The #roadtoherts: Single-A League – Match Previews & More
This set of final articles for UK American Sports Fans previews this weekend’s National Baseball Championships, but as a last hurrah I’ve managed to hear back from a number of high profile players and coaches who’ve been able to give us the best insight yet for this weekend.
You’ll be able to follow the progress of the NBCs via www.britishbaseball.org over the weekend or, better yet, come join in! The hashtags #roadtoherts #bbfnbcs and #britishbaseball (Ed: #uk_sportsfans as well will try and check these out for retweets!) will also be excellent ways to follow the action on Twitter. To get a feel for all the action, follow the British Baseball and Softball Clubs list I compiled at: https://twitter.com/#!/DazzMcGuinness/british-baseball-softball
Please note that the likely pitching match-ups are from speculation as well as conversations with the managers, and are not set in stone. Although if they do materialise then we’re in for some cracking baseball, and that’s just in the first round! Also, for further information about the historical context of the NBL, read Joe Gray’s overview on: http://www.baseballgb.co.uk/?p=14415
Single-A
Likely starters
Ben Powell (Blue Sox) vs George Blaskett (Tuesday)
HOVE TUESDAY (built themselves this season following a successful softball programme, gone unbeaten since bringing baseball back to Brighton)
“Considering it’s the team’s first season in the BBF and that we are undefeated so far, it’s pretty damn good,” Ben Grogan said of his Hove Tuesday side making the NBCs.
Grogan, Mark Mills and Andy Wilson – all former GB internationals – helped build the baseball team from the softball programme at the Brighton Buccaneers’ old ground at Pavilion Field. They’ve not looked back since. Along with a few experienced and a few “green as grass” players, the Club has a roster with a pitching depth “that many National League clubs would envy.” And they throw strikes, which wins games at the lower levels.
They’re starting pitcher in the final will be George Blaskett, who is playing baseball for the first time this year after progressing with the softball club: “With a few shakier outings earlier in the season, he went from strength to strength absorbing our coaching and learning how to control batters and base runners, taking that aspect away from our opposition.
“It’s this area of the game that’s usually out of control at the single-A level leading scores that resemble a rugby result rather than a baseball score. In last weekend’s game George’s fastball had so much cut, it would have challenged some hitters in the NL – he was LEGIT brushing players off the plate then coming back inside with it braking at least half a foot for a strike!”
Certainly a sight to behold on bank holiday Monday, and both Grogan and John Sayers – the manager and chairman of Hove Tuesday – will be hoping to make a big impact following their work with the Club and “are keen to benchmark against clubs in higher divisions.”
Grogan added, “I stopped playing British Baseball and for the National Team in 2006 when the sport was dropped from the 2012 Olympics. With the golden ticket gone for The Great Britain Baseball team, the likelihood of the sport getting the facilities and funding it needed was simply not going to happen. I felt the sport could only go backwards. I’m keen to see the current state of the game in this country. I bet nothing has changed – in fact, I expect it to be worse.”
Tuesday have maintained momentum by focusing mostly on their own success and the players who are available each weekend to help them achieve it. “All that matters to us is what we need to do one game at a time – who is available, make sure we throw strikes and put ball in play. And we’ll easily field nine, even with a couple out injured, don’t you worry about that.”
Sayers will be in line for a celebratory cheer should Hove Tuesday win.
“He has built a great programme in Brighton with baseball and softball. We all appreciate what he has done. He has worked hard to restablish the best facility in the country and people like playing at our ground. He deserves to get bundled…” Grogan concluded.
LEICESTER BLUE SOX (the Blue Sox came third in AA Midlands and won two playoff games comprehensively to get to the Single-A final)
According to manager Giovanni Cioti, 90% of the roster will be travelling, with around 30 players and fans making the journey from Leicester to Herts to cheer on their Blue Sox; the youth development this season will give them an excellent lift when they take the field on Monday morning.
“It means a great deal to our club to be here this season,” Cioti said. “With the club nearly folding this time last year, we’ve resurrected ourselves to being not only a contender, but an inclusive club focused on sustainable development via youth baseball and adult player development. Where our previously successful teams have won with mainly foreign players, this team will feature mostly British-born players who have worked hard in the off-season and throughout this season to play together as a fundamentally solid baseball team.”
The Blue Sox will be with their three main pitchers – young phenom Ben Powell (GB Junior), Radek Zagozdzon (48Ks through the regular season) and Sandy Rosendo, who has been keeping things very tight during the post-season. Additionally, the big bats will be provided by Dave Burke (.413 during the summer) and Dennis Grogan (3 home runs), complemented by some great players around them.
But for the Blue Sox, there’s more on offer for the growth of the Club than just winning a title. They’re excited about the other divisions as well as the game that lies ahead. Their friends in AA Midlands, the Nottingham Rebels and MK Bucks, will be followed closely by the Blue Sox, while Cioti is excited about whether Harlow can defend their title and whether the Trojans will receive a sterner test from the other sides at this season’s NBCs.
“We’ll be assessing the quality of play in the NBL and AAA games to determine what we need to do to get to that level and how far we are away from it,” Cioti added.
But in the moment, they’ll be concentrating on the game in hand.
“If we win, we’ll celebrate and give the opposition a good loud cheer. We’ll take some photos and enjoy the fruits of the hard work that went into getting this team where it is today. We’re playing to have fun and have fun playing,” Cioti concluded.
