BBC 3 Counties Radio presenter, Roberto Perrone, caught up with Aspi Dimitrov to look ahead to the upcoming 2012 baseball season and what fans of Herts Baseball Club can look forward to as we count down to Opening Day this Sunday, 1 April. To listen to audio, press play in the video window below.
ESPN America MLB Fan Experience 2012 with Mike Piazza & Alessandro Maestri hosting the Step Up To The Plate winners’ coaching clinic in Italy, featuring Herts players Glen Downer and Joseph Osborne-Brade.
Ken Pike presents a roundup of the second week of games in the 2012 Herts Spring League. The programme was first shownon Herts Baseball TV.
Herts Baseball Club has confirmed that Duncan Hoyle is the new manager of the Herts Eagles. This announcement comes just 48 hours after Hoyle sustained a heavy injury in Herts Spring League (HSL) action on Saturday. He is expected to be on the DL for around six weeks and everyone at Herts wishes him a full and speedy recovery.
Rather than letting the serious injury bring him down, Hoyle chose to stay positive and put his name forward for the vacant Eagles Manager position. “Herts is a great club to be involved with and I am looking forward to the challenge” said Hoyle.
Hoyle joined Herts Baseball Club last season playing for the Herts Raptors in the British Single-A League so he is familiar with the challenge ahead for the Herts Eagles. He will also be able to count on coaches Arnie Longboy, Glen Downer and Ken Pike who will make themselves available as supporting coaching staff whenever they do not have duties as players or coaches of one of the other Herts teams. Hoyle may also be appointing other Eagles members to perform coaching roles for the team this season.
The Eagles have two more weekends of HSL games before they open their 2012 campaign with a home game against the Richmond Dukes on Sunday, 15 April. First pitch 12:00. The injury will prevent Hoyle from making his debut as Manager until Opening Day and in the meantime a caretaker manager will be in charge of the Eagles for the next two HSL weeks, starting with this Saturday’s game with the Great Britain Under-15 National Team.
HSL-AAA
When the BBF AAA League lineup was announced many fans were surprised to see the Cambridge Royals in the list. It is very rare for a team to rise by two league tiers which is what happened in the case of the Royals this winter. They may have played in the Single-A last year but have already had a strong performance in their first HSL AAA game beating the Sidewinders 32-5. With new additions like former Bracknell Blazers starting pitcher, Matt Maitland, they look like they will not be out of place in the AAA this year.
The Essex Redbacks were just as impressive winning 16-7 against the Herts Hawks. A grand slam by Matt Jennings put them in the lead and didn’t look back after that.
The MK Bucks managed to squeeze out a 7-4 win against the impressive London Mets Under-17 team. The boys from the capital were ruing a missed opportunity. They outhit the Bucks 10-to-4, but crucially left 11 runners stranded on base. Defensively they ended up committing more errors in this game than their last four Spring Training games combined.
HSL-AA
Over in Guildford the HSL-AA action involved teams from South of London. John Kristensen took the win for Guildford Mavericks I in a close game that was tied at 5-5 until the 6th innings when Guildford broke it open with a 5-run bottom half of the inning. Guildford offensive highlights were doubles from James Guerra and John Kristensen, whilst Kent’s Jamie Morris also had an extra base hit. Mavericks starter, Sam Jones gave up just 3 hits in 4 innings of work. In a high scoring contest, Guildford Mavericks II scored early and often to ease to victory over the Barons. In a game dominated by offence, the Mavericks benefited from Owen Hazelby going 5-for-6 (2B), along with extra base hits from John Gray and Gillian Conway. Torbay had an extra base hit from Tony Watson, and Gabor Nemeth went 2-for-3. Owen Hazelby took the win for Guildford.
This year the HSL features the GB Under-15 National Team and it was fascinating how the superstars of tomorrow will compete against their older opponents. A strong start from GB and Herts pitcher Tom Armstrong, followed by Patrick Hansford produced a close game versus the London Marauders. They were tied 4-4 going into the 4th and GB put up 8 runs with two outs, but couldn’t close out the game as London came back with 10 of their own to win as the GB pitching and defence started to struggle. In their second GB faced the Essex RedBacks. They had another great start this time from Jonathan Fretheim who pitched two quick innings securing a 3-0 lead going into the fourth inning. Once again the fourth innings curse struck as a combination of pitchers struggling to find the zone and poor defence resulted in GB conceding 12 runs. Fretheim came back into the game to close out the inning and the game, but the damage was done.
The Herts derby game between the Raptors and Eagles ended with a win for the Eagles which featured a youthful lineup of Under-17 players. Starter Jake Caress pitched a complete game for the win supported by lively Eagles bats to record a 5-3 vistory. The Raptors remain without a win after they lost their earlier game against the Essex RedBacks II. The second game for the Eagles was against the London Marauders who were looking for their second win. Zack Longboy started for the Eagles. He needed one inning to get a feel for the mound and then produced a very confident pitching performance. Going into the fourth inning the game was tied 1-1 which is very unusual for two Single-A teams, but it must be said that the Marauders were always threatening and it took a 1-3-5 triple-play to keep the game tied. A combination of good hitting by the Marauders and too many London players getting on base after being hit by pitch or walking was costly for the Eagles and they couldn’t catch up.
The HSL AAA and AA action continues next weekend.
Click to view full HSL scoreboard and standings
The Lakenheath Dbacks steam-rolled their opponents to win the Majors Division of the 2012 Herts Spring League (HSL). The Harlow Nationals came in second after a win against Essex Arrows to add to their victory over the London Mets in week one.
MICHELS DOMINATES ON THE MOUND
The final week of HSL games for the country’s top teams started with a convincing win for the Herts Falcons over the Harlow Nationals. The Nats had many members of their championship-winning roster including the 2011 MVP, Edwin Alcantara, Maikel Azcuy, Brendan Cunliffe, Marty Cullen, Carlos Casal and the magical short stop, Luis Goncalves, who was facing his former team mates from Herts having spent five years as a player of the Falcons, however there were some notable absentees. Many of their players were called up by the GB Under-19 National Team for a friendly game in Birmingham. They were also missing ace pitcher, Jason Roberts, with unconfirmed reports that he is on the DL and may miss opening day.
Their absence cannot take away from the impressive performance of the Falcons. Their new arrival from New York, Jake Michels, started on the mound and pitched a complete game shutout allowing only one hit and striking out 9 Nationals in the process. The Falcons offence was also looking strong giving the hosts a 9-0 win.
ARROWS’ NEW LOOK ROSTER
The Nationals bounced back in a close game against the Essex Arrows winning 4-2. There were some notable additions to the Essex Arrows roster including one of the best catchers in the NBL, Jon Mabie and infielder, John Blose, both moving to Essex from the Mildenhall Bulldogs. Franklin Perez is a new arrival from the Nationals and the legendary Darrin Ward who moves across to Essex after 4 years with Herts. Before the games Herts presented Ward with a series of awards which he earned playing for the Falcons in 2011 including Best Pitcher, Home Run Champion, Batting Champion, and most RBIs, underlining what a big loss his departure will be for Herts. The player who caught everyone’s attention was the Arrows’ new unnamed shortstop, who made two spectacular diving plays during the game showing off his acrobatic skills and strong arm.
The Arrows also lost their second game of the day to the Dbacks, who also beat the London Mets earlier with an impressive 6-1 score line. This was the Mets’ second loss in the HSL, but they recovered to secure a very impressive 7-0 win against the Herts Falcons. Starting pitcher Pietro Sollecito kept the Falcons bats very quite with a lot of control and movement on his pitches.
Despite the loss the Falcons still had a chance to win the 2012 HSL Majors as the suspended game from week 1 against the Dbacks was resumed. Lakenheath were leading 7-5 and they needed only 3 more outs in the bottom of the final inning to end their HSL campaign with a 100%-record. New arrival, Cris Hiche, led off the inning by getting on base for the Falcons, but that didn’t seem to worry Dbacks pitcher, Carl Petmecky, who retired the next three batters stranding Hiche on base.
STAGE SET FOR OPENING DAY
On their HSL showing, Lakenheath look like the team to beat, especially when Ken Reber returns to the UK in the next few weeks, however teams like London and Harlow also looked impressive despite missing some of their big names. Essex Arrows also look strong. Herts made a series of high-profile signings and all eyes will be on them. Then there are the Bracknell Blazers, Croydon Pirates, and Southampton Mustangs who are preparing for the new season behind closed doors and could have a surprise for the rest of the league next Sunday, 1 April, when the show begins with the Herts Falcons hosting the Bracknell Blazers at Grovehill Ballpark. First pitch 1:30pm.
Click to view full HSL scoreboard and standings
Herts Baseball Club has been awarded a grant of £10,000 from BaseballSoftballUK‘s capital facility funding from Sport England.
This grant, together with nearly £7,000 raised separately by Herts through various fund-raising activities, will be invested into the next stage of development of Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, creating one of the most advanced baseball and softball venues currently in existence in the United Kingdom.
History
The baseball facility at Herts was created in the early 1990s. In those early years it consisted of a single baseball diamond with a backstop and dirt infield, hosting games for the club’s one adult baseball team. Since then, Herts Baseball Club has seen unprecedented growth and has become one of the biggest baseball organisations in Great Britain with eight baseball teams — four senior and four youth — playing in various British senior and youth leagues. The facility was no longer capable of accommodating so many teams and the club had to put in place a plan for the long-term expansion and development of the venue.
With funding and support from BSUK, the National Lottery, Dacorum Borough Council, Dacorum Sports Network, Scotthall Watford BMW and MINI and many others, a second baseball field was added in 2010 and both diamonds now feature permanent backstops and permanent outfield fences – the only such facility in the UK.
Strategic investment
BSUK’s decision to award the £10,000 grant to Herts Baseball Club is in line with BSUK’s 2009-2013 Whole Sport Plan and Sport England’s strategic aims for the sport. The funds will be invested in the installation of perimeter fencing along the first and third base dead-ball lines of both diamonds, making each diamond a fully-enclosed baseball venue. Further fencing will be installed to create four fully-enclosed team dugouts for home and visiting teams on both diamonds. Work is scheduled to begin on 26 March 2012.
This phase of the long-term project will bring the venue a little closer to the standards set by countries such as the USA and Japan, and start to make up lost ground on fast-growing European baseball countries such as Germany, Holland and Italy.
“BSUK is delighted to award Herts Baseball Club £10,000 towards their facility improvements,” said Brendan Cunliffe, Development Logistics Manager for BaseballSoftballUK. “Herts Baseball Club is a progressive and well-governed club and the improvements they are continuing to make to their already excellent facilities will attract new adult and youth club members in the Hemel Hempstead area, increase the baseball playing population in the UK, and raise the satisfaction of all players visiting the site over the coming years.”
BSUK support
Herts Baseball Club President, Aspi Dimitrov said: “Baseball and softball facilities in the UK have remained underdeveloped over the years and BSUK identified that this is stopping our sport from realising its full potential. BSUK’s Facility Strategy in the last few years has energised the British baseball and softball communities, giving clubs around the country the capacity to grow and offer a much better product to participants”.
“No matter how hard clubs try on their own, the progress being made at the moment would not be possible without BSUK’s support,” Aspi added, “not just in terms of funding but also in expert advice and guidance in developing these facilities”.
“This announcement is a tremendous boost not only for the Hertfordshire public, but for the whole British baseball and softball community, who will be able to enjoy the benefits of this investment for many years when they come to Grovehill Ballpark for league, tournament, exhibition and international games and events.”
About BaseballSoftballUK Ltd (BSUK)
BaseballSoftballUK Ltd is the development agency for baseball and softball in the United Kingdom. Since 2000, BSUK has provided services to the sports’ governing bodies, the British Baseball Federation (BBF) and the British Softball Federation (BSF), with the aim of developing and increasing levels of participation, skill and achievement in UK baseball and softball. Projects delivered through BSUK’s Whole Sport Plan, funded by Sport England, include regional support for youth baseball and softball development programmes, support for workplace softball, coaching and coach-training, facility development and the expansion and strengthening of clubs throughout the country.
For more information about BSUK visit baseballsoftballuk.com
Boarding the plane at Stansted Airport early on Friday 2nd March, Herts Raptors first baseman Glen Downer could hardly contain his excitement for what awaited him at the other end in Pisa, Italy. After winning a competition through ESPN America and MLB Europe to attend a baseball camp with ex MLB stars and MLB coaches, Glen reports on what was the trip of a lifetime for him….
After a short flight I arrived at Pisa airport to be greeted by the guys from ESPN America and MLB Europe, and off we went to my temporary home for the weekend, the MLB European Academy at the Italian Olympic Training Centre in Tirrenia just outside of Pisa. Upon arrival we were shown to our rooms before we met for a tour of the facility. The anticipation grew as we approached the baseball field, where we were met with a view of a beautiful looking well groomed diamond, with an outfield that stretched out all the way to the 410ft centre field fence! No chance of hitting the ball over that one then! We stood and watched the Belgian and Italian national teams train for a while, then everyone decided they could wait no longer to get stuck to some ball, so Dan, one of the MLB European Academy coaches, arranged for us to play a bit of casual softball on the adjacent field, which ended up turning into a full blown softball game! So much for taking it easy before the next day’s mammoth baseball training session!
We were then summoned to the dining hall to meet the rest of our hosts, and the two people we were most looking forward to meeting, the stars themselves! First up was the Italian player Alessandro Maestri, a one time Minor League AA ball player from the Cubs organisation, he played in a couple of appearences for the Cubs and is currently playing in Japan in the hope of returning to America soon to continue in his career. Second to be introduced needed no introduction, Dodgers and Mets legend Mike Piazza!! A career .308 hitter, with 427 career HR, a 12 time All Star, and the second longest RBI game streak in the history of the game, this wasn’t just an ex player who’d spent some time in the show, it was nothing less than a baseball God!! This most definitely set the standard for the whole weekend.
The next day we woke up to perfect baseball weather, a warm 17 degrees and sunny skies. After a short introduction we got going with a full on Major League style dynamic warm up, run by Alex Maestri. Well all I can say is it made the Herts Raptors warm ups look like a mere trot up the baseline to the fence and back! It certainly highlighted quite how fit these top players are, and why they need to go through such a warm up to keep themselves in shape and avoid injuries. After that was the normal game of catch progressing into long ball toss, where Mike Piazza, Alex Maestri and the MLB coaches educated us in the best way to throw a baseball; this was the first thing in the day that I realised I hadn’t been doing properly, and was most certainly not the last! After that were the infield drills, which were much the same as the drills we run at the club, fielding ground balls and tossing back; however there were still plenty of things to be learnt about body position, resulting in a much easier throw to base, and techniques that led to better glove control.
After lunch we all reconvened for the part that I was looking forward to the most, the opportunity to face a pitcher throwing at big league speeds!! Alex Maestri was on the mound and was told not to take anything off, and he didn’t! Throwing fastballs reaching 87-88mph on estimation from the coaches, which is easily as fast as some pitchers in the Majors, you barely have time to think about swinging the bat, let alone spotting the location and trying to get some wood on the ball! After taking a few pitches to gauge the speed, and a few wafts at thin air, I finally heard the sound I was hoping for, that of baseball on wood bat; ok I only just managed to foul it off over the first base line, but that was good enough for me and I left the batting cage smiling, I’d managed to foul off a Major League speed pitch!! Ok, you might be thinking this is no incredible achievement, but bearing in mind we’re lucky to face pitching at above 50mph in A ball in the UK, facing something nearly twice as fast was really quite daunting!
We then moved on to normal BP, with pitches at 60-65mph from the pitching machine. This was a little more familiar now, and Mike Piazza spent some time giving us hitting coaching (you don’t get many better batting coaches than that), I did Herts Baseball Club proud by managing to collect the most fair ball hits for the whole group, with Mr Piazza telling me that I had a good swing with plenty of power, so be proud of yourselves Herts Baseball coaches you’re clearly doing something right, compliments from Mike Piazza don’t come lightly! Then came the moment we’d pretty much all been waiting for, Mike Piazza stepped up into the batting cage to hit a few pitches. The quality of this man’s swing was immediately apparent, even though he’d not participated in any proper batting practice since leaving the bigs almost 5 years ago, it was pretty obvious this hadn’t really affected it! After a couple of spotting pitches he crushed a huge fly to right clearing the fence, to raptuous applause and cheers from the entire congregation! His lazy but incredibly powerful swing produced a few more huge hits that we were all scrabbling to try and catch, and it was over. After catching a few fly balls from the coaches to finish the day we all retired back to our rooms to get ready for an evening of celebration following such an amazing day.
After one last game of softball the next morning to put a huge cherry on top of what had been an unbelievable weekend, with Mike Piazza as umpire, we all had our photo taken with him and made our way back to collect our things for departure. Enjoying a few beers in the airport waiting for the flight home I reflected on what I had just experienced. Not only had I made friends with a great bunch of people from all over europe, I’d been part of a once in a lifetime experience, being treated to coaching from baseball greats and some of the best coaches in the game. The whole weekend will stay with me for the rest of my life, and I can only hope that it has made me an even better player. I can’t wait to get going on the new season! PLAY BALL!!!
Ken Pike presents a brand new show on Herts Baseball TV. This first edition of the show features a roundup of the action from the Opening Day of the 2012 Herts Spring league a look ahead to next weekend when all 20 teams are in action as the AAA and AA teams start their Spring Training games.