Herts Little League players and fans are standing for the National Anthem

Report from Herts Little League Correspondent, Tracey Manning

The sun is shining and the smell of hotdogs is in the air, which means that the 2010 Herts Little League season is under way at Grovehill Ballpark with eager kids and parents alike.

This year’s teams in the Majors Division are the Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs and Cardinals and in the Minors Division the players themselves chose the names of the teams and they are the Herts Tornados and the Herts Crocs.

On Diamond 1 the Cardinals and Cubs opened up the new season and the newcomers quickly gelled into their new teams to produce a great game. With a dominant performance by Carlos Casal Jr on the mound and with some timely hitting, the Cardinals picked up the win with a final score of 4-0.

Over on Diamond 2 the Red Sox and the Yankees resumed their rivalry in a cracking game. With much gusto and plenty of heart-in-your-mouth action the game ended dramatically in a 4-4 tie.

On Diamond 3 the Herts Tornados and the Herts Crocs got off to a flying start and boy can those Minor Leaguers play a fast game. The final score was 12-11 to the Tornados.

Opening Day Guest of Honour was Milwaukee Brewers Coach, Sam Dempster.

The Herts Little League players and parents had the opportunity to shake his hand

and thank him for his support and the tremendous contribution which he has

made for the development of Herts Baseball Club over the last few years.

After lunch, and plenty of hot dogs and Krispy Kreme doughnuts later, the second games of the day got under way. The Red Sox were too strong for the Cardinals winning with a final score of 13-5.In the other game it looked like the Cubs was going to run away with the win after taking a 9-0 lead, but the Yankees had other plans and fought back with a new-found energy. It proved to be too little too late for them with the Cubs winning 9-5. Nick Martinez was the winning pitcher but Jordan Carter and Lewis Green played a key role in relief.

As the younger members played their last game off the day at a little slower pace the Crocs got their revenge after the loss earlier in the day winning the second game in the series 8-6.

The opening day of the season was the hottest day of the year so far, but the players kept cool and all enjoyed the day. Everyone can’t wait for the next game day, great support from friends and families wonderful turn out and may it continue.

More images from the 2010 Opening Day

After the long cold winter the Herts Baseball Little League players returned to the ballpark for the first Spring Training session in preparation for the 2010 season. Apart from returning members, the Herts Little League welcomed many newcomers and all the signs indicate that this will be another great Little league season in Hertfordshire.

As usual at this time of the year the coaches put the players through their paces with a selection of drills focusing on the fundamentals of baseball. There was even time for a quick game and the coaches of the teams were some of the more experienced Little Leaguers. Some of them may be just 11 or 12 years of age, but they certainly sent a message to the Little League coaches who appeared very concerned about their job security.

The Herts Baseball Little League will be announcing more details about the 2010 season shortly.

FINAL TOUCHES – SECOND DIAMOND READY FOR BASEBALL

While the Little Leaguers were going through their pre-season preparations on the main diamond, Herts Baseball members were fine-tuning the second diamond. With the pitching mound built to MLB specifications and the anchors for the basis firmly in place, the field is now ready for baseball. The most valuable volunteers (MVVs) of the day were Tom Green, Greg Bochan, Marc Martinez, Lawrence Green and Kal Dimitrov.

The first official game which will be played on the second diamond is expected to be a Herts Little League game, while the first adult league games will take place on 23 May when the Herts Hawks play against the Sidewinders and the Herts Raptors take on Tonbridge.

MLB Envoy Sam Dempster, will be an inductee to the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame in Canada on April 24.  Over the years the members of Herts Baseball Club, young and old, have had the privilege to work with Coach Dempster and he has become a part of the Herts Baseball Family.  Herts is in a very good position to know exactly why Sam Dempster is being elected to the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame.

Herts Baseball Club congratulates Coach Dempster and is grateful for his incredible contribution to the club’s growth and success.

The following article was first published on www.britishbaseball.com

MLB Envoy Coach Sam Dempster has been coming to the UK as a Major League Baseball Envoy since the summer of 2004, and after each summer spent teaching the British baseball community the “Dempster” way of doing things, Sam has returned to Canada to resume as Head Baseball Coach at Durham College in Ontario.

But on April 24, Coach Dempster will receive a signal honour: induction to the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame at the college.

Deserving Candidate

“Sam is truly deserving of this honour,” said Ken Babcock, Durham College Athletic Director. “His involvement with baseball on many different levels for the past 30 years is extraordinary. From youth minor ball, to his key role in the birth of high school baseball in the Durham Region, to his stellar career as head coach of the Durham College varsity baseball programme to his work as a Major League Baseball scout and also worldwide ambassador for Major League Baseball’s International Envoy programme, Sam has impacted thousands world wide. I can’t say enough about Sam Dempster as a person. He is simply one of the special ones.”

BSUK Regional Coach and GB Cadet Head Coach Will Lintern said, “The ‘Dempster Way’ can best be summarised by the quote he often puts at the end of his emails: ‘If you want to leave footprints in the sand, wear work boots’. Sam Dempster has been an absolute work horse, travelling the length and breadth of the UK to coach kids and adults of all abilities. Many clubs have benefited from the experience and knowledge that Sam has imparted on the baseball field, but no group of players have learned more about the game of baseball than those who have played on the Great Britain Cadet National Team.”

Since Will Lintern became Cadet Head Coach in 2008, Sam Dempster has been one of the team’s assistant coaches at two European Qualifier Tournaments where GB placed second and fifth and has instructed at numerous Cadet camps and practices.

In Canada, Sam Dempster has been the only coach that the Durham College men’s baseball programme has ever known. For the last 18 seasons as Head Coach of the Lords, Dempster has been instrumental in guiding the programme to its current level of excellence.

The team has only had one losing season in those 18 years, and since 1995, the team has qualified for the Ontario Championship finals in all but one year, while Dempster has gone on to compile an impressive overall record of 257-177 and a conference record of 169-108.

The Lords have won the CIBA Ontario Conference championship five times, including four straight wins from 2005 to 2008. Durham’s first conference championship came in 1999.

MLB Award

In January of 2007, Sam Dempster was awarded the Julio Puente Envoy International Coach Award by Major League Baseball at the American Baseball Coaches Association Conference in Orlando, Florida. The prestigious award is presented by MLB for unselfish, dedicated and passionate work in growing the game of baseball.

In addition to his lead role at Durham and his summer work in the UK, Coach Dempster is also an associate Canadian scout for Major League Baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers and was previously a scout for the New York Yankees. He has also co-organised the Ontario Best Ever Clinic for many years and has assisted the Team Ontario programme both north and south of the border.

Back to Britain

This summer, Sam Dempster will return to his role as an assistant role with the GB Cadet National Baseball Team, helping to deliver an enhanced regional practice schedule. The plan is for Sam to run one regional practice in the North and one in the South each week for both the Junior and Cadet teams ahead of their respective European Qualifying tournaments.

Will Lintern said: “Having Sam on the coaching staff is not only a great asset, because I know he will push both the players and the other coaches to excellence, but it also a tremendous privilege and honour to work with a coach of his calibre.”

Herts Baseball Club has been awarded a £500 coach education grant by the Hertfordshire Community Foundation.  This is the first funding secured by the club for the purposes of training new Herts coaches.

The award will pay for a two-day Level 1 coach education course run by BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK), the national development agency for British baseball.  The Foundation grant will enable eight club members to attend the training programme, undertake a practical assessment and, if successful, earn their entry-level national coaching certification as “Assistant Baseball Coaches”.

Five of the Herts candidates will work directly with the Herts Little League.  David Baird, Carlos Casal, Tim Elkins, Matt Johnston and Marc Martinez will form a significant portion of the 2010 coaching staff for the Herts youth programme.  They will instruct Little League practices, manage and assistant manage squads on game days, and spend time coaching in local area schools and helping the club to build rapport with other youth sport outlets.

The other three Herts attendees are coaches in the adult programme.  Andy Cornish (2009 Hitting Coach) will be joined by newly-elected managers Chris Barnes (AAA Eagles) and Kennet Pike (A Raptors).

Herts Baseball Club is hosting the BSUK-taught course at a local school on Saturday 13 and Saturday 27 February.  Part of the £500 in HCF monies will pay for the venue hire costs, while the rest will cover the course attendance fees for all eight coaches.

In a related development, the Herts adult and youth programme directors have also been awarded coach education bursaries for 2010.  Marty Cullen (Herts Little League Commissioner) and Jason Greenberg (Manager of the National League Falcons) are both completing a Level 3 baseball coach candidacy this spring.  Cullen has been tendered £150 by the Dacorum Community Trust toward his course fees, while Greenberg has received £135 from the CCPR-endorsed Torch Trophy Trust.  Level 3 is the highest tier of formal UK baseball training with course modules and assessments covering every aspect of the sport and spread out over six months' time; the Level 3 course fees total £275 per candidate.

“Herts Baseball Club would like to extend sincere gratitude to the Hertfordshire Community Foundation, the Dacorum Community Trust and the Torch Trophy Trust for their generous support,” said Greenberg.  “Since 2008, Herts Baseball has seen unprecedented growth as the Little League has expanded to include more than 100 children and the adult programme has more than doubled in size, now with a team in each league of the British Baseball Federation.  Coach education is a major goal for our club in 2010, and these grants allow ten coaches to expand their credentials and knowledge base at very little personal expense.  It is – in a word – fantastic.”

The increased number of certified coaches should allow Herts Baseball Club to finalise their ClubMark accreditation, unlocking further opportunities to fundraise and recruit new players.

Hertfordshire Community Foundation exists to tackle deprivation in Hertfordshire and beyond.  It is currently the largest non-statutory grant giver into the county and in the last year (2008/09) has awarded more than £1 million in grants to charities and community groups.  The HCF £500 fund was part of the Comic Relief scheme, which endeavours to enable local people to create lasting change in their communities.

The Dacorum Community Trust is a charity dedicated to helping those most in need within the Dacorum area, by managing and distributing money it raises locally from individuals, companies and organisations.  The Trust was officially launched in 1976.  It was one of the first Community Trusts to be set up giving advice and support to other Community Trusts who have been set up all over the country.

The Torch Trophy Trust has its origins in the 1948 Olympics held in London. Before every Olympic Games a torch relay is organised from Athens to the Host City. Following the 1948 Games, the Torch designed for the last leg of the Relay into Wembley Stadium was presented to the Trust.  TTT provides small Bursaries to assist volunteers in sport and presents Awards to individuals who have been identified as making an outstanding contribution as a volunteer in their chosen sport.