Category: Headlines

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Blackjacks outscore Fruit salads to take the win

British Single-A League
Herts Raptors 20 Haverhill Blackjacks 30
Adrian Smithers reporting from Haverhill

It was a very hot day in Haverhill last Sunday. Which incidentally, for anybody whom geographical awareness is not their strongest point, is in Suffolk! It’s most definitely NOT in Cambridgeshire as some believed.

It was under this inferno of an early June sun that the Raptors trotted out upon the “diamond” to play the Blackjacks for the second time in a fortnight. Raptors were hoping to exact a modicum of revenge for the previous defeat at Grovehill. A game that had seen them coming within 2 outs of securing their very first win of the season. However it was not to be on this day, as it hadn’t previously.

Raptors batted around in the 1st inning putting four runs on the board. The Blackjacks replied in the bottom of the inning with two. The 2nd inning saw the Herts team bat around again adding another four runs. Raptors starting pitcher Charlie Mayhew then retired Haverhill in order. Giving Raptors an 8-2 lead. It was the Raptors turn to put up a blank in the third as the Blackjacks batters made adjustments, on their second time through the order, scoring six runs to tie the game at 8-8 after three innings.

Raptors responded aggressively, after their first two outs in the 4th inning, batting around once more and plating six runs in the process to retake the lead 14-6. However, the bottom of the inning was truly disasterous for the Raptors and despite Cresswell relieving C.Mayhew with one out and runners on 2nd & 3rd, the Haverhill team exploded for THIRTEEN runs from five hits, four walks, passed balls and other numerous and costly errors.

The inning included an inside the “park” home run by Blackjacks slugger Becking. Who having gone deep in the teams previous encounter, failed to clear the 1,545 ft outfield fence and had to do it the hard way with the Herts outfielders mere specks against the distant horizon.

With the score now 21-14 to Haverhill, the hard throwing but wild Fuentes took over pitching duties for the Blackjacks enabling the Raptors to score six runs on a single hit, seven walks and a glut of wild pitches to pull the score back to within a run. They then held the home team to a single run inthe bottom of the fifth to trail 22-20.

Raptors failed to add to their score in the sixth, whilst the Blackjacks added a further seven unearned runs as the Raptors focus and ability to make the basic plays seemed to melt away like a chewy sweet left out in the sweltering afternoon sunshine. The Herts team fared no better in the 7th as they were sat down in order. Haverhill then added the single run they required, to bring the mercy rule into play, without an out being recorded. With the game over and the platitudes completed, half the Raptors team headed for home, the other half for the nearest pub. A happier time was had in the Rose & Crown as lost liquids were replenished.

Raptors manager Geoffrey Thomas said: “Once again we’ve scored a lot of runs but we’ve made too many mistakes and given up too many runs. There’s wins in this team, we just need to cut down on the errors.”

Raptors are back at Grovehill on Sunday 15th June to face visitors Tonbridge.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Zac Malone joins Herts Falcons

The Herts Falcons have made another big acquisition with the addition of Zac Malone (pictured right) to their roster.

The 22-year-old is from Tennessee, USA, and he started his baseball career 14 years ago. He went on to play varsity baseball for the Fishers Tigers in Indiana, USA. He was voted on the All Conference team in both his junior and senior years. This is a considerable achievement bearing in mind that he was competing against players in that conference who are now playing in Major League Baseball. Among them are the closer for the Washington Nationals, Drew Storen, the catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Tucker Barnhart, and Nolan Sanburn who is a member of the Oakland A’s pitching staff.

Zac Malone’s primary position is catcher, but he has also filled other infield positions. He is expected to bring some power to the Herts batting lineup having been among the home run leaders for the Fishers Tigers. He bats and throws right-handed.

Washington Nationals pitcher Drew Storen is one of several MLB players which Zac Malone has had to compete with

This news comes after a difficult start of the season for the Falcons in which they suffered a series of injuries to key players on top of the loss of some big names at the end of last season so it is fair to say that the Falcons still have some work to do to fill all the positions, but it looks like the team has regained the Bingo-Bango energy of 2012 and 2013. Injured players are steadily returning to the lineup, including Tom Armstrong and Abel Salas who pitched a gem on his return on Sunday. Jose Sosa has been phenomenal offensively and on the mound since his arrival three weeks ago. Ryan Hackel made his debut on Sunday and proved to be a pivotal player in the team’s win against the odds at the table-topping Southampton Mustangs.

Zac Malone with the Fishers Tigers in 2010

The Falcons are just a game back on the playoff places. Will Zac Malone add to the team’s momentum? They can move into the playoff zone as early as this Sunday, 8 June, when they host the South London Pirates at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. It will be a difficult task against a rejuvenated Pirates team. First pitch of the doubleheader is at 12pm.

by Daniel Levitt

Falcons split series with Mustangs, playoffs back on track

Report by Daniel Levitt

In what has been a sullen start to the season until now, the Herts Falcons (2-6) took their sanguine spirits to the south coast on Sunday, to face the second placed Southampton Mustangs (6-2).

The Hertfordshire club has been ravaged by injuries in the first two months of the season, but provided a solid foundation for a recovery and a playoff push.    

Despite a slow start to their campaign, the Falcons’ playoff hopes were boosted leading up to the game, when the news broke that the team had signed Ryan Hackel, an American shortstop from Hamline University in Minnesota. Hackel will shore up the infield for the Falcons, while bringing a wealth of experience and baseball knowledge from across the pond. 

The hosts were heavily favoured prior to the day’s proceedings, who themselves are fighting for first place in the National Baseball League. However it was the duo of Jose Sosa and Phil Clarke (pictured right) who carried the Falcons home on this occasion, combining for four hits and six RBIs en route to an 8-4 victory. Herts scored three in the second inning and four in the fourth, enough run support to earn starting pitcher Abelardo Salas the victory. 

After a rocky start that saw Salas surrender four runs in the first, the Falcons’ ace blanked the Mustangs for the remainder of the game to earn the win, striking out seven along the way. The fantastic outing brought down his ERA to 3.77, who will now look to deflate that even further in the coming weeks. 

With Game 1 under their belts, the Falcons could not wait to get started with Game 2 and complete the sweep away from home.

Game 2 was a pitcher’s duel for the first five innings, between Gary Davison of the Mustangs and Herts’ very own Jose Sosa. Sosa, coming off his first NBL start against the Essex Arrows a fortnight ago, was every bit the magician for the first five innings, and had his team within striking distance, down 2-1 with two innings left.  

That however, was the end of a bright afternoon and the beginning of the floodgates opening, as the Mustangs scored five runs in the sixth and mitigated any chance of a sweep their counterparts had in mind. The Falcons fought valiantly as always, scoring two in the top of the seventh, but it ultimately wasn’t enough and the series ended 1-1. 

For Sosa, there were many positives to take from the game. Throwing the ball effortlessly for five innings, the Cuban struck out six and even collected a hit on offense, batting in the number three spot. 

The Falcons bring their playoff hopes back home to Hertfordshire this Sunday as they prepare to face the South London Pirates (2-6) at Grovehill Ballpark. With both teams on the cusp of the playoffs, this Sunday’s double header proves to be a must win series for both teams.  

Game 1 is due to start at 12.00pm, with Game 2 scheduled to start at 02.30pm.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Raptors early efforts foiled by Musketeers

British Single-A League
London Musketeers 25 Herts Raptors 13
Adrian Smithers reporting form Grovehill Ballpark

Baseball relies upon its history and traditions more so than many other sports that are played nowadays. Personally I have relied upon the technologies allowed to me, as invaluable assets, whilst compiling my reports so far this season. Gamechanger and other apps being a huge aid to the memory, when concentration at the time is focused purely upon the game and its current situation. This week I don’t have that. So in the interest of accuracy, no stats will be quoted.

The Raptors started the game playing error free baseball and accordingly found themselves with a 6-0 lead after the first three innings. Raptors starting pitcher Michael Cresswell (pictured above) holding the Musketeers to a single hit whilst walking two batters. The London team put their first run on the board in the fourth, with Raptors replying in kind to keep their lead at six runs.

The Musketeer bats finally found their rhythm in the fifth inning scoring five runs without reply to pull the game back to within a run at 7-6. They scored five more in the sixth inning as Witter took over the pitching duties from Cresswell, with men already on base. Raptors could only add one run to their score in the bottom of the inning and found themselves behind for the first time in the game with the score now 11-8 to London.

The momentum was now firmly with the Musketeers. Despite Raptors manager Jones’s roboration between innings, Musketeers scored a further four runs, in the seventh, as mistakes and frustrations appeared to creep into the Raptors game. Musketeers repeated this feat adding a further four runs in the eighth inning. Needing to score twice in order to prolong the game into the ninth, Raptors scored 3 runs without an out before a pick off play to first base saw Kosak called out, to the astonishment of the Raptors dugout, on a tag that was applied to his leg that seemed clearly to already be back on the bag. The resulting protest and comment made after a warning for equipment abuse led to his ejection by the umpire.

The Musketeers scored a further six runs in the top of the ninth widening the void to 25-12. Raptors failed to score in the bottom of the inning. So with the aid of a ghost run – that doesn’t appear on the j.peg of a scorecard that I’ve been working from – the final score was 25-13!*

Raptors manager Rob Jones said, “This game was much closer than the score line suggests. Michael Cresswell pitched a gem for us and it was frustrating to let the game get away from us at the end. But London came back very strong. We have to work hard on keeping our bats going and close games out for the win.”

Raptors travel to Haverhill Blackjacks on Sunday 8th June.

*As submitted by London Musketeers.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Falcons acquire American shortstop Ryan Hackel

Ryan Hackel (holding left corner of the banner) after winning the MIAC Championship with Hamlin University in 2011

Herts Falcons’ playoff hopes have received a boost with the acquisition of Ryan Hackel. He is a middle infielder and Herts fans will hope that he will be able to fill the void left after the departure of Robbie Unsell and Xavier Gonzalez who now play in the USA and Germany, respectively.

The 22-year-old started his baseball career at a very young age with Hard 90 Baseball Academy. In 2007 he moved on to Varsity Baseball, playing for three schools in four years – Vacaville Christian High School (2007), Vanden High School (2008) and Hastings High School (2009-2010).

In 2011 and 2012 Hackel moved on to College Baseball becoming the starting shortstop for Hamline University in his freshman year. 2011 was a memorable year in many ways as Hamline University went on to win the MIAC Championship for the first time in their history.

An interesting fact about Hamline University is that they play most of their home games at the 48,000-capacity Metrodome (pictured above), which is the former home of the Minnesota Twins. They have even had occasions when their games at that indoor arena have continued beyond midnight, as late as 2:30am in the morning.

A game under the lights for Hamline University and Ryan Hackel at the Metrodome

Hackel is expected to join the team shortly and this is very timely as the Falcons are looking to regain momentum after the squad was depleted by a series of injuries to Abel Salas, Cris Hiche, Mike Osborn, Ryan Bird and Tom Armstrong. Most of them are now gradually returning to full fitness and it will be interesting to see if the team can turn its season around. The race appears to be a lot closer this season so the Falcons are very much in touch with the playoff contenders. They travel to Southampton this Sunday, 1 June, for a doubleheader with the Mustangs and an opportunity to get straight back into the race.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Longboy is back

Herts Baseball Club is receiving a very timely boost with the return of pitcher Zack Longboy. Over the last few months Longboy has been unavailable for selection as he has been competing in the American varsity league, as a pitcher for his American school team, ASL Eagles. The varsity league season ended on Saturday with the ASL Eagles finishing second after a 3-2 loss to ACS Cobham in the final. Longboy has had another outstanding varsity season. His record is 5 wins 0 losses, with an ERA of 1.85. At the weekend he was voted into the All-Tournament Team, which is the varsity league equivalent of MLB’s end of season awards such as the Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. This is the second consecutive year that Zack Longboy finds himself nominated in this prestigious list.

The Herts Hawks and the Herts Harriers have missed Longboy but he is back now and his return is coming at a crucial stage of the season. The Hawks have 4 wins and 6 losses so far this season and they need to start winning series to go above .500 and stay in the playoff race. They travel to Brentwood this Sunday for a doubleheader with the Brentwood Stags. The Harriers are preparing for four crucial games against the LYBL Bulldogs on the road to the Little League UK Qualifier on 14 and 15 June. The first of these is this Saturday, 31 May. Herts will lose Longboy along with six other players who will be flying to Florida with the Great Britain under-17 national team. Hopefully, this will not be too costly.

These have been difficult few weeks for Herts as they suffered major setbacks with key players out with injuries. Several of those players should be back fit very soon and this, combined with the return of Zack Longboy and the upcoming NBL debut of Andrew Fulford, could give Herts teams the momentum they need to get back in the playoff races in the various leagues.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

A Bridge Too Far – Raptors fall in the ninth. Blackjacks Becking hits for the cycle.

British Single-A League
Haverhill Blackjacks 27 Herts Raptors 20
Adrian Smithers reporting form Grovehill Ballpark

The Raptors arrived at Grovehill knowing that they had a tough game ahead, against the visiting Blackjacks, as they sought their first win.

The game got underway and the Blackjacks soon had their first run on the board. Trailing by three, Raptors responded patiently and plated six runners on 1 hit, 6 walks and a HBP. Haverhill replied with six runs in the second, including a triple by Becking. Smithers led off the bottom of the inning for Herts, jumping on a first pitch slider which he hit for an opposite field triple. He was still standing rooted on third gasping for oxygen, much to the hilarity of both dugouts, when a passed ball gave him the chance to advance home two pitches later. Luckily he was able to spare his embarrassment, advancing on another passed ball two batters later for Raptors only run in the second.

The Blackjacks further extended their lead in the third inning on a two run homer from their slugger in the three spot, Daniel Becking. Despite this, Herts pitcher Charlie Mayhew settled down and got out of the inning with no further damage. The bottom of the third saw Raptors pull a run back, scored by Wittter who had been walked and then stolen second (AGAIN!) before advancing home on a passed ball to Phillips.

With the score 11-8, Herts starting pitcher Mayhew recorded two outs before reaching his pitch limit. He was relieved by Andrew Slater who got the third out of the fourth inning. Herts then added three runs in the bottom of the inning to compliment the first goose egg on the scorecard. The game was tied at 11-11.

The Blackjacks scored twice in the fifth. Raptors responded, plating three runs to at last regain the lead. This included Slater advancing all the way home from first on a passed ball to Mayhew, after pitcher Phillips hurled the ball back towards the mound in a fit of pique after failing to tag an evasively sliding Smithers at the plate.

The Blackjacks tied it up again in the sixth scoring one before relief pitcher Fuentes sent the top of the Raptors line up back to the dugout in order.

The two teams then traded blows over the next two innings and the Raptors found themselves in the top of the ninth with a one run lead (20-19) and the chance to seal their first win of the season. It was not to be and with two outs and the score tied, a tiring Slater was savaged mercilessly for a further seven runs, not all earned. The Raptors seemed to sag visibly and the bottom half of the inning was almost a formality as the Blackjacks left the diamond celebrating a hard fought 27-20 victory.

Raptors manager Geoff Thomas said, “It was a tough loss today, we played outstanding against a very good team but a couple of big innings cost us and we couldn’t quite pull it back. A lot of positives to take into next week though.”

Player of the day has to go to Haverhill’s Daniel Becking who hit for the cycle with stats of,
5-6, 6R, 4RBI, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 2BB, 3SB.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts youngsters begin journey on the road to the Little League World Series

The U17 Baseball League (South) commences this Saturday as the Herts Harriers travel to the LYBL Bulldogs. Many of the Bulldogs are members of the 2013 Cobham Cougars so this is considered as something of a re-match after the 2013 Under-17 National Championship Final between the Harriers and the Cougars, which Herts lost 6-9.

The U17 Baseball League (South) is a competition which runs during the regular season. It comprises teams from the South of England. The teams are divided into two divisions, Division 1 and Division 2, based on their ranking. Herts will be represented by two teams – the Herts Harriers in Division 1 and Herts Ravens in Division 2.

An All Star team representing the U17 Baseball League (South) is scheduled to enter the Little League qualification competition. That team will meet the team representing the North/Midlands U17 League to determine which team will represent the United Kingdom in the next round. The winner of that encounter will progress through to the Little League European Qualifier which will be held in Novara, Italy. The winner of the Little League European qualifier will fly to the USA for the Little League World Series, which is broadcast live on ESPN around the world. Little League was founded in 1939. Today it is the world’s largest and most respected youth sports organization with more than 2.6 million participants in more than 75 countries across the world.

The Herts Under-12 teams will also be taking part. For that age group the competition remains at a national level and culminates with the Little League UK Championship on 14-15 June which will be played at Farnham Park.

KEY DATES
U17, U15, U13, U12 Little League UK Qualifier – 14 and 15 June 2014, Farnham Park, UK
U17 Little League European Qualifier – 6 to 12 July 2014, Novara, Italy
U17 Little League World Series – 10 to 16 August 2014, Bangor, Maine USA

For more information, games schedule, scores, standings and more visit the U17 Baseball League web pages.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Harriers prepare for Belgian challenge

This Bank Holiday Weekend almost all British baseball league teams are resting due to a GB event, however there are several Herts teams in action.

On Saturday, 24 May, Herts Harriers will make the short trip to Canons Park for the final day of the ISST Baseball Championships. Herts will join five varsity league teams – ASL Eagles, ACS Cobham, TASIS, STJ Lions and IS Brussels.

From the scores over the last two days we expect that the Herts Harriers will face the IS Brussels team from Belgium. The game was originally scheduled for 9:00am, however the organisers have moved the start time back to 9:30am, an adjustment which has been required due to the adverse weather forecast.

Herts Harriers will be missing a large number of players due to GB team call-ups and the injury to starting pitcher, Tom Armstrong, in last Sunday’s NBL game versus Essex Arrows.

Also on Saturday, at Grovehill Ballpark, there is under 12 league game between the Herts Dodgers and the Herts Giants.

On Sunday, the Herts Raptors welcome the Haverhill Blackjacks in a repeat of last season’s Single-A national championship semi-final which the Raptors lost narrowly. The game will start at 1pm at Grovehill Ballpark’s New Diamond.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

There is no joy in Mudville…

Drew Mayhew’s hit was one of just a few on a tough day for the Raptors’ offence

British Single-A League
Kent Mariners 16 Herts Raptors 3
Adrian Smithers reporting form Grovehill Ballpark

The Kent Mariners held the previously hot Raptor bats to just two hits during a six inning (time restricted) game, inflicting a third straight loss upon the Herts ‘A’ team in their long awaited home opener.

The game, originally scheduled for a 3pm start, was delayed by almost two hours as the AAA doubleheader between Herts Eagles & Hove Tuesday overran. By the time they had finished and vacated the old diamond it was almost 5pm. The Raptors squad had, for the last four hours, either been sitting around in the hot sunshine watching the AAA game or taking part in fielding practice or pitching try outs to keep themselves entertained.

With the sun now high in the late afternoon sky and directly behind home plate, making any flyball to the outfield hard to see for both teams, the game finally started with Kent scoring three runs in the top of the 1st inning. Raptors pulled one back in the bottom of the inning, as lead off bat and starting pitcher Michael Cresswell was hit by a pitch before stealing 2nd and 3rd. Raptors shortstop Daniel Bennett then grounded into a 6-3 play scoring Cresswell and collecting the only Herts RBI of the day. Kent plated six runs in the top of the second due in part to some uncharacteristic mistakes by the Raptors infield and outfield. The Herts team replying with a single run scored by catcher (and walking rulebook) Tomasz Kosak. Neither side scored in the third inning despite Raptors first hit of the game from Bennett and due in part also to an excellent catch on the mound by Cresswell, gloving a ball that had been lasered straight back at him.

Charlie Mayhew took over the pitching duties from Cresswell in the fourth inning with the score 9-2. Kent added four more runs in another error strewn inning by the Raptors until they got out of it on an unassisted double play by shortstop Bennett, catching a driven ball before tagging out the runner. Who having gone on contact – with only one out – was trying in vain to regain second base. Drew Mayhew then got Herts second hit of the game putting himself in position to come around the bags to score Raptors third run making the score 13-3 after four innings.

Kent extended their lead by 3 more runs in the fifth and sixth. With the score 16-3, and needing 13 runs to tie the game, the weary Raptors faded away with only Drew Mayhew reaching base on an error. It had been an exceptionally long day and it showed.

Raptors manager Geoff Thomas said; “Unfortunately we didn’t do ourselves justice today and were soundly beaten by a better team. I’m looking forward to us bouncing back next game and showing everyone what we can do.”

It will be a tough game for the Raptors who face visitors Haverhill Blackjacks on Sunday 25th May at Grovehill Ballpark. First pitch is at 1pm.