Richmond Baseball Club 2022 Season Awards
Saturday 1st October 2022
Richmond Baseball Club, Richmond
By Alvin Michael | alvinmichael.com | @AlvinMicWrites | @alvinmicwrites
2022 started off with great promise and high hopes for everyone involved with Richmond Baseball Club. An influx of high calibre experienced players and coaches, mixed in with several rookies new to the game, as well as returning veterans, would provide the backbone of a fun, exciting season. Although there were no championships to celebrate, there was plenty to cheer about, including many outstanding player performances to recognise and reward.
The awards ceremony was attended by several members of all three Richmond teams from Single A to AAA, and several club committee members, who were appreciative and vocal in support for their colleagues and award winners.
Dukes
Paul Tiley, manager of Single A Richmond Dukes, began proceedings with a summary of the Dukes’ 2022 campaign. Finishing tied for 3rd place in their Pool they amassed a 12-14 win-loss record, just missing out on finishing their season with a .500 record by one run in the final game of regular season play to Herts Hawks (the winners of South Central-B). Despite that disappointment it was nonetheless a very impressive season with 12 wins much improved over the 7-win total for 2021. However, more so than just the win total was the way they played and the quality they displayed, competing with and beating teams who would either go on to win their Pool or reach the National Championships Final.
Monty Nendick (left) receives his Most Valuable Player award from Dukes’ manager Paul Tiley
“[Dukes’] team batting average was .344, really impressed with that. We had 224 hits and 200 plus stolen bases which is a double on last year's [total], that's all I could ask. We just didn't steal enough last year and we made up for it this year so really well done”, said Tiley. He went on to praise his coaching staff, Sam Hofbeck and James Guerra for their invaluable contribution, and gave special credit to Andy Nendick, Cam Esmond and Richard Griffiths for their support especially during road games.
Sam Hofbeck was a landslide winner for the Cy Young award with 98 strikeouts for the season, Gaston Farina took home the Batting title and Gold Glove, but the Dukes’ Most Valuable Player went to Monty Nendick. Monty, last year’s Rookie of the Year, has come leaps and bounds in his short baseball career to date. This year he was an influential utility player, at ease in any position from pitcher to catcher, infield to outfield, and produced stellar performances consistently.
Dragons
Next up were the awards for Double A Richmond Dragons, presented by their manager Dave D’Urbano. The Dragons started off slowly but improved significantly as the season progressed with the addition of several new players. They finished on an 8-17 record overall in a very tough Pool – the top two teams in their pool faced off in the National Championship Final.
Ben Carter won the Batting title and MVP award for Dragons with another impressive season. The stalwart Pitcher, Catcher, Infielder has grown to be ‘Mr Dependable’ for Richmond Dragons and a leader for them on both sides of the ball as D’Urbano said,
“No one should be surprised [with these awards], he hit .587, a number of home runs, and could count on him to turn the game around”.
Mikey Jimenez (left) receives his Players’ Player award from Dragons’ manager Dave D’Urbano
One of the loudest cheers of the night was for Mikey Jimenez winning the Players’ Player award (recognising a player who puts the team first, goes above what is expected, and is overall a great asset to the team).
“He was down every week for training, huge assistance to myself every week in terms of strategy and ideas, and stepped up when I wasn’t there to help the club as well”, D’Urbano extoled.
Knights
AAA Richmond Knights’ manager Humberto Goncalves couldn’t attend the ceremony, so Luis Goncalves stepped up to present the awards on behalf of his father. The Goncalves’ were new to the club this year along with a large majority of the Knights’ team. Luis spoke with heartfelt sincerity and graciousness at the warm welcome they all received,
“Last year we had a rough season and we’re pretty thankful that you guys allowed us to come in and took us all in, to play here in a wonderful club.
“Things like this never really existed at Essex and we are really happy to be a part of it. Even though we’re Latinos we don't want to be classified as that, we don’t want to exclude ourselves from everybody, we’re very happy to be a part of this club and this is what my dad feels also, he's really happy”.
Of all three teams at Richmond, Knights had the most successful season, winning the South A Pool with a 19-7 record before being ousted in the National Championship Semi-final by London Metros. Knights players made the top 5 leader board for most of the hitting and pitching categories in AAA, and led the league in Batting Average (Jesus Pestana .636), On-Base Percentage (Jesus Pestana .714), Stolen Bases (Luis Goncalves 30), Triples (Alessandro Trabucco 2), and Earned Run Average (Rei Martinez 1.67).
Alessandro Trabucco (left) receives his Most Valuable Player and Gold Glove awards from Luis Goncalves
“The first eight games in the season we won them all, we made it to the play-offs and it's sad that the end is really down to one game. We didn't quite make it, it’s not how we wanted to end up, but nevertheless I don’t think that should be a reflection of the type of team that we are. I think we're a great team and I think we can bring the championship next year”, added Goncalves.
Unsurprisingly, Jesus Pestana took home the batting title, whilst Alessandro Trabucco picked up both the MVP and Gold Glove awards drawing lavish plaudits on his exceptional performances from Goncalves.
Club Awards
The final club wide awards were presented by Paul Tiley and were among the most popular of the night. Rookie of the Year went to Andy Nendick, received with a raucous ovation from the audience. Andy was a revelation batting .525 with 18 Runs Batted In and 8 Doubles to go along with an OPS (On-Base Percentage + Slugging) of 1.283 in his first year playing baseball. There are very few rookies in recent memory who have had a better season than this, and it marks the first time in the club’s history that a father and son have won the ROY award in back-to-back seasons.
Chris Robertson won the Most Improved Player award after making huge progress from 2021 where he began as a second baseman with an average arm, to this year getting the nod to start a game from the mound against London Mustangs.
The Connare Award is presented to a club member who has given the most to the club, has been the best asset, and the off-field MVP for the club. This year’s recipient was Craig Taylor who was unanimously cheered as he collected his award.
International Call-Ups
A final honourable mention was given to celebrate the achievement of two Richmond players who were selected to represent Great Britain Baseball this year:
Monty Nendick made his international debut at the U15 European Baseball Championship Qualifiers in Valencia, Spain. Monty recorded his first international hit in his first at-bat, a pinch-hit single against Israel.
Marianna Casal played a pivotal role for Great Britain Women in their first international tournament, the Women’s Baseball European Tournament in Montpellier, France. She caught two games including GB’s first ever international tournament victory against Czech Republic.
