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by Rob Jones

BBC presenters agree to face Herts youth stars

It was perhaps a foolhardy moment for two of the stalwarts of sports broadcasting in Hertfordshire. Or was it the moment an epic confrontation was set in train?

Geoff Doyle and Luke Ashmead of BBC 3 Counties Radio were just wrapping up their interview with Herts’ own Lee and Riley Manning – when the visiting father and son duo pulled out their trump card.

“I want to get you down to face our juniors”, says Lee, quickly but casually. “Yeah, yeah” came the swift reply.

Geoff and Luke manfully said they would show no mercy. But Riley piped up with what was described as “fighting talk” in response.

“We’d absolutely love to do that”, insisted the BBC men. Now we just need to set a date.

Lee Manning, Herts’ youth commissioner for 2019, had chatted with them both about the year ahead, the Herts Falcons’ foray into European competition, and the opportunities offered by the MLB London Series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

You can hear the whole thing here:

Of course, Geoff Doyle and Luke Ashmead are no strangers to Grovehill Ballpark. They came down in 2013 for a training session on a beautiful summer evening, and got to compete against one another at hitting.

When Lee and Riley dropped in to the studios this year, it was clear that the presenters remembered it well!

Luke quickly reminded Geoff that their previous experience of Herts baseball had included “me beating you in a batting competition”.

“I thought you might bring that one up”, he admitted after a brief pause. That’s how long baseball lives with you, and how much satisfaction it gives you when you get things right!

“It was such fun”, they agreed, saying anyone could try out the sport without any need to know the rules or the details.

You can listen to the original 2013 session here:

Stay tuned and we will keep you updated on when Geoff and Luke will be making their appearance at Grovehill to test their skills against our young stars.

You know they wouldn’t back out of it. Would they….?

 

 

by Rob Jones

Father-son duets do the double for Herts

At times, it looked as if the Herts Raptors would struggle to get a team together for Sunday’s trip to the Tonbridge Bobcats, as Father’s Day stripped away a few regulars from the line-up.

In the end, the 9 players they got together played one of their best all-around games of the season to secure a win. New father and son recruits were central to it, but more of them later.

We will start at the top of the first, when rookie Harvey Blenkarne led off with a hit to centre field. He advanced around the bases to score, as did manager Matt Jackson.

James Emblow at bat

Raptors loaded the bases, but some miscommunication about an infield fly ended the threat. Tonbridge struck back with two runs of their own, but in the second innings Herts were able to cash in more of their base-runners.

Doubles from Jackson and from Rob Jones helped bring in 5 runs this time, with the Bobcats getting only 1 in reply.

Herts veteran Arnie Longboy was on the mound for this one, and worked steadily in and around the strike zone. Andrew Sharp for Tonbridge picked up more strikeouts, but Longboy and his catcher, Ken Pike, kept the Bobcats swinging, and the defense backed them up.

Edward Liu, switched to first base for this game, was a rock, while Matt Jackson made excellent plays in a rare appearance at third base.

Shortstop Rob Jones – whose career highlight is probably a sliding infield catch at Tonbridge – made a sliding infield catch which was almost a carbon copy. He was able to dash in for a dying quail which had just enough to get past the pitcher, but not enough to reach anyone else.

Raptors led 10-4 after four innings. Solid, but far from decisive in Single-A. Whereas in the past, the team has sometimes lost a bit of focus at times like these, they stepped it up this time.

That father-son duo we mentioned earlier was Brian and Josh Morgan. Brian (senior) slipped smoothly into a job at second base, and got a hit every time he came up.

Josh (the younger) took time to warm up against the pitching. But when Herts needed the production to seal the game he hit a superb double to the outfield. He capped that with a steal of home, a cloud of dust as his exclamation point.

Herts scored 11 in the top of the fifth, with James Emblow contributing a double, a single and a run. It put a mercy rule win within sight. Tonbridge got runners on, and scored 2 as they loaded the bases.

But they ran out of outs. Matt Jackson made the final play from third to cap off a 21-6 victory and move his side to 5-2 on the season.

The Herts Hawks at Grovehill

Back at Grovehill, the Herts Hawks were hosting the Norwich Iceni, last year’s unbeaten champions in Single-A. Norwich had won the first encounter between the teams in Double-A this year, a rain soaked affair which went to extra innings.

The Hawks bats helped them jump out to an early lead, and pitcher Darrin Ward held the visitors to just one hit in the first two innings. Norwich did manage to rally.

But the Hawks showed their power to surge ahead. Ward and Andy Cornish both hit doubles, while there was a triple for Gilberto Medina. 10 runs in the fourth inning put Herts in control, with a 17-4 lead.

Manager Mike Cresswell got on base every time he came up while Drew Mayhew – playing his first Herts game for two and a half years, hit a double.

The Hawks celebrated a 20-5 mercy rule win and they are now 8-2 on the year.

At this game, the father-son combo was Louis Hare, who played a great game as ever, and Geoff, one of the country’s leading umpires. It seems you can play baseball and celebrate Father’s Day at the same time.

 

by Zack Longboy

Battling the ‘Enfield hop’

London Capitals, 11 – Herts Falcons, 9

In a game where forfeit (and consequently the dashing of any playoff berth hopes) looked likely, the Herts Falcons battled adversity all day long in the Father’s Day matchup with the London Capitals.

Continue reading “Battling the ‘Enfield hop’” →

by Rob Jones

Raptors burn Inferno to spark their season

Herts Raptors 25-14 Bracknell Inferno, April 23rd 2017 – by Rob Jones

This victory by the Raptors, on the Opening Day of the Single-A season, was the perfect illustration of old and new working together.

One of the crucial runs to seal the deal in the bottom of the seventh inning was scored by Darren Butterworth, who had never played a league baseball game before. And he was driven in by Arnie Longboy, who’s been with the club for nigh on a decade.

Substitute catcher Brad Charalambous at bat

Somewhere neatly between the two categories is the fact that the actual winning run was scored by Arnie’s daughter Theo, a European champion at softball with the GB team, but new to baseball.

The Raptors had started slowly in the sporadic sunshine at Grovehill, with Bracknell’s hard-throwing pitcher Bruce Webb getting the best of the early exchanges.  He racked up three strikeouts and just one walk in the first inning.

But catcher Paul Auchterlounie got the first Herts hit in the second inning, and scored the first run. He ended the day 2-for-2 with a walk.

Third-baseman Tom Carson — another debutant in the Raptors lineup — closely followed him, and outfielder Joseph Osborne-Brade hit a double.

The Raptors kept their lead as the game wore on — 7-4 after three, 15-9 after five — but could never blow it open. Bracknell kept hitting against both starting pitcher Paul Barton, and reliever Longboy. And the two defenses were pretty even.

The top of the Herts order kept on walking and scoring steadily, with Matt Jackson and Rob Jones having 7 of each between them.

First baseman Giuseppe Basilea – making the step up from under-17 baseball – had perhaps the standout defensive play for Herts, in the top of the sixth. He caught a sinking line drive and immediately saw a chance to double off the Bracknell runner at second who had strayed too far.

Giuseppe Basilea at first base

He actually threw to third, but it didn’t matter. Because that was followed by the second-best defensive play as Ben Sinclair — yep, you guessed it, another rookie — quickly made a strong and accurate throw to second to nab the runner.

Bracknell had stayed close until the late innings, when Webb had tired and the fresh new Herts recruits came in to help stretch the lead. The Raptors scored 5 in the bottom of the sixth and needed 4 in the bottom of the seventh to secure a walk-off via the mercy rule.

Longboy Sr. duly delivered with a hit to right field, and the team celebrated. Both Bracknell and Herts had turned in strong performances to start their 2017, and are looking forward to what’s ahead.

by Zack Longboy

Depleted Falcons regress from run of good form

On a day where the Falcons could barely cobble together a 9-man side, Herts limped to a 10-4 loss against the first place London Mets.

Injuries to Conner Brown (tricep), Darren Meintjes (finger) and the absences of shortstop Louis Hare, second basemen Ian McCann and Moises Vasquez, and catcher Phil Clark meant that the Falcons were far from full strength.

Above: With regular catchers Conner Brown and Phil Clark sidelined due to injury and family commitments, Manager Lee Manning was forced to don the ‘tools of ignorance’ for Sunday’s game against the Mets.

So there the Falcons found themselves, down 5 starters, facing the NBL’s premier team.  The only potential saving grace? The schedule. Sunday would be a single 7-inning game matchup, and in baseball, especially 7-inning baseball, anything can happen.

The game started very promising with Mets starter Maxwell Tyler issuing leadoff walks to both Brown (playing as the designated hitter) and John Blose, before a 2-RBI single from Tyler Badenhorst broke open the scoring.

The lead however didn’t last long. In the bottom of 1st the Mets’ bats rallied for a barrage of 4 runs against the Falcons’ starter Zack Longboy. Throughout the game Longboy, who has pitched well in recent weeks, struggled to find his normal command on his fastball, forcing him to rely almost exclusively on his knuckleball. Although this kept hitters off balance from the 2nd-5th innings (1 earned run), it did lead to costly walks for Longboy.

After the 1st, Tyler settled down and carved up the Falcons lineup, going the next four innings without a run crossing the plate. After a smattering of runs (earned and unearned) across the middle innings, Tyler exited the game in the 5th with his team up 9-2.

Replacing him was Mets reliever Elijah Hackney-Rose, a familiar face for some Herts players who had played with him for Great Britain youth teams. And maybe this familiarity helped the Falcons as Brown (a catcher for Hackney-Rose on the GB side) opened with a hard hit single and the frame ended with 2 more Herts runs having crossed the plate.

However, the score wouldn’t get much closer than 9-4 as London rallied to score another run off of Longboy in the 6th drawing the game to its final score of 10-4. The result ends what has been a run of good form that the Falcons have put up against their recent opponents (splitting the last two doubleheaders), however Manning is confident that, with a full squad, the Falcons can stay competitive even against top teams like London.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Filling in With the rash of injuries and absences plaguing the Falcons, two players rostered in lower levels of the organization were called on to perform on Sunday. Aspi Dimitrov (who had been on brief hiatus) returned with consistent play in centerfield and even picked up a single in his last at-bat. Single A player Rodney Naghar also made an impact, showing good glove work at first base and hitting a double to left field.

Tak-ing off  The Falcons bid farewell to one of their more consistent performers on Sunday as the beloved Takaya Miki played in his final NBL game before leaving for a university placement in Japan. Miki has been a defensive stopper for Herts this year, consistently filling a corner outfield spot, and his bat had heated up in recent weeks. He will be greatly missed by his teammates and Manager who wish only the best for him and his future.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Falcons have a two-game home stand on July 31st against the 2nd place Southampton Mustangs (21-3). First pitch for Game 1 is at 12 PM and Game 2 is scheduled to begin at 3 PM

 

 

by Zack Longboy

Falcons playing spoiler, pick up win

On Sunday’s triple-header affair at Grovehill Ballpark, it was almost as if the weather was tied to the Falcons emotions.

The day started (early) with intermittent rain in the morning as the Falcons took on the 5th place Brighton Jets. Tyler Badenhorst was on the mound for the for the Falcons, facing Jamie Ratcliff of the Jets. After two rain delays, a particularly strong bout of rain forced the umpires to call the game with Jets in the lead. The minimum number of innings (4) had been played however, and the Jets walked away with a 5-1 victory.

After a long break, which saw the London Capitals defeat the Jets, the sun returned just in time for the Falcons second game of the day. With the sun there also came a boost in morale: just one week previous, the Falcons had played two tough games against the Capitals and only narrowly lost them both. 

Above: As the weather improved, so too did the Falcon’s performance.

Zack Longboy started on the mound for the Falcons, throwing a complete game and picking up the 10-8 win. The Herts bats looked alive as the team peppered hits off of London’s starter Maxime Flayol and relief pitcher Yusuke Ueno.

Herts led, albeit by a tight margin, for most of the game even stretching the lead to 3 runs in the 5th inning. A late home run gave the struggling Capitals a glimmer of hope, but leading 10-8, Herts Manager Lee Manning left Longboy out to finish the game and the Falcons shut the door.

The 10-8 victory over the 3rd place London Capitals marks the Falcons’ third win of the year, moving them into 6th place and ahead of the South London Pirates. While it is mathematically improbable that the Falcons could sneak into the playoffs, over the next six weeks they will be playing the role of spoiler as they match up against the NBL’s top dogs.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Zack Longboy’s dual threat performance When asked for his player of the game, Manager Manning lauded Zack Longboy’s performance both on the mound and at the plate. He went “5 for 6 [at the plate] and pitched beautifully, working his way out of jams like a seasoned pro,” Manning said. “He gets better every time [and] I have the joy of watching him play.” His performance against the Capitals was Longboy’s first career complete game in the NBL and second career win. And, of his five hits, two came with the bases loaded. 

More debuts Two more players made their Falcons debut on Sunday. Ian McCann played second base and came on in relief of Badenhorst in Game 1. In Game 2, Aaron Witter, a 14-year-old regular for the Herts Raptors, also got a cup of coffee with the NBL squad as he came off the bench to play right field. Witter’s experience is indicative of the fact that “Herts project youth is starting to pay off,” as Manning said, after the game. “The Capitals are a great team and our youngest player (14-year-old Aaron Witter) got the final out.” (Witter secured a fly ball to end the game.)

Execution, execution, execution Three critical runs of the 10 that the Falcon’s scored came via the suicide squeeze – Manning deploying an aggressive style with runners on third base. Although prior to Sunday, Louis Hare had never laid down a bunt in game, two of these squeezes involved him on the bunting end. A fourth squeeze was also put into motion, although a pick play to third by the Capitals pitcher left Matt Gilbert to improvise. When the dust cleared Gilbert had scored, leaving many rushing to check the record books on the oldest player to ever steal home.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

Interference? Late in Game 2, a Capital’s runner scrambled from second to third, dislodging the Falcon’s shortstop in the process. As Louis Hare was in the process of fielding a ground ball, the runner was called out for interference, ending the inning. The Capital’s first base coach reacted strongly to the call, getting in the umpires face and causing a loud confrontation. Subsequently, the player was ejected and play continued without further interruption.

WHAT’S NEXT

On Sunday July 17th, the Falcons will take on the 4th place Essex Arrows (12-12) at Town Mead Ballpark. First pitch for Game 1 is 12:00 PM and Game 2 is scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM.

by Greg Bochan

8th annual Hert Futures Tournament – Great Weather – Great Baseball – Great Britain

With teams attending from all over the country; from as far as Halton in the North, Essex in the East, Brighton in the South and High Wycome in the West; Herts Baseball Club hosted its eighth annual futures tournament at their home ground, Grovehill Ballpark, on Saturday 26th September.

With 20 teams between the 4 age groups (U19’s, U14’s, U12’s and U10’s), a record for the futures tournament, a full day of baseball was on the agenda. To compliment this mammoth day the weather was wonderful with clear skies and warm temperatures, ideal for playing baseball.

In the U19’s Herts fought off a resilient Halton team to win its first ever Futures tournament crown, with a walk off win 3-2.

In the U14’s LYBL retain their crown winning both their games in the final series.

The U12’s again had LYBL take the top prize after dominating in the final series taking both games decisively.

London Sports won the U10’s after narrowly beating the Mets in the championship game.

The day was fantastic and massively enjoyed by all, the Herts concession stand recording its busiest ever day and nearly running out of its famous Chilli Dogs. The raffle proved very popular with players and parents alike trying to win some unique autographed baseball memorabilia kindly donated by BSUK.

Herts would like to thank all the teams who participated for making it such a special day, along with the umpires and all the Herts volunteers who worked tirelessly on the day to make it the great success that it was.
Can’t wait for next year!

The Herts Futures Tournament (HFT) has been held every year since 2008 and is now a permanent fixture in the British baseball calendar. It brings together youth teams of all age groups from across the country for a day of baseball at one of the best baseball venues in the United Kingdom.

by Greg Bochan

BBF Cup Semi-finals and Finals at Grovehill

BBF Cup Semi-finals and Finals at Grovehill

This Sunday, September 13, the BBF Cup Championship games are coming to Herts.

In semi-final action you’ll see Herts v London on Grovehill’s New diamond and Southampton v Essex on the Old diamond. Games start at 12:30pm.

The Finals will take place immediately following the conclusion of the semi-final games.

All games are 7 inning games. The winner will be crowned BBF Cup Champion 2015.

If you’re planning on coming down to root on Herts or one of the visiting teams, you may want to bring a little cash. A concession stand will be running as well as the Herts shop; where you can pick up some smooth Herts kit or a plethora of non-Herts general baseball gear.

by Greg Bochan

BBF Single-A Championship Saturday

The Herts Hawks are on their way to Farnham park this Saturday, 12 September.

At 12:45 they start the final leg of their journey to the Championship match.

The Hawks are facing Tonbridge. A formidable side whom they just managed to squeak a win out of earlier in the season. The extra inning game was a close one with the Hawks pulling out the victory in the 10th.

If the Hawks are successful in their semi-final match they will go on to play the winner of the London v Guildford game for the 2015 BBF Single-A Championship.

If you’d like to come and support the Hawks, directions to Farnham park can be found here

by Greg Bochan

2015 Herts Futures Tournament

It’s time to sign up for one of the biggest youth tournaments in British baseball, the Herts Futures Tournament.

This year’s event will take place on Saturday, 26th September.

Click here to visit the 2015 Herts Futures Tournament webpage.

This competition has been held every year since 2008 and is now a permanent fixture in the sporting calendar. It brings together youth teams of all age groups from across the country for a day of baseball at Grovehill Ballpark, one of the best baseball venues in the United Kingdom.

Last year was a record for the HFT with 15 teams entering the competition, and we hope to build on that in 2015. In previous years teams from Horsham, Bracknell, the LYBL Bulldogs and the Northstar Polecats are among those which have come to Hemel Hempstead for the event.

This year, in addition to inviting Under-19, Under-14 and Under-12 teams, Herts is exploring the option of adding an Under-10 division, which would be coach-pitch. There may also be exciting changes to the format of several games in a group stage, followed by finals.

It all depends how many teams sign up, so please register now and final details will be sent to competing teams.

All games will be played at Grovehill. The home of Herts Baseball Club in Hemel Hempstead, it has two purpose-built diamonds with pitching mounds, permanent outfield fences, and dugouts.

Grovehill has frequently hosted BBF postseason and GB Team games. During the Herts Futures Tournament additional diamonds are added to accommodate all the age groups.

The organisers provide game balls and umpires. All you have to bring is your enthusiasm! A concessions stand will sell hot and cold drinks, donuts and hot dogs.

Those who wish to enter a team are kindly requested to email the organisers by 6 September 2015.

The entry fee has been set at £40. Your entry fee must be received no later than 13 September 2015.

More details can be found on the 2015 Herts Futures Tournament webpage.

The 2015 Herts Futures Tournament info pack is available for download by CLICKING HERE.

Please contact Mark Caress at Herts Baseball Club for any further details. He can be reached at mark.caress@hertsbaseball.com