The #roadtoherts: NBL – 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
NBL
Likely starters
Roberto Almanzar (Nationals) vs (Mets)
Jordan Farakas (Falcons) vs Gary Davison (Mustangs)
HARLOW NATIONALS (defending champions already won the league and top seeding for the NBCs. Kick off proceedings with first game on Saturday morning)
“We’ll probably send Robbie [Almanzar] to the mound,” Nationals’ manager Marty Cullen told me in the BaseballSoftballUK offices on Tuesday night. “He’s something like twelve-and-oh, so he’s our best pitcher this season.”
And what of the hitting? “Jarrod Pretorious may be the scariest hitter to face in the league, and he’s a concrete wall at any position defensively,” Cullen continued in a later correspondence.
“It means everything for us to be at the NBCs, it’s why we fight it out all season. This year in particular it helps prove to ourselves as much as anyone that it wasn’t a fluke. We’re looking forward to watching some great baseball at a great facility with some great people. Oh, and winning a Championship!”
Will Lintern and Maikel Azcuy have been gathering steam over the final few weeks of the season, while Almanzar will be joined by starters GB Baseball Programmes GM Brendan Cunliffe and GB Under-23 Jamie Ratcliff, but Cullen couldn’t comment on what order they would take the hill – hence the disclaimer at the start of the article!
As a former Herts player, Cullen also knows that the surroundings are favourable for hitters and highlighted Ryan Bird (Herts), Gary Davison (Mustangs) and Gianluca Ciuppani (Mets) as the batters to look out for. Unsurprisingly, their managers also picked them out as well, as you’ll see later.
“Going in as the number 1 seed isn’t as fun as it sounds,” Cullen added of the pressure the Nationals are under. “If we defend our crown having won the pennant as well, I’ll breathe a huge sigh of relief!”
HERTS FALCONS (re-tooled in 2012 and have home advantage at Grovehill Ballpark. Provide the entertainment in the afternoon fixture on Saturday)
What’s the Herts Baseball Club’s biggest concern this year for the NBCs? “We don’t have a trophy cabinet yet so we will be immediately faced with a problem that we would have to deal with!”
Club President Aspi Dimitrov told me about leading this season’s most successful Club, with two teams in the NBCs. Here’s what he had to say about the Falcons’ chances…
“Last year all our teams had losing seasons, well below .500, and we were not represented at the NBCs, which was negative not only from a Herts perspective but also we think from a British Baseball point of view. We are relieved that we’ve been able to turn things around this year and hope that our local fans will be able to add to the NBC atmosphere and make this event better for British Baseball.”
Dimitrov, a former committee member for the BBF, is also intrigued as to whether fans will flock to their Hemel Hempstead home, especially now it’s a three-day format.
“It would be fantastic to see attendances increase every year. This is a good measure of whether the league is going in the right direction,” he said.
Certainly the Falcons are soaring on the back of a great summer, having this season lost only a few more games than they won throughout last year. The depth in the pitching roster is notable, and very important for a weekend tournament such as the NBCs, and manager Lee Manning has been keeping opponents guessing all year. Any one of Jordan Farkas, Matt Spalding, Kevin Neidringhaus, Jeff House or former champion pitchers Michael Osborn, Darrin Ward, Ryan Bird and Robbie Unsell could take the stage.
For Ward, it represents a successful end to a season when he left his beloved Herts to obtain game time with the Essex Arrows, before returning midseason to help the Falcons claim second in the standings.
But there are a few notable absences on the DL, and last season’s Falcons MVP Mahendra Prasad – a Sri Lankan international – is among the key figures missing. Dave Westfallen and Jamie Munn are also unlikely to recover, but the depth of the Falcons’ roster should account for these big stars.
“Obviously the Harlow Nationals are the reigning champions and they finished in first place in the regular season, so the other three teams will see them as the favourites,” Dimitrov added, looking ahead to his side’s chances over the bank holiday. “However, the NBL has been quite unpredictable this year with the top four teams capable of beating any of the other sides in the division. There is no reason to believe that this would change during the NBC weekend.”
SOUTHAMPTON MUSTANGS (made the NBCs for third consecutive year, but will hope to go all the way for the first time)
“We are extremely proud to have made the NBC’s for a third year in a row,” Ben Davis, the Southampton manager told me. “It’s a testament to how hard our guys work year in and year out to maintain this level of quality baseball. This is the whole reason we play, we want to be in the NBC and in the hunt for a national title every year.”
Gary Davison, the Mustangs’ GB Under-23 star, has led with bat (.431) and ball (8 wins) during the season, while the experience of Alberto Rodriguez and Lee Ralph on the mound will give them extra depth. The big hits could come from any of the side, with seven players launching home runs during the summer, led by Justin Frosina who has smacked three.
“We are looking forward to the increased intensity and pressure of playing in front of many more people than normal. Like I said before, this is why we play ball, and is a chance to show how far we have come as a club, and promote British baseball as best we can,” Davis added.
The Mustangs aren’t surprised by their opponents for the NBL crown. Though they respect the sides they’ll need to beat to win the title, they don’t fear them. “On any given day our defence will shut down good offensive players and our offence will hit good pitching.”
Their small roster won’t be stretched either – although they don’t tend to carry as many players, they are available week-in, week-out and the NBC is no different. They’ll complement it with great support from their loyal fans.
“If we win, we’ll go to Disneyworld!” Davis added. If that’s not incentive for the side to pick up the title, I don’t know what is!
LONDON METS (beat the last year’s beaten finalists, the Lakenheath Diamondbacks, in playoff. Will hope to win title for first time since 2008)
Pietro Sollecito said “it’s a fitting end to a year of hard work” that the Mets should return to the NBCs. “It’s the continuation of a Mets tradition to compete for the National title.”
Led around the diamond by big hitters Gianluca Ciuppani, Guy Lidbitter and Grant DelZoppo, the gloves have also been a key part to their return to the NBCs, with Trevor Allen, Alberto Caballero and GB Under-23s Jonathon Cramman (who scored five runs in their playoff match) and Sam Sproule keeping things tight.
A deep pitching staff is “one of our strengths”, Cramman added, of their successful season, with Sollecito eating up innings and picking up wins alongside Noah Frankel, whose filled in spots. “Dan McAnesey is the most talented of the bunch,” Sollecito added. “Although he’s been plagued with injuries, he’s peaking at just the right times. And there are others who can step in but events around them will dictate action on the hill.”
Indeed, it was McAnesey who delivered the success against the Diamondbacks, allowing only three runs to get them to the NBCs. But Sollecito is a little philosophical about the likely outcome of the weekend: “There are no real surprises. All teams are very well balanced and so we will seek to play our game throughout and let the chips fall as they may.”
The Team Manager confirmed they’ll travel with a full roster and have about 20-30 fans alongside them, ready to “crack open that box of Cohibas donated for just such an event by our favourite Cuban, second baseman Arley Lorenzo Feito.”
Cramman had the youthful, and likely more immediate response: “If we win, we’ll dogpile on the mound!”
