The Herts All Stars knocked out another two teams this weekend and have booked their place in the National Baseball Championships which confirms them as one of the top four teams in Britain. 

 

The Herts Baseball Little League programme has existed only 2 seasons but has managed to turn the 2009 Under-13 National Baseball Championship on its head.  The team entered this competition for the first time and was given a wild card entry in the early qualifying playoff rounds as an independent team, which meant that they needed to win six games in a row to become the British Under-13 Champions.  There was no room for error.  One wrong step and the team's first entry into the National Championships would end abruptly.

 

Against all odds the Herts All-Stars are not just surviving but are starting to put fear in their opponents.  After eliminating Horsham and Bracknell in the earlier round, Herts overcame first the Tonbridge Bobcats and then the Brentwood Bucks on Saturday at the home of the London Mets in Finsbury Park. 

 

This means that the Herts All Stars will be returning to London on 12 and 13 September for the Finals.  Also qualifying for the final are the London Mets as well as the two best Northern teams, Cartmel Valley and Halton.

 

Four games, four wins.  The Herts All-Stars need to win two more to become British Champions.  Can they continue to shock British Baseball?  The Herts Baseball Newswire will have all the latest news for you, so stay tuned.

 

More photos from the Playoffs at Finsbury Park, 22 August 2009

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Tonbridge Bobcats at Herts All Stars
Score By Innings	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Tonbridge Bobcats	0	2	2	0	1	5	5	2
Herts All Stars	5	4	5	2	0	16	8	1

Herts All Stars 16, Tonbridge Bobcats 5
Herts All Stars					Tonbridge Bobcats
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Mikito Ariga 3b-p	2	1	0	1	Harry 1b-p	2	0	0	0
Carlos Casal Jr 2b	3	1	0	0	James p-ss	2	1	1	0
Liam Green p-3b	2	3	2	2	Olu cf	2	1	0	0
Lewis Paterson 1b	2	3	1	1	Sam c	3	1	2	1
Nickolas Martinez ss	2	3	2	2	Kester 2b	3	1	1	1
Jamie Paterson cf	0	2	0	1	Alex 3b	1	1	0	0
Kieran Manning c	2	2	2	4	Adam ss-p-1b	2	0	1	1
Michelle Johnson rf	2	0	0	0	Callum rf	2	0	0	0
(t5) Dan Phillips rf	0	0	0	0	Mason lf	1	0	0	0
Charlie Mayhew lf	2	1	1	1
(t5) Lewis Green lf	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS	17	16	8	12	TEAM TOTALS	18	5	5	3

E: Carlos Casal Jr, Kester, Callum. LOB: Tonbridge Bobcats 3, Herts All Stars 7. 2B: Liam Green, Nickolas Martinez, Kieran Manning, Sam(2), Kester. 3B: Lewis Paterson. SB: Liam Green(2), Nickolas Martinez, Lewis Paterson, Mikito Ariga, Charlie Mayhew, Sam, Kester, James. SB: Jamie Paterson.

Herts All Stars	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Mikito Ariga W	4.00	5	5	4	3	6
Liam Green	1.00	0	0	0	2	1
Tonbridge Bobcats
James L	2.33	4	10	8	9	2
Harry	1.00	2	2	2	3	3
Adam	0.00	2	4	1	2	0

HBP: by James (Charlie Mayhew). . . . . WP: Liam Green(2), Mikito Ariga, James(2). PB: Kieran Manning, Sam. T: 2:00. A: 120.

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Herts All Stars at Brentwood Bucks
Score By Innings	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Herts All Stars	5	0	1	1	0	5	12	16	1
Brentwood Bucks	0	0	1	1	1	1	4	10	5

Herts All Stars 12, Brentwood Bucks 4
Herts All Stars					Brentwood Bucks
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Carlos Casal Jr 2b	4	2	2	0	Stewart 3b-rf	4	2	4	1
Mikito Ariga c	4	2	2	3	Max c-ss	3	0	1	1
Liam Green p-ss	4	3	3	2	Sebastian p-c	3	0	1	1
Lewis Paterson 1b	4	3	3	1	Tom 1b	3	1	2	0
Nickolas Martinez ss-p	4	1	2	1	Charlie ss-p	2	0	0	0
Jamie Paterson 3b	3	0	0	0	Reiss 2b	3	0	0	0
Kieran Manning lf	2	0	1	1	Jamie cf	3	0	1	0
(b4) Dan Phillips lf	2	0	1	0	Alex lf	3	0	0	0
Lewis Green cf	3	0	2	2	Dean A rf-3b	3	1	1	0
(t6) Michelle Johnson cf	1	0	0	0	Dean P rf	0	0	0	0
Jose Morillo rf	2	0	0	0
(b4) Charlie Mayhew rf	0	1	0	0
TEAM TOTALS	33	12	16	10	TEAM TOTALS	27	4	10	3

E: Liam Green, Max(3), Sebastian, Jamie. LOB: Brentwood Bucks 7, Herts All Stars 7. 2B: Liam Green, Mikito Ariga, Lewis Green, Stewart(2), Tom, Dean A. HR: Liam Green. SB: Carlos Casal Jr(2), Kieran Manning, Charlie Mayhew, Tom, Charlie. CS: Max. SB: Jamie Paterson, Max.

Herts All Stars	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Liam Green W	3.00	3	1	1	1	7
Nickolas Martinez	3.00	7	3	1	0	3
Brentwood Bucks
Charlie	3.00	5	6	2	1	2
Sebastian L	2.33	11	6	6	0	3

WP: Liam Green. PB: Mikito Ariga(3), Sebastian. T: 2:00. A: 101.

The Baseball gods were smiling brightly down on ‘the Hill’ in anticipation for the Herts Little League’s first ever appearance in the BBF Southern playoffs. It was to be a monumental task for the Herts All Stars, in only their second year in existence. What lay in wait for Herts were two very established teams with a celebrated history of success in British Baseball.  Bracknell and Horsham.

The Herts All Stars, hand picked from the Herts Little League, had been training for the past two months in preparation for this very day. With the focus of a Falcon, the eyes of an Eagle, the hearts of a Hawk and the resolve of a Raptor, the Herts All Stars arrived with a quiet confidence rarely witnessed in a second year team about to play the most important games of there lives.

Game 1 vs Bracknell:

With the pitching restrictions for Bronco level Baseball in place, Herts Manager, Marty Cullen put together an eclectic rotation of 4 pitchers, hoping to get the job done while saving some arms for game 2. Would the tactic pay off?

Nickolas Martinez started off strong, striking out 2 before leaving a base runner on for reliever Mikito Ariga, who struck out the first batter he faced to retire the side.

Herts went down in order in the bottom of the inning to Bracknell’s hard throwing ace, Brendan Harsan.

Ariga continued his dominance into the 2nd, cutting down Brackell in order.

Then………Lighting struck and ‘the Hill’ erupted.

In the bottom of the 2^nd, Herts catcher, Kieran Manning delivered a 2 run single with 1 out to open up the scoring and take a lead that would prove crucial.

In the bottom of the 3^rd, with 2 on and 2 out, up stepped Nick Martinez. With a 2-1 count, Martinez got hold of a Harsan fastball and deposited over the 220 ft centerfield fence, giving Herts a 5-0 lead. Martinez said of his blast, “I was just trying to get a pitch to drive up the middle. Luckily I hit it well and it got out there.”

Bracknell never gave up. They struck back immediately scoring 4 runs over the next 2 innings.

But Herts weren’t done yet. With some aggressive base running and good eyes at the plate, Herts padded their lead going into the final inning. These runs would prove critical as Bracknell jumped on relievers Liam Green and Carlos Casal for 3 more runs in the top of the 6^th, before grounding out to end the game, falling to the Herts All Stars 9-7.

It was, by any standard an amazing game that could have gone either way.

It went Herts way.

As he lead his team away from the field and throngs of reporters, Manager Marty Cullen only had this to say: “I’m very pleased with the outcome, but we still have another game to play, so if you’ll excuse me……”

And so with the Herts All Stars off talking strategy, Bracknell set out to salvage their campaign against the hotly tipped Horsham All Stars. A mountain that would prove a little too steep to climb. Bracknell, weary from their epic battle with Herts, couldn’t quite put it together against the dominant Horsham and fell via the mercy rule after 5 tough innings.

In a round robin format, the team that loses 2 games is automatically eliminated. That leaves 1 game with it all to play for between the remaining 2 teams. On this day……it would be Herts and Horsham. Horsham would be the home team in this, the final game of the day, and their starting line-up read like the who’s who of British youth Baseball with no less than 7 GB players, 2 of whom recently returned from the European qualifiers for the Little League World Series. This alone confirmed their status as the wildcard favourites over the 2^nd year Herts All Stars. Could Herts pull off the upset of the year, or would lightning strike again for Horsham?

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Bracknell Blazers at Herts All-Stars
Score By Innings	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Bracknell Blazers	0	0	0	1	3	3	7	5	1
Herts All-Stars	0	2	3	1	3	0	9	3	3

Herts All-Stars 9, Bracknell Blazers 7
Herts All-Stars					Bracknell Blazers
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Mikito Ariga p-ss-c-3b	3	0	0	0	Alex Price c-ss	3	2	2	0
Jamie Paterson cf	3	0	0	0	Sian Wiggington 1b-p-3b	3	1	0	0
Liam Green 3b-p	1	2	0	0	Brendan Harsan p-3b-1b	2	1	0	0
Lewis Paterson 1b	1	3	0	0	Chloe Wiggington ss	3	1	2	1
Nickolas Martinez ss-p	1	3	1	3	Nathaniel Leff 2b	4	1	1	0
Lewis Green rf	2	0	0	0	Adam Hopkins cf-3b-p	0	0	0	0
(t6) Charlie Mayhew rf	0	0	0	0	Lee Coster 3b	1	0	0	0
Kieran Manning c	1	0	1	2	(t4) Millie H. cf	2	0	0	0
(t3) Dan Phillips c-2b	1	0	0	0	Ryan Dale lf	2	0	0	0
Carlos Casal Jr 2b-p	3	1	1	0	(b4) Oliver Graib lf	0	1	0	0
Alex Ringrose lf	1	0	0	0	Jack Eve rf	3	0	0	0
(t6) Jonathan Compton-Weight l	f
TEAM TOTALS	17	9	3	5	TEAM TOTALS	23	7	5	1

E: Mikito Ariga, Carlos Casal Jr, Dan Phillips, Chloe Wiggington. LOB: Herts All-Stars 2, Bracknell Blazers 7. 2B: Carlos Casal Jr, Chloe Wiggington. HR: Nickolas Martinez. SB: Liam Green, Adam Hopkins(3), Nickolas Martinez(2), Brendan Harsan, Sian Wiggington, Nathaniel Leff, Oliver Graib. CS: Lewis Green.

Herts All-Stars	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Mikito Ariga W	4.33	3	4	0	5	12
Nickolas Martinez	0.67	1	0	0	0	2
Liam Green	0.67	0	2	0	2	2
Carlos Casal Jr	0.33	1	1	1	1	0
Bracknell Blazers
Brendan Harsan L	4.00	3	6	2	4	7
Adam Hopkins	1.00	0	0	0	2	1
Sian Wiggington	0.00	0	3	1	2	0

HBP: by Sian Wiggington (Liam Green). . WP: Mikito Ariga(2), Carlos Casal Jr, Brendan Harsan(3), Adam Hopkins(2). PB: Dan Phillips(8), Kieran Manning, Alex Price(6). T: 2:00. A: 110.

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Game 3  

Horsham took the field, lead by flame throwing GB starter Miguel Rodriguez (known by some as     M-Rod ). The tension mounted and the crowd grew silent as UBUA legend Darrin Muller yelled “Play ball!”

The first 2 Herts batters reached base safely and with no one out, up stepped slugger Liam Green. With runners on 2^nd and 3^rd and a 2-0 count, Liam connected with a fastball, launching it 60 feet passed the 220ft left centerfield wall for the longest homerun in Herts Little League history. Stunned silence fell over the Horsham fans as they watched Herts take an improbable 3-0 lead in the top of the first.

Green took to the mound and retired Horsham in order in the bottom of the inning. Herts, after threatening to add more runs, eventually followed suit and were retired, leaving 2 runners on base in the top of the 2^nd.

In the bottom of the inning however, the Horsham bats came alive and scored 4 runs, including a 2 run double by GB All Star Tyler Burnie. Carrying the momentum, M-Rod  sat  Herts down, leaving 2 more runners on base before helping his own cause with a 2 run single in the bottom of the 3^rd.

Herts, down but far from out, dug deep and clawed back a run in the 4^th and 1 in the 5^th,while game 1 hero Nick Martinez took the mound and shut down Horsham’s mounting offense allowing only 1 baserunner and striking out 4 over these 2 frames.

Now or never.

Down 6 – 5 going into the final inning, a final war cry could be heard from the Herts bench, as Manager, Marty Cullen rallied his troops for one more push. “Now or never” he said. “You deserve this. Go out there and get it”. 

The All Stars responded.

They kicked and scratched for 4 runs with some aggressive baserunning and timely hitting off hard throwing GB reliever, Callum Vinall and with only 10 minutes of regulation play remaining, Herts took a 9-6 lead into the bottom of the 6^th.

Martinez, with only 19 pitches left (based on BBF regulations) would have to come up with something special……and fast! He did…. Inducing  2 ground ball outs with just 5 pitches before walking a batter with 6 pitches.

8 pitches left. 3 minutes left. If the next batter isn’t retired, the game ends (according to BBF rules) with the score from the previous full inning. In other words…..Horsham wins.

Up steps MVP Tyler Burnie who quickly and expertly works the count full and proceeds to foul off 3 more pitches using up Martinez’s pitch count and prompting an announcement by umpire Muller. “Last Batter!” he shouted.

30 seconds left.

Martinez glances toward his manager. Glances toward his family. Takes a deep breath. Sets. Fires……

Strike 3!!!!! HERTS WIN!!!!

The crowd erupts. The Herts bench erupts,  and the All Stars celebrate their improbable upset in front of a stunned Horsham bench.

In the post game press conference, Horsham manager Rob Burnie said, “Our hats go off to Herts. They have a great program and they play the game right. They proved that today.” When asked about the upset, Herts manager Marty Cullen had this to say; “I couldn’t be more proud of these kids. Horsham are a great team, maybe the best in the country, but these kids don’t quit and it really paid off. They showed a lot of heart today.”

Next week the Herts All Stars make the trip south to the hostile waters of Finsbury Park. To reach the National Championships, Herts will have to win 2 more games. Do they have what it takes?

Stay tuned…………….

More photos from the BBF Wild Card Playoffs

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Herts All-Stars at Horsham All-Stars
Score By Innings	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Herts All-Stars	3	0	0	1	1	4	9	3	2
Horsham All-Stars	0	4	2	0	0	0	6	2	3

Herts All-Stars 9, Horsham All-Stars 6
Herts All-Stars					Horsham All-Stars
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Carlos Casal Jr 2b	4	2	0	0	Tyler Burnie cf	3	0	1	2
Jonathan Compton-Weight 1b	2	2	0	1	Dean Jacob ss	3	0	0	0
Liam Green p-ss	4	2	2	4	Adam Lamport lf	2	1	0	0
Lewis Paterson 3b	3	1	0	0	(t4) Dean Coe lf	1	0	0	0
Nickolas Martinez ss-p	3	0	0	0	Callum Vinall p-3b	2	1	0	0
Mikito Ariga c	2	0	0	0	Miguel Rodriguez p-3b	3	1	1	2
Jamie Paterson cf	4	0	0	0	Harry Law 2b	1	1	0	0
Lewis Green lf	0	0	0	0	(t4) George Penfold rf-2b	1	0	0	0
(t4) Alex Ringrose lf	0	1	0	0	Tim Moore c	2	1	0	0
Charlie Mayhew rf	2	0	1	0	Will Chase 1b	2	0	0	0
(t5) Dan Phillips rf	0	1	0	0	(t4) Ben Chambers rf-1b	1	0	0	0
Callum Lewis rf	1	1	0	0
TEAM TOTALS	24	9	3	5	TEAM TOTALS	22	6	2	4

E: Carlos Casal Jr, Jamie Paterson, Harry Law, Callum Vinall, George Penfold. LOB: Horsham All-Stars 4, Herts All-Stars 7. 2B: Nickolas Martinez. HR: Liam Green. SB: Mikito Ariga(2), Carlos Casal Jr, Lewis Paterson, Liam Green, Charlie Mayhew, Jonathan Compton-Weight, Callum Vinall, Harry Law, Miguel Rodriguez.

Herts All-Stars	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Nickolas Martinez W	4.00	1	0	0	2	7
Liam Green	2.00	1	6	4	4	5
Horsham All-Stars
Miguel Rodriguez	4.00	2	4	1	5	4
Callum Vinall L	2.00	1	5	2	5	1

WP: Liam Green(5), Nickolas Martinez, Callum Vinall(3), Miguel Rodriguez(2). PB: Mikito Ariga, Tim Moore(4). T: 2:00. A: 110.