With just over 24 hours before the Herts Raptors go into their first ever national semi-final in the Single-A League, Herts TV’s Ken Pike and Raptors Manager, Arnie Longboy, preview the big day as the team goes into battle with the Haverhill Blackjacks on Saturday morning (10h00) at Farnham Park, Slough.
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Category: Headlines
Baseball gods, birthday gifts, baked goods
The first pitch was up around my shoulders. I left it, and it was called a strike. The second pitch was a little higher, but I swung at it anyway, and missed.
This being a training game between the playoff-bound Raptors and the cobbled-together Herts Rebels, I was still ribbing the umpire — and being ribbed by the catcher — when the third pitch came down. It was low in the zone and somehow I managed to stroke it imperiously towards the outfield. And thus began my 41st birthday present from the baseball gods.
The Herts club has had an amazing year, and still has the prospect of three teams winning post-season silverware. So there is a lot to talk about. But the advantage of having a personal quasi-blog is that I can still talk about my own fun on a baseball field.
My standing excuse remains that my own experience reflects that of many British baseball part-timers, and I am sticking to it. If the game is not about a collection of great personal moments creating a greater whole, then what is it?
And so, back to the story. As warm late summer sunshine bathed Grovehill I was taking part in a loose but nonetheless competitive training game for the Raptors. And I had just driven that 0-2 pitch over and past the centre fielder. I was running hard out of the box and straight to second base and as I approached I could see the ball was still at the base of the fence. So I kept going.
Heading for third I shouted for a clear sign about what to do and was met with a wheeling arm. Carry on. As the Rebels bench rose in encouragement, and the catcher began to set up to take the throw, I wrung the last out of my newly-aged legs to head for home. It wasn’t a classic Major League slide taking me through the plate and into a pop-up. It was a desperate slide to simply get a toe to the plate and grind to a halt.
But it was a success. And it was, unquestionably, an inside the park home run. Never in over a decade of baseball have I scored a home run. Elsewhere on this blog you will find references to the hits which have come closest. And there have been times when overthrows and blatant errors have allowed me to get all the way round in one go. But this was the real deal.
My sister characterises baseball as “Swing, miss. Swing, miss. Swing, miss. Sit down”. Wag that she is, she asked if I still had to sit down after scoring a home run. I replied that no, I had to lie down, as it was exhausting!
It had been six weeks since I played any baseball at all and the pace was hard to handle. After the first ten minutes or so of fielding drills at second base – not only taking my own grounders, but covering first and going to second for cut-off throws – I was thoroughly knackered. But somehow this turned into a day when everything went right.
At the plate, I hit two more singles, and didn’t make an out. In the field, I tagged out two runners at second. Both were a credit more to the pickoff move of young Zack, and the arm of the Hawks catcher Hunter Devine. But they were fun outs to get.
As the day came to an end the remaining players split to make two seven-man teams so we could continue. One hit got through and sped away into our vacant outfield, but I sprinted after it, made a good throw to Adam, who made a great cut and relay and the batter — who was outrageously trying to follow my earlier example and score an inside-the-parker — was cut down at the plate. Result.
Finally, as the sun sank so low behind home plate that the batter and catcher became an anonymous silhouette, I made my final stellar contribution – as a relief pitcher.
My memory may be tinted by rose-coloured sunglasses, but the way I recall it – and how history will now mark it — is that I got the final two outs to save the win. (Yes OK so I walked in a run first, but that’s being picky)
It all ended with me fielding a sharp comebacker off Eagles slugger Adrian Smithers, despite barely being able to see the ball. A simple throw to first and it was over.
This had been my 41st birthday. And it had been a good one. There were home-made cakes, courtesy of my long suffering wife, for everyone involved. Quite literally, icing on the top of a fine day.
The year had once again thrown up many obstacles to prevent my regular appearance in a Herts uniform, and I’m not sure that I made it to a single training session at Grovehill. But there is something deeply satisfying about a storybook ending, and I will call this one of those. The sun shone. Everyone was relaxed and was just having fun. And doing some simple things right made it even more fun.
The next few weeks hold great promise for the club, with the Raptors the first to step to the plate. They have a great spirit and a lot of talent and they deserve success. The Falcons, having secured the NBL pennant, can now top that by going one better than last year and winning the playoffs.
I will be watching from the sidelines, but at all times I will be willing for those players to experience the exuberant feeling I know you can get from playing baseball.
Herts Falcons will face Harlow Nationals in the NBL semi-final
On Sunday the last two semi-finalists in the National Baseball League were decided at Grovehill Ballpark. The reigning champions, Harlow Nationals, are through after a 17-4 win over the Bracknell Blazers. Matt Gilbert was the winning pitcher. Slugger Edwin Alcantara loosened up for Farnham Park with a home run.
Southampton Mustangs had a real fight on their hands against the Essex Arrows but eventually secured a 10-6 win. Tomas Zondra was the winning pitcher.
The results mean that the Herts Falcons will face the Harlow Nationals in the semi-final in a repeat of last year’s NBL Final. Southampton will face the London Mets in the other semi-final.
Both games will be played at Farnham Park on Saturday, 14 September. The Herts Falcons vs Harlow Nationals game will be the second game of the day with an estimated start of 2:30pm. Mustangs and Mets start the day at 10:00am. Judging by the amazing race in the regular season these are expected to be thrilling encounters.
Despite Herts Falcons finishing in first place and being the top seed in the NBL, most of the experts have tipped the London Mets as the favourites to lift the NBL championship trophy.
Herts Raptors chasing the Single-A National Championship this Saturday at Farnham Park
The British Baseball Federation has just announced the format and schedule of this Saturday’s Single-A League National Championship. Herts Baseball Club is represented by the Herts Raptors who reached the Semi-Final stage by finishing top of their division and are the second seed overall with 10 wins and 4 losses in the regular season.
A win for the Haverhill Blackjacks over the Guildford Mavericks in the quarter-final on Sunday has determined that the Blackjacks will be the Raptors’ opponent in the Semi-Final.
Haverhill had a record of 7 wins and 7 losses during the regular season. In their head-to-head meeting on 23 June the Raptors came out on top with a 31-12 win, so the team from Hertfordshire may have the psychological advantage but the form guide goes out of the window in the postseason as shown by the very closely fought quarter-final games last weekend.
Herts Raptors manager, Arnie Longboy, will have some difficult decisions to make when determining his starting lineup. One of them will be to select the team’s starting pitcher in this knockout game. Among the potential starters are Under-17 players Brodie Caress, Charlie Mayhew, Will Zucker and Zack Longboy, but the team also has several older pitchers such as Jeff Witter, Jim Arnott and Theo Scheepers.
Both semi-finals will be played at Farnham Park this Saturday, 7 September. The Herts Raptors vs Haverhill Blackjacks game will start at 11:00am. The winners will meet in the final on the same day with estimated start time of 3:00pm. The brand new baseball venue is expected to be packed with baseball fans as eight other teams are in action on the same day as part of the AAA and AA-League semi-finals.
Herts Harriers reach U17 league semi-final for the first time in club history
The Herts Harriers overcame the Leicester Blue Sox in the quarter-finals of the British Under-17 League Playoffs. This is the first time in the club’s history that a Herts team reaches the semi-final stage at U17 league level.
The Herts Harriers finished in first place during the U17 regular season and this meant that they had to face the sixth-seed team from Leicester. The odds were in favour of the team from Herts, but the team needed to stay focused and deliver a professional performance on the day to progress through to the semi-finals.
Tom Everex-Armstrong was the starting pitcher for Herts and he picked up his fourth win of the U17 league season with 4 innings of work allowing 1 hit and 1 earned run and 11 of the 12 outs came by way of a strikeout. Callum Vangundy, Jose Morillo, Tom Everex-Armstrong, Warwick Byrne and Zack Longboy had a multi-hit game. One of Jose Morillo’s 3 hits in the game was a 2-run inside-the-park-homerun. Morillo then came in as a reliever to pitch the final inning of the game. He did well allowing no hits and no runs continuing his impressive pitching performances from the previous weekend in the AA-League playoffs with the club’s senior league team, the Herts Hawks.
Herts won the game convincingly but credit must be given to Leicester whose youth baseball programme was started this year and they have done very well in their first season in a very competitive U17 league.
The Herts Harriers will now be preparing for a Semi-Final at the newly unveiled Farnham Park baseball venue in Slough on 14 September. The other three semi-finalists are the Cobham Cougars, Halton Polecats and London Mets. The League will shortly be announcing the seedings which will determine which of these 3 teams will be facing the Harriers.
HERTS CARDINALS ELIMINATED IN THE QUARTER-FINALS
The club’s Under-14 league team, the Herts Cardinals, couldn’t progress to the next stage after losing first to the Forest Glade Redbacks and later to the London Mets. The team will be looking to regroup and strengthen over the winter and return stronger in 2014.
The three teams which progressed through to the semi-finals are London Mets, LYBL Bulldogs and Forest Glade Redbacks, the latter winning an exciting quarter-final against LondonSports 13-11.
HERTS DODGERS ARE THE HERTS UNDER-11 CHAMPIONS
The 2013 season of the Herts Under-11 Championship came down to the final game of the season. The Herts Dodgers and Herts Giants have been trading blows all year long and before this final game of the championship series they were tied. In another close encounter, the Dodgers came out on top with a 7-3 win to claim the title for a second consecutive season.
NEXT EVENTS
Herts fans will now turn their attention to the U17 national championships on 14-15 September after which all three age groups (U17, U14 and U11) will be entering the Herts Futures Tournament on 21 September, which is the largest youth baseball tournament in Britain. As always, it will be held at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. Teams are still entering (click for entry details). Also any players are welcome to take part in this event. For details how to join the Herts youth teams, please contact us.
NBL Playoff Quarter-Finals this Sunday in Hemel Hempstead
24 hours after Saturday’s Youth Playoffs it will be the turn of the country’s top tier league teams to commence their postseason campaigns.
The Herts Falcons and the London Mets have already booked their place in the National Baseball League (NBL) Semi-Finals by virtue of finishing first and second, respectively, in the regular season, but for the teams occupying the next four places in the NBL standings, it will be do-or-die this Sunday, 1 September.
The BBF has announced that both NBL Quarter-Finals will be played at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead – the home of Herts Baseball Club.
The first NBL playoff game is at 11:00am between fourth-placed Harlow Nationals and fifth-placed Bracknell Blazers. Harlow are the reigning NBL champions, but they will have a difficult task against the Blazers who have proven to be very difficult to play against with good pitching and a defence which on their day can limit opponents’ offences to just a handful of runs. The two teams have met twice this year. On both occasions Bracknell came out on top with 6-4 and 6-5 wins.
In the second quarter-final third-placed Southampton Mustangs will clash with sixth-placed Essex Arrows. Southampton have had their best ever season in the NBL with 23 wins and only 5 losses. Some would say that they were very unlucky to have to go through the playoffs after finishing just a game back on the leaders and they were pushed into third after applying a tie-break rule. They go into this game with a 16-game winning streak. The Arrows sneaked into the playoffs on the last day of the season jumping over the Lakenheath Diamondbacks who lost to the Nationals. This has energised their fans. Can this momentum carry them into the Semi-Finals? If it does, it would be a major upset. The game starts at 2:00pm.
Admission is free for this event. Click here for address and directions to Grovehill Ballpark.
VIDEO: Herts Harriers Manager Cristobal Hiche interview previewing Youth Playoffs
We are just 24 hours away form the start of the 2013 Youth League Playoffs and last night Ken Pike hosted a Playoffs Preview Show on Herts Baseball TV. One of the guests was Herts Harriers Manager, Cristobal Hiche, and he talked about his team as they prepare for their Quarter-Final game versus Leicester Blue Sox which will be played this Saturday at Grovehill Ballpark (1pm start). Watch the interview again below.
VIDEO: Youth Playoffs Preview Show with League Commissioner Matt Crawshaw
Herts Baseball TV’s Ken Pike and special guest, BBF Southern Youth League Commissioner and Leicester Blue Sox Chairman, Matthew Crawshaw, previewed this Saturday’s Youth Playoff Quarter-Finals on Herts Baseball TV last night. They also covered other topics including Farnham Park, the Senior and Youth League NBCs, Leicester Blue Sox, BBF and more. Play video below.
British Baseball’s 2013 Youth Playoffs coming to Hemel Hempstead this Saturday
Britain’s youth baseball teams are about to enter the most exciting part of the season as they battle for the national title. The action begins with the playoffs for both the Under-17 and Under-14 leagues. The British Baseball Federation announced that this event will be held on Saturday, 31 August 2013. It will be hosted by Herts Baseball Club at their ballpark in Hemel Hempstead (click for venue details).
6 teams from the Southern conference of the U17 League and 5 teams from the U14 League will go into Saturday’s Playoff Quarter-Finals. They have been seeded based on their regular season league record and the format and games schedule is as follows (seeding shown in brackets).
U17 Playoffs (‘home team’ shown second)
10.30am, Bracknell Tornadoes (5th) @ London Mets (2nd) (winner progress to YNBCs)
1.00pm, Leicester Blue Sox (6th) @ Herts Harriers (1st) (winner progress to YNBCs)
3.30pm, Horsham Hornets (4th) @ Cobham Cougars (3rd) (winner progress to YNBCs)
U14 Playoff (‘home team’ shown second)
10.30am, (Game1) Herts Cardinals (5th) @ Forest Glade Redbacks (4th) (winner goes to game 4, loser goes to game 3)
10.30am, (Game2) London Sports (3rd) @ LYBL Bulldogs (2nd) (winner progress to YNBCs, loser goes to game 4)
1.00pm, (Game3) Loser of game 1 @ London Mets (1st) (winner progress to YNBCs)
1.00pm, (Game4) Winner of game 1 @ Loser of game 2 (winner progresses to YNBCs)
Herts U11 Championship Series
The event will also include the Final of the Under-11 Series between the Herts Dodgers and the Herts Giants. The series are perfectly poised with the teams tied 4.5 wins to 4.5 wins. This will be a do-or-die 7-inning decider with the winner declared Herts U11 Champion. The game will start at 11am.
Food, drinks and more
Admission is free and fans and families can enjoy the baseball action along with traditional baseball snacks which will be on offer including hot dogs, Krispy Kreme donuts, Big League Chew and other snacks and drinks. Baseball gloves, bats, bags, and other merchandise including baseball memorabilia will also be on offer at the retail outlets around the ballpark.
We came, we saw…but we couldn’t conquer
On an eventually sunny Sunday in August, the Herts Hawks travelled to exotic Enfield to face the Sidewinders in the first round of this season’s AA league playoffs. Both sides were enthused with the prospect of eventually playing at the new venue of Farnham Park in the finals, and the preparation reflected the occasion. The setting was made perfect when two of the best umpires in the British Baseball League, Darrin Muller and Geoff Hare, reported for duty to officiate the game.
The Hawks were facing a tough challenge, with their ace Nick Russell (0.83 ERA ranked 2nd in the League), the middle reliever Andrew Slater, and their sluggers Andy Cornish and Tim Elkins all missing, but they all had more than able replacements. However, they were met with a hard-slugging Sidewinders side and, to top it off, with the masterful pitching of Tadaaki Sakurai, who appeared in control on the mound throughout, with able support from the Sidewinders fielders.
The Hawks took some time to start reading Sakurai’s pitches, while the Sidewinders were swinging hard for starting pitcher Greg Bochan’s stuff. Due to his high degree of accuracy, some luck (and we believe, supporting wind, close fences and a number of other intangibles), by the fifth inning the Sidewinders had piled in a number of hits, including four home runs. Two of the home runs were hit by Toshio Watanabe. During his home run trots it became obvious that he was carrying a serious knee injury and his trot was more of a hobble which took 2 minutes to complete. We understand that after that second home run the Hawks coaching staff were considering walking him intentionally in his next at bat in an effort to clog up the bases, but that tactical move came too late as the Sidewinders substituted Watanabe immediately after his second home run.
The Hawks were undaunted, and a strategic decision by co-manager Bochan put young Jose Morillo on the mound for the last two innings, and he successfully shut down the Sidewinder’s bats pitching 2 innings and allowing not hits or runs. It did prove a little bit too late, and despite a valiant effort in the seventh, Hawks went down to a 13 – 3 defeat. Click here to view box scores.
Still, this was a successful season for the Hawks, who finished the regular season with 9 wins and 7 losses, had one more year of postseason baseball, and were able to meld experience with youthful quality throughout the season. You can’t win them all, but you can very well try, and enjoy yourself in the process. That has been and remains the motto of the Hawks: “Veni, vidi, perfrui.”