from complete beginners to accomplished ballplayers. In previous years we have seen how new arrivals can bring energy to the club and turn an underdog into a contender. We will have a first glimpse at some of those new faces this Sunday, 11 January, as current and new players report for their first Spring Training session of 2015. For more details about coming to this free open session to give baseball a try contact us.

KEY DATES – ADULT TEAMS

11 January – Adult team players report for first Spring Training session

22 February – First outdoor session for adult team players on the Astroturf

15 March – Adult teams return to Grovehill Ballpark for the first time in 2015

21 or 28 March – Start of the 2014 Herts Spring League

12 April – Opening Day (NBL)

19 April, Opening Day (Triple-A, Double-A, Single-A Leagues)

August-September – Postseason Playoffs and National Championships

September-October – Hunlock Series

YOUTH LEAGUES

In 2014 Herts teams reached the National Championships in all three age groups of the BBF youth leagues. They picked up bronze medals in the U17 and U14 age groups, while the U12s finished fourth in their first appearance on the national scene.

The Herts U17 players and coaches will feel disappointed that they couldn’t fulfil their ambition of winning the U17 National Championship for the first time in Herts baseball history as they knew they had a team which could compete. There are rumours around the league that the U17 league may be converted into an U19 league which could give the generation which missed out in 2014 another shot at the national title.

KEY DATES – YOUTH TEAMS

11 January – U19 and U17 team players report for first Spring Training session

22 February – First outdoor session for the U19 and U17 players on the Astroturf

1 March – U15, U14, U12 and U10 players report for their first Spring Training session

April – Opening Day (U19, U17, U15, U14, U12, U10)

20-21 June – Little League UK Qualifiers (U19/U17, U15, U12)

July-August – Little League Europe Qualifier (Poland or Italy) and World Series (USA) (subject to qualification)

September – National Youth Baseball Championships (U19/U17, U15/U14, U12/U10)

September – Herts Futures Tournament (U19/U17, U15/U14, U12/U10)

HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE 2015 HERTS BASEBALL SEASON

Herts Baseball Club has commenced the 2015 member registration process. For those who already have a Herts Online Club House account they will be prompted to register when they log on next time (click here to go to the Herts Online Club House and log on with your existing username and password). Those who are new to Herts and do not have an online account will be able to register as 2015 members by completing this form.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

BBF confirms NBL lineup for 2015. Nationals not listed.

The British Baseball Federation (BBF) has just announced that the National Baseball League will be reduced down to 6 teams for the 2015 season.

The six teams will be: Bracknell Blazers, Essex Arrows, Herts Falcons, London Mets, Southampton Mustangs and South London Pirates.

The NBL had seven teams in 2014. The one team which does not appear in the 2015 lineup is the Harlow Nationals. Does this mean that they have been relegated to the Triple-A League or have they been dissolved? The latter is a very likely scenario as the BBF Annual General Meeting in November revealed that the Nationals have outstanding debts not only to the federation but to other parties. The team was founded in 2011 and won the NBL Championship in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Last year they finished in fifth place.

Today’s announcement would also suggest that the 2014 Triple-A National Champions, Cambridge Royals, have either not applied for entry to the NBL or their application has not been accepted.

source: Project COBB

The table above shows how the composition of the NBL has evolved between 2000 and 2015. The reduction in the number of NBL teams for 2015 seems to go contrary to the overall growth in the number of BBF teams which has doubled since 2000 from 35 to 71 and currently stand at a 20-year high as announced a few months ago. Are teams finding it daunting to enter the NBL due to the higher calibre competition, the higher costs of running an NBL team, or some other reason? The benefits of having a team in the NBL are enormous in terms of growth, promotion, publicity and everything else linked to competing in Great Britain’s top league tier. Hopefully clubs around the country will recognise the enormous boost to their club from entering the NBL and we will see an increase in the number of teams aspiring to compete in the NBL.

Another note from looking at the chart is that it would be fantastic to see the Northern and Midlands teams return to the NBL. With the emergence of the Cambridge Royals, Hull Scorpions and several other teams, hopefully this is something which will happen sooner rather than later. An NBL made up of between 12 or 16 teams would seem to be a reasonable target in the coming years if it is going to compete with growing leagues such as the German Bundesliga which currently has 15 teams in its top league tier.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts 2015 Spring Training dates announced

At its Annual General Meeting, Herts Baseball Club announced details of its Spring Training schedule. Adult, under-19 and under-17 players will be the first to report for Spring Training on Sunday, 11 January 2015. In the first few weeks preparations will take place indoors at JFK Catholic School.

On 22 February the teams will have their first outdoor training session on artificial grass playing surface. The under-14, under-12 and under-10 age groups will also get their Spring Training underway on the Astroturf field.

The Herts teams will return to Grovehill Ballpark for the first time on the weekend of 14 and 15 March 2015 where training will continue until the Herts Spring League (HSL) pre-season games. After that it will be ShowTime as the Herts teams get their 2015 league seasons underway.

We will keep you updated as soon as the British Baseball Federation confirms the Opening Day of the 2015 season. This will also dictate the HSL dates.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Slater and Russell triple play is Best Play of 2014

Herts fans have been voting over the last few weeks and they have determined that Andrew Slater and Nick Russell’s 3-6 triple play was the Best Play of the 2014 baseball season.

It happened on Opening Day, 13 April 2014, in a Double-A league game between the Herts Hawks and the eventual national champions, London Mammoths. With runners on first and second and no one out, the ball was hit sharply on a frozen rope to first base where Andrew Slater caught it for the first out. Without hesitation he stepped on first base for the second out and then threw to Nick Russell at second base for the third out with runners in both cases desperately diving back into the bags but unable to stay alive.

Zac Malone’s 2-3 double play versus London Mets in the NBL was one of the contenders for Play of the Year (photo by Paul Holdrick)

Even as early as April, both Slater and Russell were confident that this rarest of defensive plays in the game of baseball will be votes Play of the Year. This was despite facing some stern competition from Zac Malone (2-6 double play from his knees in extra innings vs London Mets), Cris Hiche (grand slam vs London Mets on Opening Day in the NBL), Carlos Casal Jr. (outfield catch on his horse vs Southampton Mustangs) Joseph Osborne-Brade, Takaya Miki and Ilya Dimitrov (all three with diving or leaping outfield catches) and again Cris Hiche (acrobatic line drive catch at first base in the Hunlock Series Final).

The 2014 Nob-Out was awarded to Ralph Bartholomew for trying to retrieve a ball stuck high up on the backstop fence using a bat, only to lose the bat in the process by lodging it up onto the backstop.

by James Dwyer

Herts Baseball appoints new Communications Director

Herts Baseball Club has continued to strengthen its front office ahead of the 2015 season with the appointment of James Dwyer as Communications Director and board member.

James has a strong background in journalism, marketing and communications and will bring these skills to the club to help develop existing links with local and national media, as well as communications within the club and the wider baseball community across the country.

James combines his skills and experience in communications with a passion for baseball and particular focus on growing the popularity of the game in the UK.

On his appointment, James said: “I am delighted to be joining one of the country’s most successful baseball clubs and look forward to seeing further growth and development throughout next season and beyond. As baseball becomes more popular in the UK and more people express an interest in playing, clubs such as Herts Baseball face an exciting opportunity to increase the number of people involved and be at the forefront of developing the game. Combine that with the fact that Herts is one of the most successful clubs in the country and the future looks incredibly bright and hopeful – and I am thrilled to be part of it.”

Club President Aspi Dimitrov said: “In 2014 we managed to maintain our position as one of the leading clubs in British baseball when it comes to media coverage. We did this despite the fact that the Communications Director position remained vacant.  With James’ appointment on the board we are now in a strong position not only to stay at the top but to explore new opportunities and enhance our media coverage further.”

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts confirm Jeff Witter’s board appointment as head of under-14 baseball

At its Annual General Meeting, Herts Baseball Club announced the appointment of Jeff Witter as a board member heading the under-14 baseball department. He has been a member of the club since 2009 acting both as a player and as a member of the club’s under-12 and under-14 coaching staff, in addition to other roles.

For the last two seasons the under-14 baseball department was headed by Jake Caress, who has now moved to the club’s Triple-A League department, as the co-manager of the Herts Eagles alongside Arnie Longboy.

The club is currently preparing its plans for the 2015 season and the under-14 department is an area it hopes to grow and develop further. “The next two years are critical for the Herts youth baseball programme and we need passionate and professional people like Jeff to realize the ambitious plans which we are putting in place at the moment” said club president, Aspi Dimitrov. If these plans materialise Jeff Witter will be hoping to add quite a large number of coaches to his department. The club’s annual general meeting indicated that these expansion plans depend on a grant application which was submitted recently. Securing such funding would give Jeff Witter and the club’s other youth baseball departments the start-up capital needed to launch this expansion project.

by Rob Jones

Raptors get their rewards

The winter weather means different things to different people. For those of us in the baseball world, it means a bit of rest for aching bones, and it also means awards! Herts Baseball Club is looking back on the season and handing out the silverware.

For the Raptors, who battled to 3 wins in the Single-A league, there were plenty of heroes both old and new. After a close-run vote, the players chose Michael Cresswell as their MVP for 2014. In his third year with Herts, this was a well deserved honour.  Not only did he lead key categories, as you will see below, Cresswell was also among the team leaders in others.

Joint manager Rob Jones said: “Mikey was part of everything this year. Above and beyond the stats, he had the x-factor that you need to compete and drive on your team-mates.”

And so here, to complete the picture, is the full list of Raptors winners. There are no actual trophies — this is the age of austerity after all — but raise a glass to them all.

Best pitcher – Michael Cresswell. The young lefty never even expected to be a starting pitcher when the season began, but he became the most reliable go-to guy as the Raptors searched for leadership from the mound. His consistency improved further from his pitching debut in 2013, and by the year’s end he had achieved the best ERA on the staff and the best K/BB ratio. An almost flawless pickoff move — which claimed numerous victims — only added to his achievements for the year.

Infield Gold Glove – Jamie Lang. The long-suffering Mets fan missed part of the year due to a visit to the United States, but either side of that he was a solid figure in the middle of the infield defence. He ended with more than a dozen assists and got the honour of securing the final out of the year at the Essex Redbacks.

Outfield Gold Glove – Joseph Osborne-Brade. A classic story of an impressive return from injury. After missing the entire 2013 season following a broken leg, Joseph stamped his authority on the Raptors outfield in 2014. He took a series of spectacular catches – including one at Essex which was nominated for play of the year – and perhaps even more importantly he was a safe pair of hands in every inning.

Batting title – Rob Jones. The team’s co-manager played in more games than usual in 2014, and used them to fight to another .500 year with the bat. He might have moaned publicly about his batting in July, but in fact the stats showed him with the most hits and the most runs, and the highest average (based on a minimum of 15 PAs).

Most RBIs – Tomasz Kosak. The Warsaw Express – in what turned out to be his final year with the Raptors  – claimed the title with the help of big offensive outbursts against Tonbridge and at Haverhill. It’s a trophy which caps years at Grovehill which saw a big impact from a big character.

Stolen Base King – Michael Cresswell. A close-run thing (terrible pun intended) on a team with many keen base thieves…. but our leading pitcher also racked up the most steals. Honourable mention should go to Jeff Witter, who was in the mix despite the fact that some might think he lacked the traditional skill-set of a base-stealer!

Rookie of the Year –  Daniel Bennett. New recruits did sterling work for the Raptors, and showed great dedication. Daniel made himself a tough out at the plate and – in the field — played several positions, including acquitting himself well at shortstop and trying out as a catcher.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Bochan-Slater era begins for Herts Hawks

Yesterday we reported on the appointment of Arnie Longboy and Jake Caress as co-managers of the Herts Eagles. Further managerial appointments were announced at Herts Baseball Club’s Annual General Meeting. With Longboy moving up to manage the Herts Eagles and Herts Hawks co-Manager, Andy Cornish, stepping down to spend more time with his family in 2015, the club announced a new managerial team to head the Herts Hawks in 2015.

The two co-managers are Greg Bochan and Andrew Slater. Bochan has been a manager of the Herts Hawks for many years so the camaraderie and continuity of the team will be preserved. The 7-foot-tall Slater gave Double-A opponents a weekly dose of crafty pitching and clutch hitting this year and in 2015 he will look to add his managerial nous to that. He brings an impressive win-loss record as a manager having previously led the Herts Raptors to their first season over .500 in the Single-A League.

Despite finishing the 2014 regular season with 6 wins and 14 losses, the Hawks produced some impressive performances when their team was at full strength. What will 2015 bring for the Hawks? One thing is certain, with Bochan and Slater at the helm, the Herts Hawks will have a fun season.