Category: U12

1 May 20232 May 2023 by Herts Baseball News Editor

BBF Youth Super League starts this Saturday, 6 May

The BBF Youth Super League starts this Saturday, 6 May. It’s a new competition launched by the British Baseball Federation (BBF) this year covering the Under-15 and Under-11 age groups. It will feature teams from Herts, London Mets and LYBL.

The Youth Super League standings will determine the seeding for the National Youth Baseball Championships later in the year.

Each of the participating clubs is expected to host a game day which will adopt a round-robin game format.

Herts Baseball Club will host the first round of games at Grovehill Ballpark, Hemel Hempstead, this Saturday, 6 May.

Food and drinks will be on sale during the event including hot dogs, burgers, nachos and other ballpark favorites.

Players who haven’t registered to play with the Herts youth league teams this season, can still register in time to be added to the teams for the next round of Youth Super League games.

Youth players now registering for the 2023 season

For more information, contact us.

14 April 202314 April 2023 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Baseball Club looking for volunteers and paid coaches to host MLB First Pitch school baseball event in Hemel Hempstead

As part of Major League Baseball’s investment in the UK and the London Series, a pilot programme in association with the Youth Sport Trust was introduced where a hub of around 15 schools is created in a number of regions to run the MLB First Pitch programme. One of these hubs is in Hemel Hempstead and the surrounding area.

The programme culminates with an end-of-school-year baseball event bringing all the schools from the hub together. Herts Baseball Club was approached to host the end of year baseball festival scheduled for the summer of 2021, however that event could not take place due to Covid restrictions in schools.

*Grovehill Ballpark has previously hosted baseball and softball events as part of the Herts School Games*

Steps are being taken now to stage this event this summer on Tuesday, July 4, at Grovehill Ballpark, the home of Herts Baseball Club in Hemel Hempstead. The event is likely to feature a skills session from 9:30 to 12:00 and games from 12:30 to 14:45. It is expected to cover students aged 9 to 11 – school years 5 and 6.

The club is inviting Herts club members or players and coaches from other clubs who would be interested and available to act as event staff volunteers and as paid coaches on that day. The fee for the coaches will range between £12.50 and £23.75, depending on the role and the level of the coach. For more details and to express interest contact us.

10 January 202310 January 2023 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts publishes Spring Training schedules for its adult and youth league teams

The BBF has indicated that the Opening Weekend of the NBL season is expected to be 15-16 April 2023. For the other leagues the Opening Weekend is expected to be 22-23 April 2023, although some lower league teams may play their opening games on 15-16 April 2023. More will be known when the BBF league schedules are published.

This is later than in previous years and the Spring Training schedule of the Herts teams has been adjusted accordingly to reflect this.

The Herts youth league is expected to start slightly earlier than last year.

Here are the key 2023 Spring Training dates for the Herts adult and youth league teams. Events are subject to change due to weather or other reasons.

National Baseball League

Players will report for Spring Training on Sunday, 26 February 2023. This includes players who have expressed interest in trying out for the NBL. The schedule will include four weeks of training and three weeks of Spring Training games.

Click here to express interest in trying out for the NBL

Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A League

Players will report for Spring Training on Sunday, 5 February 2023. Double-A and Single-A players based in Hemel Hempstead will start with several training sessions indoors. The schedule will include eight weeks of training and three weeks of Spring Training games.

Herts Spring League

The Herts Spring League is scheduled to start on the weekend of 1-2 April by which point the team managers are expected to have announced their preliminary rosters. The HSL will run for three weeks for Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A teams and for two weeks for the NBL teams as their BBF league season starts a week earlier.

Teams are expected to announce their Opening Day rosters shortly after their final HSL games.

Herts U15, U13, U11 youth league teams

Herts youth players will report for Spring Training on Saturday, 25 February 2023. The first four weeks will take place indoors alternating between indoor venues in Hemel Hempstead and in NW London. This will be followed by five weeks of Spring Training at Grovehill Ballpark and Basing Hill Ballpark. The Opening Day of the various age groups of the Herts Youth Baseball League is expected to be on Saturday, 29 April, subject to confirmation.

Full schedule

Registered players can view the full list of 2023 Spring Training dates, times and venues by logging into the Clubhouse.

Players now registering for the 2023 season

4 January 202324 March 2023 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Baseball Club adds more board members ahead of the 2023 season

The club has confirmed that the number of executive board members has increased to fifteen after the results of last month’s elections were announced along with the appointment of several additional board members who have been co-opted.

As part of the announcement of the partnership between Herts and Legends last month, it was already confirmed that the Herts Legends NBL team will be managed by Great Britain U18 national team manager and president of Legends Baseball Club, Jonathan Rodriguez. Today’s announcement confirms that he has now been appointed as a member of the club board.

In addition to his role as Herts Legends manager, he has also been appointed as co-General Manager alongside the two other co-GMs, Arnold Longboy (pictured right) and Aspi Dimitrov, who have also been co-opted having served in that role over the previous twelve months. Rodriguez will cover the on-field aspects of the GM role, while Longboy and Dimitrov will focus on operations off the field.

Ken Pike and Sean Bennett have been re-elected as board member as Herts Hawks manager and Herts Cardinals representative, respectively.

Matt Bell has also been re-elected as co-manager of the Herts Londoners and he will be working alongside Andrew Slater who returns to the board having previously co-managed the Herts Hawks in 2016 when the team became Single-A League national champion winning every regular season and postseason game they played that year.

Ken Pike and Andrew Slater have already had the sweet taste of becoming national champions in 2016. Can they do it again in 2023 as managers of the Herts Hawks and co-manager of the Herts Londoners, respectively?

Mike Cunningham has been elected to the board as the new Herts Raptors manager. The team finished far from the playoff places in 2022 but has a wealth of young talented players who are progressing rapidly and are expected to start imposing themselves on the league in the next few years.

The club’s hopes of adding a Double-A League team at its Basing Hill branch was a hot topic at the annual general meeting and the club has made a statement of intent by co-opting Miguel Gibson as manager of that proposed Double-A team. In 2022 he was a member of the Croydon Pirates who became Double-A national champions. The race is now on to see if the club will be able to put together a roster to add that missing piece at Basing Hill.

Players have started registering for the 2023 season and Herts team managers will shortly be assessing what the rosters might look like in 2023 in order to decide how many teams to enter this year and in which BBF leagues. The deadline for league entries is 31 January.

Players now registering for the 2023 season

The Herts youth baseball programme has also been strengthened with the election of Stephen Wong as head of the Hemel Hempstead under-13 department. He gave the programme an huge boost when he joined the youth coaching staff last year.

Aspi Dimitrov has also been re-elected as president and facilities manager for Grovehill Ballpark.

Link to the full list of 2023 board members. More members are expected to be added between now and Opening Day.

As part of the vote, club members approved the amendment of article 9.4 of the constitution related to the deadline for board nominations.

23 December 2022 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Adult and youth league players now registering for the 2023 baseball season

Player registration for the 2023 season has started.

In 2022 Herts Baseball Club grew by 7% and saw performance levels go up with teams climbing up the league standings. In 2023 the club will aim to raise performance levels further and enter teams in all four league tiers.

ADULT BASEBALL LEAGUES

How many teams will represent Herts in 2023? The next few weeks will be crucial as the number of players registering will determine how many teams will be entered before the league entry deadline on 31 January, how many will play in Hemel Hempstead and how many will play in London.

KEY DATES – ADULT TEAMS

(events and dates are subject to change)

February – players report for Spring Training
25-26 March – Start of the 2023 Herts Spring League (subject to confirmation of the BBF league opening day)*
March-May – Great Britain National Team Tryouts (senior and youth teams)*
9 or 16 April – BBF League Opening Day (subject to confirmation)*
May – Midweek Evening Baseball commences
August-September* – BBF Postseason Playoffs and National Championships
September-October – Hunlock Series

* – these are preliminary dates. The BBF will be making its official announcements in due course.

Click here for more details of the membership packages

YOUTH BASEBALL LEAGUES

2022 saw the second season of the Herts Youth Baseball League. The number of registered youth players grew again. In 2023 the club will aim to enhance and develop the programme and the league further to make Herts one of the leading clubs for youth baseball.

KEY DATES – YOUTH TEAMS

(events and dates are subject to changes)

February – players report for Spring Training
March-May – Great Britain National Team Tryouts (senior and youth teams)*
April – Opening Day of the Herts Youth Baseball League season
May-July – Midweek evening baseball sessions
June – UK Little League Qualifiers
July – BBF National Championships
July – European Little League Qualifiers
September – Herts Youth League Playoffs
September/October – Herts Futures Tournament

Click here for more details of the membership packages

WHICH BALLPARK WILL YOU PLAY YOUR HOME LEAGUE GAMES AT?

Herts has two ballparks. The online registration form will ask players to indicate whether they prefer to play their home league games in Hemel Hempstead or in NW London, or whether they would be happy with either. This will provide important information to club management when they configure the adult and youth team rosters for the new season.

HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE 2023 BASEBALL SEASON

Those who already have an account with the club will be prompted to register when they log on next time (click here to go to the Herts online Clubhouse and log on with your existing username and password). Those who are new to Herts Baseball Club and do not have an online account can register as members by completing this form. For more details about joining our teams in 2023 and the membership packages click here or contact us.

7 November 20227 November 2022 by Herts Baseball News Editor

2022 MVP vote results are in

The Most Valuable Players (MVP) of the thirteen Herts adult and youth teams have been announced. The players of each team voted to determine their team’s MVP so the results reflect who the players consider to have been the most influential members this year.

The Cardinals voted for Tyler Cote (pictured above) who proved to be one of the team’s most effective pitchers picking up 3 wins, one of which included an outing where he went five innings without allowing a hit. He led the pitching staff with 29 strikeouts. He also put up good offensive numbers including 2 home runs.

From the five Herts teams in the BBF adult leagues, the Herts Hawks had the best regular season record reaching the playoff semi-final and Harry McMenamin was one of the driving forces behind that success. With a .594 batting average and .844 slugging average he was among the top three batters in the team. But his contribution was in all aspects of the game including an ERA of 2.00* on the mound and one of the team’s most reliable gloves in the infield (Fielding % .967). This is only McMenamin’s second season in the BBF leagues and he has now been voted MVP in both. Last year he was the Herts Raptors MVP. What will he do in 2023?

The Londoners also qualified for the postseason and there were a number of strong candidates for MVP, but it was first baseman Kenny Liao who led the team in so many different statistical categories including batting average (.646) and RBI (37). Whenever he stepped up to the plate there was the confidence that Kenny Liao will get on base and drive runs home. Pitcher and infielder Nic Goetz was a close second in the MVP vote.

Last year the Eagles were the club’s best performing team but they were missing some key players in big games which certainly cost them a number of wins this year. However, there is real excitement about the prospect of seeing 17-year-old pitcher Alex Trautman develop over the next few years. He was chosen as the MVP. He had the most wins and his 7.88 ERA came second behind Mike Wakelam’s 6.30. Trautman recorded 32 strikeouts – a phenomenal rate of 2 strikeouts per inning. He is now also starting to put up high offence numbers.

The Raptors voted John Kjorstad as their MVP. He led the team in RBIs, home runs (3) and slugging average 1.000 and came second in batting average (.481) behind Thomas Browne (.556). It was Kjorstad’s two home runs and 7 RBI in the Raptors’ win against the Eagles that helped the team end a 21-game losing streak.

Kjorstad’s performance on that day was also nominated for Play of the Year and it received the most votes in that category coming ahead of Zak Beller’s Grand Slam in the deciding game versus the Mustangs and the Eagles comeback from 1-9 to win 12-11 against the Londoners.

The Herts youth team coaches had the difficult task of breaking a number of ties in the MVP voting for the eight Herts teams. The MVPs were:

Ben Peters, Herts U15
Chi Laam Wong, Herts U13
Kieran Mucklow, Herts Falcons U11
Emmett Rose, Herts Hawks U11
Joseph Kjorstad, Herts Raptors U11
Violet Jones, Herts Cardinals U11
Dimitri Petromarkov, Herts Eagles U11
Isabel Jones, Herts Londoners U11

Surprisingly, there were only two nominations for Nob-Out. Londoners Eddie Wang was nominated after calling time halting their away game in Guildford to walk over to the opponents’ dugout to claim the game ball which he hit over the fence for his first home run of the season a minute earlier. But it was Aspi Dimitrov who received the most votes. On the final weekend of their regular season, the Herts Londoners won two hard-fought games against Herts Eagles to ensure that London Mustangs are not able to overtake them in the Playoff race thanks to a better head-to-head record in a 2-way tie, only for Aspi Dimitrov to put the celebrations on hold when he informed the team several hours after the win that there is a peculiar scenario where other games could produce a 3-way tie which would bizarrely take Mustangs above Londoners. Celebratory social media posts had to be amended or put on hold over the course of that nail-biting week.

With 2022 award-winners confirmed, attention is already turning to preparations for the 2023 season. What will the new year bring? How many Herts teams will we see and which leagues will they play in? Which players will be challenging to move up the leagues and will a Herts team bring a national championship trophy home.

New players who are hoping to play in 2023 or would like to try baseball to help them decide, should contact the club so they stay updated about 2023 Spring Training.

* – based on the games that we have stats for.

6 October 20227 October 2022 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Kids from around the UK enjoy October baseball in Hemel Hempstead

The Herts Falcons won the U15 division of the Herts Futures Tournament and the Herts Hawks won the U11 bracket but all the teams played their part in making this another successful edition of this competition.

The number of teams who entered the tournament was considerably lower than previous years but it is in the context of the BBF national youth baseball championships being cancelled a week earlier due to lack of teams so this is positive news that teams from Essex, Hertfordshire, London, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire came to play.

This was the first time that the Herts Futures Tournament is played in October but the weather conditions were ideal for baseball.

The day started with the traditional opening ceremony introducing the teams and umpires. With Great Britain U18 Head Coach, Jonathan Rodriguez, being present, this was a perfect opportunity for the players and fans to mark what has been a very successful year for the GB U12, U15, U18, GB Women’s team and of course for the GB senior team who made history by qualifying for the 2023 World Baseball Classic just a few weeks earlier.

The playing of the national anthem was followed by players and fans chanting “Let’s go GB”.

The first U15 game of the day was closely fought between the Herts Falcons and Essex Redbacks. The Falcons came out on top but by the narrowest of margins winning 4-3. Redbacks put on another great performance in their second game of the day against the Northants Centurions but were once again edged out, this time 2-3.

This set up a clash between the Falcons and the Centurions for the U15 title. The Falcons came out on top.

WATCH: Highlights of Herts Falcons U15 vs Essex Redbacks U15

WATCH: Highlights of Herts Falcons U15 vs Northants Centurions U15

In the U11 division, the Herts Londoners put up a good fight against the Nottingham Rebels and Herts Hawks but were on the losing side in both games. That set up a dramatic match-up between the Hawks and Rebels. The hometown team seemed to be in control but a grand slam by the Rebels in the penultimate inning tied the game.

There was little room for error in the bottom of the final inning. The Hawks managed to drive the winning run across the plate to win an edge-of-the-seat encounter.

Since its creation in 2008, the Herts Futures Tournament has been a great day for the youth baseball community to get together at the end of the year. The club was delighted to see so many players, parents and coaches come along to enjoy it once again.

Our full photo album from the day can be seen on our Flickr page – please feel free to find yourself!

View the HFT scoreboard and final standings.

photos by Rob Jones

27 September 202227 September 2022 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Futures Tournament this Saturday.

7 teams will be in action at the 2022 Herts Futures Tournament (HFT) which will take place this Saturday, 1 October 2022. The number is considerably lower then in previous years but it is in the context of the BBF national youth baseball championships being cancelled last week due to lack of teams so this is positive news and an opportunity to end the 2022 youth baseball season on a high.

U15 Division

Essex Redbacks (U15)
Herts Falcons (U15)
Northants Centurions (U15)

U11 Division

Essex Redbacks (U11)
Herts Hawks (U11)
Herts Londoners (U11)
Nottingham Rebels (U11)

The opening ceremony will take place at 10:45am. The first games begin at 11:15am and games will be played right up to around 3:30pm.

To view the games schedule click here.

“Herts Baseball Club welcomes new players at any time of the year” said the club’s co-Director of Youth Baseball, Aspi Dimitrov. “Any children aged between 6 and 14 who are interested to give baseball a try should contact the club. It is not too late to play in these games, regardless of whether you are a complete beginner or an advanced player.”

The HFT was first held in 2008 and is now a permanent fixture in the British baseball calendar. It brings together youth teams from across the country for a day of baseball at one of the best baseball venues in the United Kingdom.

For more information about the event visit the Herts Futures Tournament homepage.

26 September 202228 September 2022 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Falcons U15 and Cardinals U11 are the 2022 Herts Youth League champions.

The Herts Youth Baseball League Finals had everything – drama, home runs, walk-off, web gems, comebacks, pitching duels, and most importantly lots of smiles on the faces of players, parents and fans.

These were the first youth league games since the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the teams and fans held a minute of applause to express their gratitude and respect, which was followed by the playing of the national anthem.

A large number of fans came out to enjoy this occasion and they were not disappointed as the boys and girls put on a show.

First up were the Herts Cardinals and Herts Falcons in the U11 final. Both teams dominated in the regular season with records of 8-3 and 7-3, respectively. The Cardinals took an early lead and in the first three innings it looked like they would cruise to victory but in the fourth the Falcons U11 struck back with four runs to reduce the deficit to 8-4. This included a home run by debutant Flynn Dunn.

Cardinals U11 responded immediately in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead to 13-4 and their defence shut the Falcons down in the final inning to clinch the Herts U11 championship.

.@HertsCardinals are the 2022 Herts U11 League Champions pic.twitter.com/t6SfLOgYQ8
— Herts Baseball Club (@HertsBaseball) September 24, 2022

In the U15 Final, we saw a proper pitchers’ duel. Ben Peters started on the mound for the Falcons U15 and Chi Laam Wong for the Hawks U15. The Falcons put up one run in the first and one in the fourth but every other inning had a zero on the scoreboard until the fifth inning when the Hawks hit back – Sammy Assael-Francis with the head-first slide beating the tag at home to tie the game at 2-2.

Relief pitchers Kobby Kofuor Darteh and Yaroslav Yefimov continued the dominance which we saw from the starting pitchers and no runs were scored in the next inning.

This final had to be decided in extra innings. The rule putting runners on second base was in force. With one out, the Hawks advanced that runner to third base and put a second runner on first base, but an outstanding double play by the Falcons defence ended the threat and the inning.

It was time for a hero to emerge and that hero was 11-year-old Violet Jones. With runner on third base and one out, she drove the ball up the middle to bring the winning run home prompting wild celebrations to end the 2022 Herts Youth League season on.

Next up is the season-ending Herts Futures Tournament on Saturday, 1 October, at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. New players can still register in time to play at this event.

15 September 202215 September 2022 by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts youth baseball league U15,U13 and U11 finals moved to 24 September

Herts Baseball Club received the news that only one other baseball club is likely to enter teams in the BBF national youth baseball championships which were expected to be played on 24-25 September. In view of the difficulties which this presents, Herts has decided not to enter its teams in the various age divisions of the tournament.

In place of that event, the club has now moved the finals of the Herts U15, U13 and U11 leagues to Saturday, 24 September. All games will be played at the newly upgraded Basing Hill Ballpark in London.

In the U15/U13 division, the Herts Falcons and the Herts Hawks find themselves tied in the standings and they will meet in the final at 12:15pm to determine the champion.

HYBL U11 Standings

Pos	Team	W	L	Pct	GB	RS	RA	Diff	Strk	Next Game
1	Mets U11	4	0	1.000	0	48	11	37	W4	-
2	Raptors U11	1	1	0.500	2	29	32	-3	T1	-
2	Falcons U11	3	3	0.500	2	69	75	-6	W1	-
4	Londoners U11	5	6	0.455	2.5	54	71	-17	L2	-
5	Cardinals U11	2	3	0.400	2.5	24	26	-2	W1	-
6	LYBL U11	0	1	0.000	2.5	5	7	-2	L1	-

In the U11 division the final will be contested between the Herts Cardinals (8-3) and Herts Falcons (7-3) who are in first and second place in the standings, respectively. The winner will become the U11 champion. The game will start at 10:30.

In the following week, the Herts U15, U13 and U11 teams will be joined by teams from around the United Kingdom to play in the 2022 Herts Futures Tournament. All the games will be played at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead on Saturday, 1 October.

BBF Youth Super League - Order of Play (Sat, 6 May)