Youngblood to make a star turn at Hemel's Grovehill baseball diamond

Hemel Storm head coach Robert Youngblood, kneeling, will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Hemel's Grovehill baseball diamond this Saturday for a fun, children's baseball festival.

Hemel Storm basketball coach Robert Youngblood will be the special guest at the Grovehill baseball diam field in Hemel Hempstead this Saturday to throw out a first pitch for the Herts Baseball Club's youth sides.

The first game starts at 10am and teams from Brighton, Guildford and Leicester are all coming along to take part.

Meanwhile, on the playing front at the weekend, Herts duos did the double on Father’s Day.

The Herts Raptors started off strongly on their trip to the Tonbridge Bobcats on Sunday, which was Father’s Day.

The Herts Falcons in action at the Grovehill diamond in Hemel.

They scored two runs in the first inning, and added a further five in the second frame, thanks to hits from Ken Pike and rookie Harvey Blenkarne.

That gave the side a formidable 10-4 lead after four innings.

And unlike on some recent occasions, the Raptors did not ease off at this point.

Father-and-son duo Josh and Brian Morgan – playing their first game for Herts – helped power the offense, with young Josh hitting a double and also stealing home to score a run.

Arnie Longboy pitched a complete game, and his defence made a series of good plays to seal the 21-6 win.

The Hawks were at home at Grovehill in Hemel to host the Norwich Iceni side, who won a close-fought victory the last time the two sides played.

Norwich were last year’s undefeated Single-A champions, but now both sides are in the AA division.

The Hawks’ bats were lively, which enabled the side to jump out to an early lead, with a double from Andy Cornish and a triple from Gilberto Medina.

Drew Mayhew played his first game for over two years and hit a double.

Darrin Ward pitched another great game as the Hawks won 20-5 in six innings.

Louis Hare also played a great game while his father Geoff – one of the country’s top umpires – was in charge behind the plate.

So it was doubles all round for Herts on Father’s Day.