The first round of games from the Herts Spring League (HSL) over the previous weekend gave all involved the chance to knock off some rust and ease their way into the 2010 British baseball season. We have baseball and British Summer Time, but the weather doesnt want to turn to springtime just yet.

Unfortunately, details of the six games that took place at Ham Field were not available at time of writing, but there was more than enough action at Grovehill Ballpark for us to look back at.  There was an average of twenty runs and nearly nine errors per game in the six contests at the home of Herts Baseball Club.  It was an indication of a few lopsided match-ups and, more particularly, teams containing some very welcome newcomers to the sport.

From experienced players to those playing in games for the first time, and even some potential official scorers learning the ropes from our own Joe Gray, the twelve contests on Saturday and Sunday would have been an invaluable exercise.  Weather permitting, the HSL will continue over the coming Easter weekend with twelve more games, before the top teams head on to the tournament final over the following weekend. 

HSL‘Majors B’ Division results

The Herts Falcons got their Spring League off to a winning start by defeating the MK Bucks by a score of 9-6 in seven innings.  The Bucks actually out-hit the Falcons by 9 to 8, but 7 errors, 6 walks, 2 passed balls and 1 hit-by-pitch led to Milton Keynes conceding six unearned runs. 

The Falcons followed up that victory by defeating their Triple-A counterparts, the Herts Eagles, 6-0 in a five-inning game that saw Peter Kikel pitch a no-hitter.  Admittedly it was a little scruffy around the edges, with 4 walks, 2 hit-by-pitches, 2 wild pitches, 1 balk and an earned run conceded, but it’s still a no-no in the Herts Spring League record books.  Catcher Andy Cornish was the Falcon’s main man at the plate, driving in two runs and coming around to score twice himself.

After losing to the Falcons, Herts Eagles then had the unenviable task of facing the 2009 Double-A champions, and 2010 National Baseball League newcomers, the Mildenhall Bulldogs.  Many are excited to see how the Bulldogs will fair in the top tier this year and they started their season in fine form with a comprehensive 23-2 victory.

HSL ‘Minors B’ Division results

Herts Hawks scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth (and final) inning to defeat the Thames Valley Bisons 13-12.  The Bisons rebounded by beating Leicester Blue Sox 11-7 in a game packed with incidents.  The most telling came in the fifth inning when Blue Sox pitcher Adam Brown disputed a balk call and was given the heave-ho by the umpire.  That sent the Blue Sox into a spin and the Bisons took full advantage, plating five runs in the frame to move ahead 6-3: a lead they would not relinquish despite a battling effort by Leicester.

The Windsor Bears ended the day by making short work of the Herts Raptors with a 31-0 win.  The Bears’ pitcher, Milner, had quite a game, pitching a six inning shut-out with eight K’s while going 7-for-7 at the plate and driving in 11 runs. 

This weekend’s games

Saturday is a ‘Majors’ day in the HSL.

At Ham Field, Richmond Flames start the day’s play at 10.30 with a game against Southampton Mustangs. The Mustangs will then face the reigning NBL champion Bracknell Blazers, before the Blazers take on the Essex Redbacks in the final game.

All eyes will be on the Mildenhall Bulldogs at Grovehill Ballpark after their demolition of the Herts Eagles last Saturday.  The United States Air Force team will take on the MK Bucks, who have experience of competing against the Bulldogs from their contests in the Midlands League last year, and will then round off the day by facing National Baseball League opponents in the Herts Falcons.  For all the talk of Spring Training results not meaning anything, the Falcons surely will want to restore a bit of Herts pride while the Bulldogs will see the game as a way to send out a warning shot to the rest of the NBL.  The action begins at 10.30 with a game between MK Bucks and Herts Eagles.

The ‘Minors’ competition takes centre stage on Sunday.

As on Saturday, the opener at Ham Field involves the home team. The Single-A Richmond Dragons will face the Double-A Sidewinders at 10.30, before the Sidewinders follow on with a game against the Guildford Mavericks and then the Mavericks finish the day against the London Marauders.

At Grovehill, the Herts Raptors will try to gain a bit of confidence from their game against the Thames Valley Bisons, who showed a tendency to both score and concede a fair number of runs in their opening two games.  The Leicester Blue Sox will provide a sterner test for the Windsor Bears at 13.05, and the Midlands team will then round off the day with a game against Herts Hawks.

Further details about the HSL can be found on the official website: http://www.hertsbaseball.com/HSL/

Muddy swamps and muddy cleats

As we probably all expected, those bright shoots of spring last week soon disappeared once the baseball started over the weekend.  It has only got worse this week: rainy, cold and even snowy in some parts, which could make for less-than-ideal playing conditions this weekend. 

Even if the clouds stay away during the games, not all that likely considering it’s a Bank Holiday weekend, the amount of water that has fallen in some areas already has the potential to turn fields into quagmires.  Such was the story in North London over the previous weekend.  Martin Stabe of the London Mets described Finsbury Park as a “muddy swamp” at their training session on Sunday and backed up his claims with a photo of his muddy ‘cleats’ on Twitter.

Fine-tuning baseball facilities

There might be a bit of mud around, but otherwise the baseball and softball facilities at Finsbury Park look like they are in very good shape.  The Mets organization has recently installed two new backstops, one for the main baseball diamond and one on their second softball diamond.  As the BaseballSoftballUK report states: “The facility development project at Finsbury Park is a great example of the partnership between the club, the national development agency (BSUK), the regional Sports Partnership (Pro-Active North) and the local council (London Borough of Haringey)”.

The Mets are far from the only organization who have worked hard to improve their facilities over the offseason.  Those efforts extend from further developments at the Herts Baseball Club complex, to BBF newcomers Essex Redbacks getting their diamond ready for their first season in the league system.  The photos on the Redbacks’ website show that, as with most teams in the UK, they have been able to gain a bit of land surrounded by the traditional multitude of football pitches.  Hopefully the site of the new diamond, plus the Redbacks competing on it, will convince some of the football crowd that baseball may be worth a try.

Breaking news: Southern League schedule released

Earlier this morning, and before this column was written, details of the 2010 Southern Adult league schedule were released. This brings the excellent news that there are nine new teams for 2010.  We’ll be looking at this more closely in next week’s British Baseball Beat.