Category: Youth Leagues

2 July 20152 July 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

4 Herts players get GB U19 team call-up for European Championships

Great Britain under-19 National Baseball Team Head Coach Will Lintern and the BBF have announced the roster of 17 players that will represent GB at this summer’s European U19 Championships. The squad includes four players from Herts – Conner Brown, Carlos Casal Jr, Zack Longboy and Will Zucker.

The week-long 10-team tournament will take place from 13-19 July in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where Team GB have been drawn in a pool with the reigning U19 European Champions Italy, as well as Spain, France and Germany. This will be the first time in 10 years that Great Britain has competed in the European U19 Championships. GB booked their place in the tournament with a silver medal finish at last summer’s European U19 Championship Qualifier in Croatia.

The 2015 GB U19 team has to be one of the most well-prepared national teams that GB has sent to a summer competition. The past winter included both Academy and National Team practices, and the second year of the High Performance Academy (HPA). The HPA programme, which is funded by Sport England and supported by Major League Baseball, enabled eligible athletes in England to receive greater levels of support during the off-season. A second HPA venue was added, with practices taking place in Worthing and Wembley, and with players who lived farther afield were supported through a distance learning programme.

Efforts by the GB programme and by BSUK (which runs the HPA and Academy) to develop talent have been noticed by others, as two GB players were selected to play on the European All-Star team in the MLB Academies Tournament earlier this year: Jacob Dean, an outfielder/pitcher from Horsham and Johnny Fretheim, a catcher/outfielder from the London Mets.

Finally, a training camp will be run in the Czech Republic immediately before the European U19 Championships, with half of the players at the camp and the other group in Kutno, Poland representing the UK in the European Little League Big League Qualifier.

SCHEDULE

GB’s round-robin schedule at the European U19 Championships will be as follows, with the home team listed first:

Monday 13 July – GB v Germany (5.00 pm)
Tuesday 14 July – France v GB (3.00 pm)
Thursday 16 July – Spain v GB (11.00 am)
Friday 17 July – GB v Italy (5.00 pm)

Semi-finals will be played on 18 July and the final on Sunday 19 July.

GB Head Coach Will Lintern said, “We have a very strong team. This is the one of the most prepared group of young men we have ever had, and their commitment and dedication puts us in a great position to perform well.”

ROSTER

The players selected for GB for the European U19 Championships are:

PLAYER	POSITION	CLUB
Luke Armstrong	P / INF	Cartmel Valley Lions
Elliot Berger	IB / P	Zurich Barracudas
Conner Brown	C	Herts Baseball Club
Dexter Bohn	OF	London Mets / LYBL Bulldogs
Rich Brereton	INF / P	Darien (Conn) High School, USA
Carlos Casal	UTIL / P	Herts Baseball Club
Rory Chandler	OF	Leicester Blue Sox
Jacob Dean	P / OF	Bracknel l/ LYBL Bulldogs
Johnny Fretheim	C / INF / P	London Mets / LYBL Bulldogs
Eli Hackney-Rose	P / OF	London Mets
Laura Hirai	P	London Mets
Andrew Lee	IF / OF	LYBL Bulldogs
Zack Longboy	P	Herts Baseball Club
Fred Mosier	UTIL / P	London Mets
Miguel Rodriguez	INF / P	Bracknell / LYBL Bulldogs
Matteo Sollecito	P	London Mets
Will Zucker	P / INF	Herts Baseball Club

30 June 201529 June 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Great Britain Under-15 National Team calls up Herts youngster for Euro qualifiers

Michael Johnson (right) with his Herts Harriers (U17) team mates last year

Herts Baseball Club received exciting news off the field as the Great Britain Under-15 National Team announced its squad for the U15 European Championship Qualifiers. The squad includes Herts infielder, Michael Johnson, who has been a member of the Herts Under-17 and Under-19 teams over the last few seasons. The games will be played in Belgrade, Serbia, from 21 to 26 July. Great Britain is in a difficult group with France, Switzerland and hosts Serbia.

This continues Herts’ fantastic record of its players being called-up to represent their country on the international scene. The progress of Herts players with the GB teams is a tremendous boost for Herts Baseball as an organisation. The Club is even more excited by the fact that there are many more talented players coming through the various age groups of the Herts youth system, from the U10 through to the U19 age groups. It proves that the opportunity is there for any young players who want to get involved in baseball to progress and wear the GB Team jersey.

Of course, you don’t have to be a GB National Team player to play baseball. Any interested players, boys and girls, between 6 and 18 years of age, from complete beginners to advanced players can join the Herts baseball youth teams. Get in touch if you would like to come and give baseball a try.

21 June 201522 June 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Round-up of the under-12 UK Little League Championships

photo by Vicky Sinclair

The Herts under-12 team came up against the best teams in the country this weekend as part of the UK Little League Championship. They were drawn in the “group of death” where they to the eventual winners LYBL and to Horsham. That meant that they were playing in the consolation games on Sunday, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the youngsters from Hertfordshire. Their second encounter with Horsham was a classic which went into extra innings. The game ended in a 15-15 tie with a heart-breaking out at home which stopped Nicolas Durer from scoring the winning run. In their final game of the tournament they lost 7-3 to the Mets.

Play of the day went to Josh Jones who made four spectacular catches in left field one of which was an extravagant diving play.

UK LITTLE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS – U12 FINAL SCORES
Herts 0 LYBL 12
Horsham 4 Herts 0
Horsham 15 Herts 15 (tie declared in extra innings)
Herts 3 London Mets 7

The youth league season continues as the Herts youth teams build-up to the biggest prize of the baseball season, the National Baseball Championships which will be played in September. There is still plenty of time for any new players to join the teams and be eligible for that eagerly anticipated event.

15 June 201515 June 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Round-up of UK Little League U19 and U15 Qualifiers. Next weekend it’s the U12s turn.

Herts Cardinals in the U15 Little League Qualifiers (photo by Vicky Sinclair)

In the Little League under-19 qualifiers, the Herts Harriers lost their games against LYBL and London Mets, while in the under-15 division the Herts Cardinals finished fourth behind London Sports, LYBL and the winners, London Mets, who overcame LYBL in the final to progress through to the European qualifiers with a place in the Little League World Series to play for.

Herts entered a team in the under-15 age group of the UK Little League Qualifiers for the first time in its history. The Herts Cardinals came up against teams with more experience so it was always going to be an uphill challenge. In the semi-final they were beaten convincingly 16-0 by LYBL. This meant that they had to compete for the bronze medal in a best-of-3 series against LondonSports. In game one of the series they took a 13-3 lead after an impressive pitching outing by starting pitcher, 12-year-old, Aaron Witter. With two innings left to play he reached his pitch count limit and had to step down from the mound. That gave LondonSports the belief that they can come back into the game and they did, clinching a dramatic 14-13 walk-off win. LondonSports had greater pitching depth and that proved decisive as they went on to win the series with a 19-7 victory in the second game.

Most of the Herts players are two or even three years younger than their opponents so they can take comfort from the fact that they can work hard and come back bigger and stronger over the next few years while their opponents will move up to the older age groups.

The youth league season continues as the teams build-up to the biggest prize of the baseball season, the National Baseball Championships which will be played in September. There is still plenty of time for any new players to join the teams and be eligible for that eagerly anticipated event.

Next weekend, 20-21 June, it is the turn of the Herts under-12 team to play in the Little League qualifiers. They have been placed in Pool B with the Essex Redbacks, London Sports and Horsham. Here is the games schedule:
Saturday, 20 June
Pool A
10:30 am LYBL vs London Mets (Round Robin Game 1 of 3)
01:30 pm LYBL vs Brentwood (Round Robin Game 2 of 3)
04:30 pm London Mets vs Brentwood (Round Robin Game 3 of 3)

Teams with the best two records will advance to the semi finals on Sunday. If teams have the same record then the tie breaker rule will be followed (see below).

Pool B
Saturday (Youth Baseball 1 & 3)
09:30 am Herts vs Essex Redbacks (Youth Baseball 1) PBGM1
10:00 am London Sports vs Horsham (Youth Baseball 3) PBGM2
01:00 pm Loser PBGM1 vs Loser PBGM2
04:00 pm Winner PBGM1 vs PBGM2

The team who finishes 2-0 will advance to the semi finals on Sunday. The team who finishes 0-2 will advance to the consolation series on the Sunday. For the teams who finish 1-1 the tiebreaker rule shall determine which team advances to the semi final and which team will play in the consolation series

Sunday
Semi – finals and final
10:00 am Top seed from Pool A vs 2nd seed from Pool B (Youth Baseball 1) SF1
10:00 am Top seed from Pool B vs 2nd seed from Pool A (Youth baseball 2) SF2
12:30 pm Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2 U12 / Minors 3rd Place Game
03:00 pm Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 (Youth Baseball 2) U12 / Minors Championship Game

Consolations Series
10:30 am 3rd Place Pool A vs 3rd Place Pool B
01:00 pm 3rd Place Pool A vs 4th Place Pool B
03:30 pm 4th Place Pool B vs 3rd Place Pool B

30 May 201530 May 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts youth baseball teams bring back 3 wins from Essex trip

With just two weeks remaining to the Little League UK Championships Herts teams from various age groups travelled to Brentwood in Essex.

Herts Cardinals (U15) 16 Forest Glade Redbacks (U15) 11

In the under-15 games the Herts Cardinals recorded their first two wins of the season. Their opponents were the Forest Glade Redbacks. Akito Bando has given the team a big boost since joining. He was the winning pitcher in game one which finished 16-11. There was a home run by Aaron Witter in that first game, but there was more to come from the 12-year-old who has just moved into the Under-15 age group.

Herts Cardinals (U15) 16 Forest Glade Redbacks (u15) 1

Witter was the starting pitcher in game two. He pitched an absolute gem allowing only one hit and one run. He also made his mark with the bat adding three more home runs making it four home runs for the day. One of them was a grand slam. Felix Maldonado also hit a home run, his second of the season after an inside-the-parker in last weekend’s game versus London. The Cardinals gave a debut to Billy Ayriss in these games.

Herts (U12) 4 Brentwood Bucks (U12) 14

In the under-12 games Herts lost their first game 14-4 against the Brentwood Bucks. James Dullea hit a towering 3-run home run showing that hard work in the batting cages will pay off. The Herts U12 team is also starting to see contribution from its younger members. 8-year-old Zack Minter picked up an assist with an on-the-money throw to third from the outfield to gun down the runner.

Herts (U12) 8 Forest Glade Redbacks (U12) 3

The team bounced back in their second game of the day this time against the Forest Glade Redbacks. James Dullea pitched three strong innings and he had the run support he needed from his teammates who were a lot more aggressive on the bases and with the bats, including two doubles by Christian Lynch.

The Little League UK Championships will take place on the weekends of 13-14 June and 20-21 June, but it is not too late for boys and girls of all ages to join the Herts teams. There is also the BBF National Championships to look forward to later in the year. For more details about giving baseball a try and joining the Herts baseball teams contact us.

27 May 201530 May 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

First games played at Herts’ new baseball diamond in London

The first games at the new West Hendon Ballpark in London were played on Monday, 25 May. Four youth teams with boys and girls from 8 to 15 years of age took part in these games. In the Under-15 games London Sports came out on top versus the Herts Cardinals, while in the Under-10 games the Mets and Herts picked up a win each in their doubleheader.

This project is part of Herts Baseball Club’s expansion into North West London to give the local community an opportunity to play baseball. The project is partly funded by the £10,000 grant awarded by Sport England.

The project has also received the support of other parties including the London Borough of Barnet, BSUK, and Dr. Matthew Offord, Member of Parliament for Hendon, who said “Sport England has made a tremendous bequest to our area by making this award. Baseball is not a traditional game of the UK but there is not only a great appetite for different type of sports but it also presents an opportunity for people of different backgrounds to come together and be united in the games. I look forward to visiting the diamond and perhaps swinging a bat myself.”

The club’s expansion and creation of a second ballpark is in line with BaseballSoftballUK’s “Played in every Park” vision.

“We are very excited to be bringing baseball to North West London and we hope to repeat the success of our existing programme in Hemel Hempstead which would mean that boys and girls, men and women of all ages, from beginners to elite players, will be able to play this fantastic sport, stay fit and healthy and become part of the Herts Baseball family and the wider British Baseball community” said Herts Baseball president Aspi Dimitrov.

There are various open baseball events coming up this summer which the whole community can get involved in. For more information about playing baseball with Herts at this new venue in North West London or at the club’s other branch in Hemel Hempstead contact us.

26 May 201526 May 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Raptors continue search for first win after defeat in Guildford

The Herts Raptors came agonisingly close to their first win of the season. In a slugfest away at the Guildford Mavericks they went down by a score of 25-24. Paul Barton was very effective on the mound giving Herts a 7-1 run after 2 innings. Guildford came back thanks to a combination of good hitting and several defensive errors. Daniel Bennett (pictured right) had an outstanding game offensively and defensively. He was involved in everything including 9 catches in left field which 38% of the total outs for the whole team on the day. Similar to last week’s battle in Brighton, the Raptors fought back in the final inning driving 5 runs home, but the tying run was stranded at second base for a second consecutive week. This was their fourth loss in a row, but they are still within reach of the playoffs if they can turn these one-run losses into wins.

The other three Herts teams had no games during the Bank Holiday Weekend, but there are several crucial games coming up for the Herts Falcons in the National Baseball League. Next Sunday, 31 May, they will host the Bracknell Blazers. The doubleheader starts at 12pm at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. The Falcons need to win both games if they are to maintain the pressure on the unbeaten London Mets whom they will face on 7 June away from home in the biggest game of the season so far.

In the Single-A league the Herts Hawks will travel to Tonbridge. Both teams have 100% records so far, so something has to give.

The action is also heating up in the youth leagues. A total of 10 games were played over the three days of the Bank Holiday weekend across four age groups. This included games at the club’s new West Hendon Ballpark in North West London. Herts teams in the U19, U15 and U12 age groups will go into the Little League UK Qualifier next month where the winners will progress through to the European qualifiers for a chance to play in the Little League World Series in the USA shown across the world to millions of TV viewers. It is not to late to join the Herts teams for this prestigious event. Contact us for more details about giving baseball a try.

18 May 201518 May 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

VIDEO: Conner Brown at the MLB European Academy Try Outs

For a second consecutive year, Herts Baseball Club was represented at the MLB European Academy Try Outs. This year Herts Falcons and Great Britain Under-17 National Team catcher, Conner Brown, was invited. He made his Herts Falcons debut in June 2013 at the age of 15 and he has been one of the most improved members of the team over the last three years. His performances for the Great Britain Under-17 National team have also contributed to this invitation.

Conner Brown will be taking part in next week’s segment of the Academy which will be held in Toulouse, France. This is only the second time that a Herts player has been invited. 12 months ago Tom Armstrong and Jamie Gregory represented Herts at the MLB European Academy try outs.

30 April 201530 April 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Conner Brown invited to MLB European Baseball Academy Try Outs

Herts Falcons and Great Britain Under-17 National Team catcher, Conner Brown, has been invited to this year’s Major League Baseball European Academy Try Outs. He made his Herts Falcons debut in June 2013 at the age of 15 and he has been one of the most improved members of the team over the last three years. His performances for the Great Britain Under-17 National team have also contributed to this invitation.

The MLB European Baseball Academy was created to provide training for European, New Zealand and African baseball prospects by former major leaguers. It also provides a central scouting location during the weeks it is open and over two dozen Academy alumni have signed contracts with MLB teams.

In 2011, Alex Liddi became the first Academy product to be called up to the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners. Donald Lutz was the second, making it in 2013 with the Cincinnati Reds. Instructors have included Barry Larkin, Lee Smith, Art Howe, Wally Joyner, Bruce Hurst, John McLaren, Steve Finley, Craig Shipley and Dale Murphy.

Through July 2013, over 50 Academy alumni had been signed by MLB organizations. So far there have been no British players who have gone on to sign contracts with MLB teams from the Academy, but the signs are that MLB is beginning to recognise the talented players playing in Britain, which is a boost for players in this country.

Herts fans should rest assured that he will be back in time for Herts Falcons’ next league game on Sunday, 10 May 2015, at the reigning champions, Essex Arrows. However, he will miss the U19 league games on Monday, 4 May.

26 April 201526 April 2015 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Theo Longboy gets GB team call-up for European Championships

Theo Longboy has received confirmation that she has been selected by the Great Britain Under-16 National Softball Team. She has been a member of the Herts youth teams since 2008. Last year she proved to be one of the leaders for the Herts Cardinals who picked up the bronze medal in the Under-14 National Baseball Championships.

GB Under-16 Head Coach Jeremy Thomas has named a squad of 13 players for the European Cadette Championships that will be played in Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy from 29 June-4 July. Only three of the 13 players selected for this year’s GB Cadettes competed in Ostrava two years ago, while the rest have either come up from the GB Under-13s or are new recruits to the programme. GB Cadette Head Coach Jeremy Thomas said, “Overall, we had more than 20 players going for squad places, which reflects the excellent work that has been done with the GB Under-13s over the past few years.

The GB Cadettes will open the tournament on Monday 29 June with a game against Spain at 2.00 pm Italian time, and will then play two games on Tuesday: Slovakia at 10.00 am and Russia at 6.00 pm. After that, the tournament will go to trophy and consolation playoffs.

The players selected are:

Laura Hirai (IF)
Theo Longboy (Utility)
Issie Mosely (OF)
Yolanda Phillips (Utility)
Mary Racz (Utility)
Jasmine Rushin (IF)
Katherine Ryan (P, IF)
Alana Snow (P, C, Utility)
Amira Solomon (C)
Annecy Stevens (OF)
Alys Thomas (OF)
Marlia Van’t Sant (Utility)
Niamh Walker (P, Utility)

This news is further evidence that baseball and softball offer fantastic opportunities for boys and girls to enjoy the game and progress through to the highest levels of baseball. With new players joining the Herts youth teams every week, it will be interesting to see how they will develop and if they will follow in the footsteps of Longboy and the other Herts players who are part of the GB baseball and softball national teams.