Category: Headlines

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Spring Training commences for Herts baseball teams

It may be cold outside but, as far as the members of Herts Baseball Club are concerned, the long dark days of winter are over. On Sunday the Herts adult team members reported for the first Spring Training session of 2013. Throughout January and February the Herts teams will be preparing indoors at Berkhamsted SportSpace, which has good facilities including batting nets, however t is becoming obvious that the club has outgrown this venue and must start to look for an alternative in the winter of 2014 as the large number of players found it difficult to fit into the large sports hall. Thankfully the meteorological conditions were very good and the teams were able to use outdoor third-generation artificial pitches.

As usual in these first few weeks of Spring, the coaches put the players through their paces to rebuild physical and arm strength and stamina and work through baseball fundamentals of the defensive and offensive aspects of the game. Gradually the sessions will start to focus on specific positions to fine-tune the club’s pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders.

Apart from the returning players, the club had a chance to see some of the new faces which will be wearing the Herts jersey in 2013. The entry of a fifth Herts team in the adult leagues adds a new dimension to the process of assigning players to the five teams and it will be interesting to see which team roster the new recruits will appear in on Opening Day.

Of course the process of recruiting adult and youth team players continues and new players can join at any time throughout the year. With its teams competing in the various major and minor leagues of British baseball, Herts is able to offer baseball playing opportunities to players of any standard from complete beginners to advanced and experienced ballplayers. For more details about joining the Herts teams, contact us.

Quote of the day goes to New Yorker, Greg Bochan. Over the years he has stayed strictly away from discussions linked to football (soccer) in any way. While doing a ground ball drill with Tim Elkins and Rod Naghar, out of nowhere Bochan asked “What did you guys think about Eden Hazard and that ballboy?”

Play of the day goes to new signing John Blose. This was his first appearance in training with the Herts teams. While fielding a fly ball on the run at the indoor venue, he ended up colliding with the wall and taking out the fire exit door in the process. Herts fans should not worry. Blose came out unscathed from the collision.

Spring Training for the adult teams continues next Sunday.

Spring training dates for the Herts youth teams (6 to 16-year-olds) will be announced shortly and new members can sign up for those sessions by contacting the club.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Birth of a fifth Herts team. Entering this year’s AAA league

The Herts Falcons after winning the AAA National Championship in 2008 vs Oxford Kings 6-3. Can the new Herts AAA team repeat this (from left to right, FRONT ROW: Dave Westfallen, Marty Cullen Jr (bat boy), Jason Greenberg, Jim Hyde, Pete Kikel, Tim Elkins, Marty Cullen, Aspi Dimitrov, BACK ROW: Darrin Ward, Kimiyoshi Saionji, Nic Goetz, Lee Manning, Andy Cornish, Rod Naghar, Greg Bochan, Dan Kerry)

Herts Baseball Club has announced that for the first time in its history it has entered a fifth team in the British senior baseball leagues. As recently as 2004 the club consisted of a single senior league team, the Herts Falcons. Eight years later the organisation has grown into one of the biggest clubs in the UK with four youth teams and now five adult teams.

With ten minutes before the deadline for teams to enter the British Leagues for the 2013 season, Herts submitted the entry of its fifth team. The team will play in the AAA league, which is the second tier of the British Baseball League system.

The other four Herts teams will play in the same leagues as they did in 2012 – Herts Falcons (NBL), Herts Hawks (AA), Herts Eagles (A) and Herts Raptors (A).

AAA was the only league tier which Herts was not represented in last season and Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning feels that this is a very significant step forward. “We have had a gap at AAA level over the last 2 seasons, which has made it more difficult for us to progress players through the leagues. For players who are on the fringe of the NBL roster it is difficult to get them NBL-ready by dropping them down two levels to the AA League. Now that the gap at AAA is filled we are in a much better position to retain these players and develop them” said Manning.

Herts Under-17 team manager, Cris Hiche, also feels that this will have a positive effect throughout the organisation and in particular the youth programme. “We are fortunate to have very good players coming through the Herts youth teams. Many of them are challenging for a place in the Great Britain National Teams and we know that the GB coaching staff puts great emphasis to involve these young players at the highest possible level. The AAA team gives our young players the stepping stone on their way to the NBL” said Hiche. He added that “the youth programme is the future for Herts and we need to put the right structure in place for our players to fulfil their potential and the addition of a AAA team is a necessary component of that structure”.

PROUD AAA TRADITION

This announcement however is not just about filling a gap purely for development purposes. Herts has had a very proud tradition at AAA League level over the years and everyone connected with the club will want to make sure that this continues with a winning season for the team.

The first appearance of a Herts team at AAA level was in 2005 when the Falcons were promoted to the second league tier which was known as the Premier League at the time. The Falcons didn’t reach the playoffs in that year but certainly proved to be one of the most difficult teams to beat. Even the formidable Cambridge Monarchs featuring players like Glen Goodrich and former St Louis Cardinals pitcher, Bob Runyon, found it difficult against the Falcons with the famous back-to-back-to-back home runs by Falcons legend, Jim Denison, at RAF Feltwell. A year later the Falcons were relegated back down to the AA league after losing in extra innings to the Burgess Hill Red Hats in a one-game relegation-promotion decider.

After the disappointment of relegation, the Falcons regrouped under the management of Bruce Dullea and won promotion straight back to the AAA. In 2008 they were the dominant force in AAA and Manager Jason Greenberg led the team to the AAA national championship title, which prompted the invitation for the Herts Falcons to join the National Baseball League.

2009 saw the birth of the Herts Eagles who entered the AAA league. A year later they made it to the AAA postseason playoffs and under the management of Lee Manning finished third behind second-placed, Oxford Kings and the champions, Liverpool Trojans.

Will the new Herts team manage to keep the club’s proud tradition at AAA League level?

MANAGERIAL APPOINTMENT

Today’s announcement means that the club will now begin the search for a manager of the new Herts AAA team. Will the club look to add a new name to the managerial team, or will it promote one of the managers of the other Herts teams? It is a decision which will require careful consideration and we understand that the club’s executive board has been assessing the situation in great detail.

THE NAME

The club has decided that the members and fans of Herts Baseball should be involved in the process of naming the new team. It will be done in three stages. The first stage commences today and it involves fans and members submitting names which will be voted on in stage two. You can submit a team name by posting on the Herts facebook page, the club’s forum, by email or via twitter by including the proposed team name along with @hertsbaseball in your tweet.

This first stage will end at midnight on February 3 and at that point the preliminary round of voting will begin. On February 10 the three most popular names will go through to the final and deciding voting round. The finalist which receives the highest number of votes will be confirmed as the name of the new Herts AAA team. So far the names of the Herts teams have stayed with the bird theme consistently. Will the fans choose an avian name again or will they go for something different?

OPEN TRYOUTS

As announced on Monday, Herts Baseball Club will be hosting tryouts on March 10 at Grovehill Ballpark. These are not just for players interested to play for the new Herts AAA team. The tryouts are open to players of any standard from those who have never thrown a baseball in their life, to experienced players looking to win a place with the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League. Players must be 14 years of age or above on 31 December 2013. Tialists will undergo a series of tests and drills which will enable the coaching staff to assess the players before they make their roster picks later in that month ahead of Opening Day. Players interested to try out can actually get a head-start by joining the Herts teams in their Spring Training sessions which start this Sunday, 27 January. For more details contact us.

Players aged between 6 and 16 can look forward to joining up with the club’s youth league teams. The Spring Training dates for the youth teams are expected to be announced shortly. For more details of how to get involved with either the adult or the youth teams, please contact us.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts players report for training this Sunday. 2013 Spring Training dates announced.

The snow has covered the United Kingdom and there is a long way to go before the arrival of the British baseball season, but baseball teams up and down the country are starting their preparations for what they hope will be a winning season.

For the adult team players of Herts Baseball Club Spring Training (pre-season) preparations commence this Sunday, 27 January.

As in previous seasons the teams will start with indoor sessions in the first few weeks of Spring Training at Berkhamsted SportSpace. On 3 March 2013 the players will return to Grovehill Ballpark for the first outdoor training session of 2013.

On March 10 rostered Herts players and all newcomers who are interested to play with Herts in the 2013 league season will take part in the Open Try Outs for adults (players aged 14 or above on 31 December 2013). They will undergo a series of tests and drills which will enable the coaching staff to assess the players before they make their roster picks later in that month ahead of Opening Day.

We are still expecting a final confirmation from the BBF about the 2013 BBF League Opening Day. The latest information is that the NBL season will open on March 30-31 while the minor leagues (AAA, AA, A) will get their season under way a week later on 6-7 April.

The eagerly awaited Herts Spring League dates are still provisional and will be confirmed as soon as the BBF Opening Day is confirmed.

Those adults (aged 14 and above) who are interested in giving baseball a go can come to any of the upcoming Spring Training dates with the Herts adult teams. Regardless of whether you are a complete beginner or experienced player with many years of baseball under your belt, Herts Baseball Club will be eager to welcome you for an exciting season of baseball as the organisation continues its excellent growth. Players aged between 6 and 16 can look forward to joining up with the club’s youth league teams. The Spring Training dates for the youth teams are expected to be announced shortly. For more details of how to get involved with either the adult or the youth teams, please contact us.

Here is listing of the Spring Training dates for the Herts senior league teams (the dates for the youth teams will be announced shortly).

DAY DATE DETAILS VENUE
Sun 27-Jan-13 Spring Training (indoor) Berkhamsted SportSpace
Sun 03-Feb-13 Spring Training (indoor) Berkhamsted SportSpace
Sun 10-Feb-13 Spring Training (indoor) Berkhamsted SportSpace
Sun 24-Feb-13 Spring Training (indoor) Berkhamsted SportSpace
Sun 03-Mar-13 Spring Training Grovehill Ballpark
Sun 10-Mar-13 Open Try Outs Grovehill Ballpark
Sat 16-Mar-13* Herts Spring League Grovehill Ballpark
Sun 17-Mar-13* Herts Spring League Grovehill Ballpark
Sat 23-Mar-13* Herts Spring League Grovehill Ballpark
Sun 24-Mar-13* Herts Spring League Grovehill Ballpark
Sat 30-Mar-13* Herts Spring League Grovehill Ballpark
Sun 31-Mar-13* Herts Spring League Grovehill Ballpark

* – Herts Spring League dates are still provisional and will be confirmed as soon as the BBF Opening Day is confirmed

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Dave Ames appointed to Herts Board

Herts Baseball Club has announced that Dave Ames has been appointed as Club Secretary and member of the Executive Board.

Ames joined Herts 12 months ago after previously playing for the Old Timers. He was part of the Herts Eagles roster during the 2012 season playing second base. His enthusiasm and desire to contribute on and off the field was immediately recognised and Herts Eagles Manager, Duncan Hoyle, quickly moved to appoint Ames as his Assistant Manager. The 40-year-old sustained a nasty injury in May 2012 which has kept him out of action since. Despite this Ames remained very much involved. In July and August he played an important role, along with another Herts member, Ryan Bird, as part of the group of volunteers supporting the GB Programme to host the National Baseball Championships at the home of Herts Baseball Club, Grovehill Ballpark. He has also been exploring potential for a new baseball venue in Letchworth, Herts.

The Club Secretary role remained vacant after the club’s annual general meeting in November and the Board approached Dave Ames. His appointment has now been confirmed officially.

Herts President Aspi Dimitrov said: “Dave joining the Board is fantastic news, not just in terms of increasing the capacity of the club’s front office and Executive Board, but also adds key expertise”. Ames is a town planner and his professional credentials may prove to be very valuable in upcoming club projects.

Ames will undergo a medical procedure on his ankle later this week and the club is hopeful that this will enable him to return to full fitness and back in the active roster.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Hiche appointed to the Board

Herts Baseball Club has announced that Cristobal Hiche has been appointed as a member of the club’s executive board heading the Under-17 department.

Hiche joined Herts 12 months ago as one of the first big signings for the Falcons ahead of the 2012 season. He had previously played at the high school, college and semi-professional league level in the USA as well as at international level for the Chile national team at Under-12, Under-16 and now at senior level.

The 28-year old played a key role in the Herts Falcons’ amazing run to the final and was awarded an NBL Best Outfielder award. After the end of the NBL season, Hiche received a call-up from the Chile National Baseball Team to take part in the South American Championships. His team reached the semi-finals losing to Argentina and Hiche was voted as the Best Outfielder in this international tournament involving some of the best baseball nations in South America.

In many ways Cris Hiche’s contribution off the field has had an even greater effect for Herts Baseball Club. Within a few weeks of arriving to the UK, and despite living and working a long distance away from Hemel Hempstead, he got involved in a coaching capacity with the club’s youth programme. He was appointed as the Manager of the Under-17 team and his hard work and that of the rest of his U17 coaching staff is already starting to bring tangible results.

The club confirmed that Head of U17 is one of several new Board positions which club management is looking to add. It is part of the club’s objective to increase the Board’s capacity, effectiveness and to be a more proportionate representation of the club’s different member categories. In 2012 the club had four adult and four youth teams, however the Board featured four adult team Board positions and only one Board position linked to the youth teams. The Board is now considering candidates to head the other age groups in the youth programme and co-opt them to the Board.

Cris Hiche receiving the Best Outfielder award at the 2012 South American Championships

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts AGM appoints 2013 Board Members

With no baseball on TV it is easy to assume that baseball clubs around the world simply lock up their ballparks and fly off to warm destinations for the five months of the winter close season between October and March. In fact the close season is a very busy and important period for the MLB clubs.

This is also the case at Herts Baseball Club. The club held its Annual General Meeting a few weeks ago appointing the Executive Board for the upcoming season.

The club goes into the new season with a strong team in all departments, the number of which seems to be increasing every year. There are some new faces joining the club’s Board who will bring fresh ideas and new energy, and at the same time the club has retained a large number of the 2012 Board members which will provide continuity as the club aims to continue its growth.

The following is the full list of the 2013 Herts Baseball Executive Board. There are several vacant positions which the club is aiming to fill in the coming weeks as it prepares for another season of Herts baseball. New appointments will be announced in due course.

• President, Aspi Dimitrov

• Co-Treasurer, Chris Jones

• Co-Treasurer, Aspi Dimitrov

• Manager (1st team), Lee Manning

• Co-Manager (2nd Team), Andy Cornish

• Co-Manager (2nd Team), Greg Bochan

• Manager (3rd Team), Arnie Longboy

• Manager (4th Team), Duncan Hoyle

• Club Shop Manager, Mark Caress

• Youth League Commissioner, Aspi Dimitrov

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Falcons ranked among top 50 clubs in Europe

The annual ranking of European teams has just been published and, for the first time in its history, the Herts Falcons have been ranked among the top 50 clubs in Europe.

They have taken 38th place in the ranking. The Harlow Nationals, who beat the Falcons in the National Final, are the other British team to make the top 50. They are ahead of the Falcons in 28th place.

Today’s announcement of the rankings is a deserved recognition of the tremendous strides made by the club from Hertfordshire, which in 2004 had only one team playing in the third tier of the British leagues and today has 8 teams in the senior and youth leagues of Great Britain.

12 months ago the club managed to secure some of the best players in the country and this turned the Falcons into a serious contender for the NBL tile. At the end they just missed out on winning the championship, losing to the Nationals in game 6 of the National Final.

For a second consecutive year the top team in Europe is the Italian league champion, T&A San Marino. In second place is Unipol Bologna from Italy. In third place is the Dutch league champion, Corendon Kinheim.

The ranking is compiled by baseball broadcaster, Josh Chetwynd. Click to view full announcement.

Pos. Club Country Points
1 T&A San Marino San Marino 33.25
2 Unipol Bologna Italy 32.50
3 Corendon Kinheim Netherlands 31.58
4 Danesi Caffe’ Nettuno Italy 31.00
5 DOOR Neptunus Netherlands 30.33
5 L&D Amsterdam Netherlands 30.33
7 Rouen Baseball 76 France 29.67
8 Buchbinder Legionäre Germany 29.33
9 Telemarket Rimini Italy 28.00
10 Paderborn Untouchables Germany 26.33
11 Vaessen Pioniers Netherlands 24.33
12 CB Barcelona Spain 24.00
13 Draci Brno Czech Republic 22.50
14 Solingen Alligators Germany 22.33
15 Astros Spain 22.00
16 Heidenheim Heideköpfe Germany 21.33
16 UVV Netherlands 21.33
18 Cariparma Parma Italy 21.00
19 Les Templiers de Senart France 20.17
20 Eagles Praha Czech Republic 18.00
21 Karlskoga Bats BBK Sweden 17.08
22 Tenerife Marlins P.C. Spain 17.00
23 Hoboken Pioneers Belgium 16.17
23 Paris Université Club France 16.17
25 C.B. Viladecans Spain 16.00
26 Savigny sur Orge Lions France 15.67
27 Technika Brno Czech Republic 15.50
28 KNTU-OSVSM Kirovograd Ukraine 15.00
28 Southern Nationals United Kingdom 15.00
30 Kotlářka Praha Czech Republic 14.50
31 Bern Cardinals Switzerland 13.75
31 TJ STU Angels Trnava Slovakia 13.75
33 Baseball Klub Nada SSM Split Croatia 13.58
33 Tornado Balashikha Russia 13.58
35 K. Borgerhout Squirrels Belgium 13.57
36 MGPU S.Y.O.S. Moscow Russia 13.08
37 Stockholms BSK Sweden 12.08
38 Herts Falcons United Kingdom 12.00
39 Olimpija Karlovac Croatia 10.83
40 Vienna Wanderers Austria 9.92
41 Brest Zubrs Belarus 9.50
42 Atletico Alexandria Romania 8.75
42 Espoo Expos Finland 8.75
42 Lituanica Kaunas Lithuania 8.75
42 Scythians Ukraine 8.75
46 Gepardy Zory Poland 8.25
47 Beograd 96 Serbia 6.75
47 Dublin Spartans Ireland 6.75
47 Zajčki Rabbits Slovenia 6.75
50 Riga Lions Latvia 6.50
by Herts Baseball News Editor

2013 has arrived

2013 has arrived and over the coming days and weeks we will be publishing details of the upcoming season for Herts Baseball Club, following all the news from the club and from around the British leagues, the latest player transfer rumours, interviews with the people in the news and more.

If you require more details about joining the club as a player, manager, coach, umpire, scorer, member of front office staff or in any other capacity please contact us.

 

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Review of 2012: Progress on and off the field

2012 was the most successful year in Herts Baseball Club’s history in every department on and off the field. It continues to be one of the largest baseball clubs in Great Britain in terms of size, infrastructure, financial performance and is now beginning to mount a serious challenge on the field at every league level with 4 out of the club’s 8 teams reaching the postseason in 2012.

To review 2012, we are publishing excerpts from the End of Year Report at the club’s Annual General Meeting.

GROVEHILL BALLPARK

The Club received a tremendous boost at the beginning of the year with the announcement that its grant application has been successful and it has been awarded £10,000 by BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK), the development agency for baseball and softball in the UK. The club added further £7,000 of funds raised by its members over the years to invest around £17,000 to install the perimeter fence around the two diamonds enclosing the venue completely and installing four dugouts, two for each diamond.

Grovehill Ballpark is currently the best baseball venue in the country attracting the biggest events in the British Baseball calendar, including this year’s National Championships which is the showpiece event of the year.

RETAIL OPERATIONS

The club’s incredible concession stand team set a new record this year. Sales for the year were £3,770. The catering activities help raise funds which go not only towards ballpark development, but also help subsidize youth membership fees making Herts Baseball one of the most affordable sports clubs around for kids.

Astrid Centeno, Kirsten Caress, Susie Longboy and the rest of the concession stand team have worked tirelessly all year long and their efforts help not only with fundraising but very importantly they make the day at the ballpark even more enjoyable.

This year Mark Caress was appointed as the Club’s Shop Manager. In addition to the club’s online shop, Mark set up a relationship with suppliers to supply customised jackets and batting practice jerseys. These proved to be very popular. Mark also imported discounted high quality baseball products which are difficult to find in the UK. This generated sales of £1,621 for the year.

EVENTS

This year the club continued to stage the biggest and best events in British Baseball.

The Herts Spring League and the Herts Futures Tournament once again had record number of teams entering and both have proven to be very successful in raising funds which can be invested in the ballpark or other projects.

Other events included the BBF National Baseball Championships (event was staffed by the GB Team programme), the U17 and U14 Southern Playoffs and the U17 BBF Final, the NBL Special Event in July, and the Hunlock Series which saw a new format and received good reviews.

WEBSITE

The merging of all online activities at the end of last year has proven to be a big success. This combined with the intensive activity on facebook and twitter has generated record traffic for the Herts Baseball website. Number of visits increased by 48%, unique visitors by 33%, and pageviews by 32%, while average visit duration has gone up by 7%.

Fig.1 – 2012 vs 2011 website visits

The top most read articles of 2012 were “NBL’s best pitcher joins Herts” and “Herts acquire catcher from Florida”. We cannot remember a player transaction in recent British baseball history which has attracted as much attention as the acquisition of Robbie Unsell. In third place was “2012 national champions to be decided this weekend in Herts”.

SOFTBALL PROGRAMME

The club combined forces with BSUK to run 8 taster sessions in St Albans throughout the summer months. Dave Tretheway, Ryan Bird and Theo Scheepers were instrumental acting as coaches at these sessions. The club has now built a significant mailing list of people interested in playing softball and the task for the club now is to put a strong team to drive the project forward and take advantage of some real growth opportunities in the region.

 

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Review of 2012: Herts teams in the youth leagues

2012 was the most successful year in Herts Baseball Club’s history in every department on and off the field. It continues to be one of the largest baseball clubs in Great Britain in terms of size, infrastructure, financial performance and is now beginning to mount a serious challenge on the field at every league level with 4 out of the club’s 8 teams reaching the postseason in 2012.

To review 2012, we are publishing excerpts from the End of Year Report at the club’s Annual General Meeting.

HERTS TEAMS IN THE YOUTH LEAGUES

Success is usually measured by whether a trophy was won or not and on that basis Herts would not be considered a major player in the British youth leagues in 2012. However, those with inside knowledge of the youth leagues in this country would say that Herts is seen as the model for others to follow. The youth programme is positioned very well to offer a high quality product for every young player, from a beginner who is keen to give baseball a try to an advanced player aiming to play at the highest level of the game and represent their country internationally. With growth of 12% in youth players this year and plans for further growth, the club would be in an even better position to do this in the coming years.

The Herts U17 and U14 teams did not win the championship this year but they are very much on track to be a major contender when this Herts generation reaches the final year of the 3-year cycle in the respective age group.

Cris Hiche took charge of the U17 team and we are already seeing significant progress, earlier than we could have expected. Last year the team lost 11-10 in the quarter-final against the Essex RedBacks. This year the two teams met at the same stage and Herts won convincingly 23-0. The team is also starting to challenge the favourites like the London Mets and had a .500 record in the regular season games against the eventual champions, Cobham Cougars. This has raised expectations for 2013 when this generation of U17 players is expected to reach its peak and aims to win the title in the same way as they did in 2010 at U14 level.

The Herts U14 team reached the final last year, however 7 players from that team moved up to the U17 age group which meant that 2012 was a transitional year. The team is expected to be at its peak in 2014 and 2015 and performances this year indicate that with hard work over the next few years this new generation of U14 players can be just as successful as the previous one.

The coaching staff of the Herts U11 teams made a deliberate shift in its approach. The number of league games has been reduced in favour of intensive training sessions. This has meant that players are able to perform greater number of repetitions which is critical in developing the fundamental baseball skills at this age. The progress has been remarkable and the U11 coaches should be very proud of what they have achieved. Coach Mike Wakelam even managed to add extra summer sessions for the U11 players at the ballpark and the batting cages in Northwick Park.

The players are recognising the extra effort made by the coaches and they are responding by working even harder.