Category: Youth Leagues

by Herts Baseball News Editor

3 Herts players hope to help GB qualify for the U19 European Championships

Herts players Jake Caress, Tom Armstrong and Will Zucker are preparing to play in crucial games for the Great Britain Under-19 National Team this week.

The team has arrived in Croatia for the U19 European Championship qualifying tournament. Their opponents will be Hungary, Lithuania and Switzerland in the group stages. If they win or finish second they progress through to the semi-finals where they will play against the winner or the runner-up of the other group which comprises Belarus, Croatia, Poland and Slovakia.

The two winning semi-finalists will meet in the final and the winner of the tournament will advance to next summer’s U19 European Championships.

Ahead of these games GB U19 Manager, Will Lintern, was upbeat about the team’s chances. “We have a very strong team. This is the most prepared group of young men we have ever had, their commitment and dedication puts us in a great position to win the tournament get back into the European Championships” said Lintern.

SCHEDULE
Tue, 15 July, Hungary vs Great Britain
Wed, 16 July, Great Britain vs Lithuania
Thu, 17 July, Switzerland vs Great Britain
Fri, 18 July, Semi-Finals
Sat, 19 July, Final

Keep up-to-date with news from Croatia by following Herts Baseball Club on twitter and facebook.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts youngsters prepare for the opening game versus the Czechs tonight

In the British under-17 leagues, last month the Southern Conference overcame the Northern and Midlands conference to secure their place in the Europe and Africa qualification stage of the 2014 Little League World Series. This phase of the competition will be held between 6 and 12 July in Novara, Italy.

The Southern Conference All Star team, which will compete as UK’s representative, has now arrived in Italy. It features players from the Herts Harriers, London Mets and LYBL Bulldogs. Team UK has been placed in a very competitive group with Belgium, Spain and the Czech Republic which is a country making major strides and attracting a lot of attention from the multi-million dollar teams of Major League Baseball in America. Team UK’s first game is against the Czechs on Monday, 7 July, under the lights starting at 7:30pm UK time.

In the other group are France, Italy, the Netherlands and Lithuania, who already caused a major shock by beating last year’s winner Italy 9-4 in extra innings last night in the opening game of this competition.

The overall winner will progress to the Little League World Series which is shown live on ESPN around the world. Last year Italy qualified for the World Series by beating Team UK.

Herts Baseball Club’s representatives are infielder Carlos Casal Jr, third baseman and catcher Sebastian Molina and pitcher Zack Longboy.

Over the course of the competition this week most of the games will be televised on the internet (click to view). You can receive alerts about the TV schedule and regular updates from Italy by following Herts Baseball Club on twitter and facebook.

2014 LITTLE LEAGUE (UNDER-17) – EUROPE AND AFRICA QUALIFYING

(the win-loss records of the teams in the groups stage will be updated in orange over the course of the week)

Pool A
Belgium (BEL) 0-3
Czech Republic (CZE) 3-0
Great Britain (GBR) 2-1
Spain (ESP) 1-2

Pool B
France (FRA) 0-3
Italy (ITA) 2-1
Netherland (NED) 1-2
Lithuania (LIT) 3-0

SCHEDULE OF GAMES

(the final scores will be updated in orange as they come in over the course of the week)

Sunday July 6th ( Opening Game )
1 ITA 4 LIT 9  (8:30pm) Novara

Monday July 7th
2 FRA 5 NED 9 (10.00am) Novara
3 ESP 11 BEL 2 (1:30pm) Novara
4 CZE 4 GBR 0 (8:30pm) Novara (game suspended in 3rd inning due to lightning/rain with Czechs leading 3-0, will be resumed 9:30am UK time on Tuesday, 8 July.)

Tuesday July 8th
5 LIT 11 NED 10 (2:30pm) Vercelli
6 BEL 6 CZE  18 (5:30pm) Vercelli
7 FRA 1 ITA 14 (2:30pm) Novara
8 GBR 5 ESP 4 (F/9) (5:30pm) Novara

Wednesday July 9th
9 GBR 11 BEL 4 (10.00am) Novara
10 ESP 9 CZE 14 (2:00pm) Novara
11 LIT 10 FRA 6 (5:30pm) Novara
12 NED 0 ITA 10 (8:30pm) Novara

Thursday July 10th
13 3rd Pool A ESP – 4th Pool B FRA 2:30pm Vercelli
14 3rd Pool B NED – 4th Pool A BEL 5:30pm Vercelli
15 1st Pool A CZE – 2nd Pool B ITA 2:30pm Novara
16 1st Pool B LIT – 2nd Pool A GBR 5:30pm Novara

Friday July 11th

7th – 8th place
17 Looser game 13 – Looser game 14 2:30pm Novara

5th – 6th place
18 Winner game 13 – Winner game 14 5:30pm Novara

Saturday July 12th

3rd – 4th place
19 Looser game 15 – Looser game 16 2:30pm Novara

1st-2nd place – CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
20 Winner game 15 – Winner game 16 5:30pm Novara

 

Note: For each game the first team indicated in the schedule is the home team .

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Box scores: Herts All Stars 3 London Mets 14 – UK Little League Championship U12


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London Mets U12 at Herts All Stars U12
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
London Mets U12 0 0 4 5 5 14 14 2
Herts All Stars U12 2 1 0 0 0 3 6 4
London Mets U12 14, Herts All Stars U12 3
London Mets U12 Herts All Stars U12
ab r h bi ab r h bi
V Player 1 p 1 3 1 1 Cal McCreavy 1b-2b 2 0 1 1
V Player 2 c 3 2 1 0 Lucas Lebrato c 3 1 1 0
V Player 3 1b 4 3 3 4 Aaron Witter p-1b 2 1 2 1
V Player 4 2b 4 2 3 1 Oliver Durer ss 2 0 0 0
V Player 5 3b 3 1 1 2 Christian Lynch 3b 1 0 0 0
V Player 6 ss 4 0 2 3 Ben Jupp 2b-xf4 2 0 0 0
V Player 7 lf 3 0 1 0 James Dullea cf 2 0 0 0
V Player 8 cf 3 0 1 1 Josh Jones rf-xh5 2 1 2 0
V Player 9 rf 2 3 1 0 Nicholas Durer lf-xh5 1 0 0 0
Alex Trautman rf-p 2 0 0 0
Jonathan Wakelam rf-xh2 2 0 0 0
Rene Aschmann rf-lf-xh3 1 0 0 0
TEAM TOTALS 27 14 14 12 TEAM TOTALS 22 3 6 2
E: V Player 1, V Player 4, Aaron Witter(2), Oliver Durer, Nicholas Durer. DP: London Mets U12 1. LOB: Herts All Stars U12 8, London Mets U12 8. 2B: V Player 5, V Player 9, Aaron Witter. 3B: V Player 3, Lucas Lebrato. HR: V Player 1.
London Mets U12 IP H R ER BB SO
V Player 1 W 5.00 6 3 2 2 12
Herts All Stars U12            
Aaron Witter L 3.33 2 4 4 5 9
Alex Trautman 0.33 12 10 4 1 1
HBP: by V Player 1 (Rene Aschmann). . . , by V Player 1 (Cal McCreavy). T: 2:08. A: 120.
London Mets U12 – Top of the 1st: V Player 1 walked. V Player 2 struck out swinging. V Player 3 flied out. V Player 4 struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts All Stars U12 – Bottom of the 1st: Cal McCreavy struck out swinging. Lucas Lebrato tripled, batted forward to home. Aaron Witter doubled, advanced to home on error, 1 RBI. Oliver Durer reached on error, batted forward to 2nd. Christian Lynch walked. Ben Jupp struck out swinging. James Dullea struck out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
London Mets U12 – Top of the 2nd: V Player 5 walked. V Player 6 struck out swinging. V Player 7 struck out swinging. V Player 8 struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts All Stars U12 – Bottom of the 2nd: Josh Jones singled, batted forward to home. Nicholas Durer walked, batted forward to 3rd. Alex Trautman struck out swinging. Jonathan Wakelam struck out swinging. Rene Aschmann hit by pitch, batted forward to 2nd. Cal McCreavy singled, 1 RBI. Lucas Lebrato struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
London Mets U12 – Top of the 3rd: V Player 9 walked, batted forward to home. V Player 1 walked, batted forward to home. V Player 2 walked, batted forward to home. V Player 3 tripled, batted forward to home, 3 RBI. V Player 4 singled, 1 RBI. V Player 5 struck out swinging. V Player 6 struck out swinging. V Player 7 struck out swinging. 4 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Herts All Stars U12 – Bottom of the 3rd: Aaron Witter singled. Oliver Durer struck out swinging. Christian Lynch struck out swinging. Ben Jupp grounded out. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
London Mets U12 – Top of the 4th: V Player 8 struck out swinging. V Player 9 doubled, advanced to 3rd on error, batted forward to home. V Player 1 walked, batted forward to 3rd, advanced to home on error. V Player 2 struck out swinging. V Player 3 singled, batted forward to 2nd, advanced to 3rd on error, batted forward to home, 1 RBI. V Player 4 singled, advanced to 2nd on error, batted forward to home. V Player 5 reached on error, batted forward to home. V Player 6 singled, batted forward to 3rd, 2 RBI. V Player 7 singled, batted forward to 2nd. V Player 8 singled, 1 RBI. 5 runs, 6 hits, 2 errors, 3 LOB.
Herts All Stars U12 – Bottom of the 4th: James Dullea struck out swinging. Josh Jones singled, advanced to 2nd on error, tagged out going to 3rd. Nicholas Durer reached on error. Alex Trautman hit into double play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
London Mets U12 – Top of the 5th: V Player 9 reached on error, advanced to 2nd on error, advanced to home on error. V Player 1 hit solo inside park home run, 1 RBI. V Player 2 singled, batted forward to home. V Player 3 singled, batted forward to home. V Player 4 singled, batted forward to home. V Player 5 doubled, batted forward to 3rd, 2 RBI. V Player 6 singled, 1 RBI. 5 runs, 6 hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB.
Herts All Stars U12 – Bottom of the 5th: Jonathan Wakelam struck out swinging. Rene Aschmann struck out swinging. Cal McCreavy hit by pitch. Lucas Lebrato struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts U12s heading for Farnham Park as part of a big weekend of baseball

View of Farnham Park from the skies (photo by BSUK)

The baseball weekend begins at Farnham Park as a Herts under 12 All Star team is unleashed on the national scene for the first time in the careers of that age group. They will be competing in the under 12 bracket of the Little League UK Championship and will face the London Mets first up at 12:30pm. Depending on the outcome of that first game they will battle through the tournament tree shown below:

Saturday, 14 June
10:00 London Sports vs Essex Redbacks (Game 1)
12:30 Herts vs London Mets (Game 2)
15:00 Loser Gm 1 vs Loser Gm 2 (Game 3)

Sunday, 15 June
10:00 LYBL vs Winner of Game 1 (Game 4)
12:30 Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 2 (Game 5)
15:00 Winner Game 4 vs Winner Game 5

The tournament will be held at Farnham Park and will be hosted by BSUK and BBF.

Herts will also be represented in the U17 Little League UK Championship as an All Star team representing all U17 teams from the South of England go head-to-head with an All Star team representing the Midlands and the North. The U17 UK Champions will be decided in a best-of-3 series over the weekend. The winner will progress through to the European qualifying stage which will be held in Italy next month, for a chance to reach the Little League World Series in August.

At the same time at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead the Herts Ravens have an U17 League doubleheader versus the Forest Glade Redbacks. First pitch is at 12pm. Food and drinks will be on offer throughout the day.

Baseball and pretty much everything else in the UK will stop on Saturday night as the England football team plays its first World Cup 2014 game against Italy.

The baseball action continues on Sunday at Grovehill Ballpark with two games from the British adult leagues. In the Double-A League the Herts Hawks will be looking to put their season back on track with a win against the Bracknell Inferno, while the Herts Raptors will be looking for their first win of the season in their Single-A League encounter with Tonbridge. Both games start at 12pm.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Longboy is back

Herts Baseball Club is receiving a very timely boost with the return of pitcher Zack Longboy. Over the last few months Longboy has been unavailable for selection as he has been competing in the American varsity league, as a pitcher for his American school team, ASL Eagles. The varsity league season ended on Saturday with the ASL Eagles finishing second after a 3-2 loss to ACS Cobham in the final. Longboy has had another outstanding varsity season. His record is 5 wins 0 losses, with an ERA of 1.85. At the weekend he was voted into the All-Tournament Team, which is the varsity league equivalent of MLB’s end of season awards such as the Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. This is the second consecutive year that Zack Longboy finds himself nominated in this prestigious list.

The Herts Hawks and the Herts Harriers have missed Longboy but he is back now and his return is coming at a crucial stage of the season. The Hawks have 4 wins and 6 losses so far this season and they need to start winning series to go above .500 and stay in the playoff race. They travel to Brentwood this Sunday for a doubleheader with the Brentwood Stags. The Harriers are preparing for four crucial games against the LYBL Bulldogs on the road to the Little League UK Qualifier on 14 and 15 June. The first of these is this Saturday, 31 May. Herts will lose Longboy along with six other players who will be flying to Florida with the Great Britain under-17 national team. Hopefully, this will not be too costly.

These have been difficult few weeks for Herts as they suffered major setbacks with key players out with injuries. Several of those players should be back fit very soon and this, combined with the return of Zack Longboy and the upcoming NBL debut of Andrew Fulford, could give Herts teams the momentum they need to get back in the playoff races in the various leagues.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts youngsters begin journey on the road to the Little League World Series

The U17 Baseball League (South) commences this Saturday as the Herts Harriers travel to the LYBL Bulldogs. Many of the Bulldogs are members of the 2013 Cobham Cougars so this is considered as something of a re-match after the 2013 Under-17 National Championship Final between the Harriers and the Cougars, which Herts lost 6-9.

The U17 Baseball League (South) is a competition which runs during the regular season. It comprises teams from the South of England. The teams are divided into two divisions, Division 1 and Division 2, based on their ranking. Herts will be represented by two teams – the Herts Harriers in Division 1 and Herts Ravens in Division 2.

An All Star team representing the U17 Baseball League (South) is scheduled to enter the Little League qualification competition. That team will meet the team representing the North/Midlands U17 League to determine which team will represent the United Kingdom in the next round. The winner of that encounter will progress through to the Little League European Qualifier which will be held in Novara, Italy. The winner of the Little League European qualifier will fly to the USA for the Little League World Series, which is broadcast live on ESPN around the world. Little League was founded in 1939. Today it is the world’s largest and most respected youth sports organization with more than 2.6 million participants in more than 75 countries across the world.

The Herts Under-12 teams will also be taking part. For that age group the competition remains at a national level and culminates with the Little League UK Championship on 14-15 June which will be played at Farnham Park.

KEY DATES
U17, U15, U13, U12 Little League UK Qualifier – 14 and 15 June 2014, Farnham Park, UK
U17 Little League European Qualifier – 6 to 12 July 2014, Novara, Italy
U17 Little League World Series – 10 to 16 August 2014, Bangor, Maine USA

For more information, games schedule, scores, standings and more visit the U17 Baseball League web pages.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Harriers prepare for Belgian challenge

This Bank Holiday Weekend almost all British baseball league teams are resting due to a GB event, however there are several Herts teams in action.

On Saturday, 24 May, Herts Harriers will make the short trip to Canons Park for the final day of the ISST Baseball Championships. Herts will join five varsity league teams – ASL Eagles, ACS Cobham, TASIS, STJ Lions and IS Brussels.

From the scores over the last two days we expect that the Herts Harriers will face the IS Brussels team from Belgium. The game was originally scheduled for 9:00am, however the organisers have moved the start time back to 9:30am, an adjustment which has been required due to the adverse weather forecast.

Herts Harriers will be missing a large number of players due to GB team call-ups and the injury to starting pitcher, Tom Armstrong, in last Sunday’s NBL game versus Essex Arrows.

Also on Saturday, at Grovehill Ballpark, there is under 12 league game between the Herts Dodgers and the Herts Giants.

On Sunday, the Herts Raptors welcome the Haverhill Blackjacks in a repeat of last season’s Single-A national championship semi-final which the Raptors lost narrowly. The game will start at 1pm at Grovehill Ballpark’s New Diamond.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts represented at the MLB European Baseball Academy Try Outs for the first time in its history

Herts Falcons and Great Britain National Team players Jamie Gregory and Tom Everex-Armstrong have been invited to this year’s Major League Baseball European Academy Try Outs. Although there have been several other British players called up to the MLB European Try Outs in previous years, this is the first time that members of Herts Baseball Club take part in this prestigious programme.

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.

Armstrong and Gregory are taking part in this weekend’s segment of the Academy which is held in Barcelona, Spain.  Herts fans should rest assured that both will be back in time for Herts Falcons’ next league game on Sunday, 11 May 2014, at the Bracknell Blazers.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

7 games over 3 days this weekend for Herts

2008 was the last time a Herts team faced an American varsity league team.

SATURDAY, 3 MAY

HERTS DODGERS vs HERTS GIANTS

The weekend’s action for Herts Baseball Club starts on Saturday morning at Grovehill Ballpark with the opening game in the Herts Dodgers vs Herts Giants Series. This rivalry has been played out over the last few years between the club’s U12 teams and this year the series will be spread over the season in between UK Little League games, BBF national championships and other games in this age group.

HERTS HARRIERS @ ASL EAGLES

In the afternoon the focus turns to the Herts U19/U17 team which will make the short trip to Canons Park in Stanmore (postcode HA7 1AR) for an exhibition game against the ASL Eagles which is a team playing in the American varsity league. Herts will be missing several players, but it will still be interesting to see how these two teams will compare. First pitch is at 2pm.

SUNDAY, 4 MAY

SOUTH LONDON PIRATES @ HERTS HAWKS

On Sunday it is the turn of the Herts adult teams. The Herts Hawks (1-3) missed an opportunity to sweep the Pirates (1-3) a week ago. They will have another opportunity, this time on home turf. Nick Russell missed last Sunday’s game but is expected to be back on the mound for this one. A sweep will see the Hawks go back to a .500 record.

HERTS RAPTORS @ BRENTWOOD BUCKS

The Raptors (0-1) will be on the road again for their second game of the season. They will face the newest member of the Single-A League, the Brentwood Bucks (1-1). This is the first ever meeting between these two teams.

MONDAY, 5 MAY

HERTS vs LONDON SPORTS

On this bank holiday weekend the baseball action continues on Monday as the U17 and U12 London Sports teams are the visitors to Grovehill Ballpark for pre-season games versus their Herts counterparts.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Baseball Club and Astley Cooper School establish a new baseball programme

Herts Baseball Club has teamed up with Astley Cooper School for the launch of a satellite baseball club. It will open up an opportunity for boys and girls aged 10 to 16 to play baseball. Events will be taking place on Tuesdays after school. The club commences on Tuesday, 6 May, and the weekly baseball events will continue right up until the final Tuesday of the school year on 15 July. Coaches from Herts Baseball Club will introduce students to the game of baseball.

Apart from Astley Cooper School’s 500 pupils, students from other schools are also welcome to take part in this club.

This programme is funded by Herts Sports Partnership with the goal of increasing participation in sport among youngsters.

Students don’t have to wait for Tuesday to play baseball. Herts Baseball Club is one of the leading clubs in the UK and is located just five minutes away from Astley Cooper School. They can sign up to play with the Herts youth teams covering ages from 6 to 16 and with the adult teams for those over the age of 16. The Herts teams compete in regional leagues, the national championships and internationally with Little League Inc. along with 2.6 million other participants in 75 countries.

Herts Baseball Club President, Aspi Dimitrov, was keen to emphasise the importance of this project. “Over the last 10 years we have been growing at an average rate of 27% per annum and this programme is expected to boost growth further” said Dimitrov. He added that “as it develops, the hope is that this can expand into a baseball league involving teams representing different schools from around the region”.

OPEN DAY – 10 MAY 2014

In addition to the launch of the baseball programme in Astley Cooper School, Herts Baseball Club will stage an Open Day on Saturday, 10 May 2014. Boys and girls from 6 to 18 will have the opportunity to enjoy a day packed with baseball activities alongside existing members of the club’s youth league teams.

For details about the Open Day or how to try baseball for free on Tuesdays at Astley Cooper School or on Saturdays at Grovehill Ballpark contact Herts Baseball Club.