Club History
1999:
The
Milton Keynes Combined Baseball Club was founded to provide baseball coaching for children aged 9-12 in the locality of Milton Keynes.
During the week
Andy Simmons,
Pete O’Sullivan and
Rob Norris helped at several schools with
BSUK supported
“Pitch, Hit and Run”.
This was run successfully for two years and produced two National Champions in the first year.
Andy also ran a
PlayBall! Programme that was partially funded by Major League Baseball International and culminated in a weekend long mini world series. This was successfully run for the full three year term, and during our final year in 2002, the combined Milton Keynes team had its strongest showing, and managed to finish third.
2001:
As the
Great Britain Baseball Academy was expanded to include youth players,
BaseballMK began to promote international tournament level baseball to their members.
2003:
Milton Keynes Combined Baseball Club had generated enough interest to become an active part in the national weekend league, with games being played on Saturdays, and the age range of children coached increasing to 16.
During the 2003 season, we competed in both the Bronco and Pony age groups, however both teams struggled with the
Pony team only winning 1 game out of 16, and the
Bronco team winning 5 of their 16 games.
2004:
The club changed its name to
BaseballMK as part of its modernisation process which included updating its draft constitution and forming an elected committee.
Unfortunately, due to player numbers only a
Bronco team played in the '04 season. However they played exceptionally well and finished with 14 wins out of 18 games, after winning the first 8 games in a row.
This sent the Bronco team to the national play offs in which they beat Plymouth, and then went on to the Finals and after losing to the eventual winners Bracknell, they beat Windsor to finish a creditable third.
2005:
After discussions through the first half on the season,
Rob Norris returned to
BaseballMK in June, and his newly formed adult team called the “
MK Hitmen” became an affiliate of
BaseballMK and were renamed the “
BaseballMK Seniors”.
Keith Sherman also started another
BSUK supported
“Pitch, Hit and Run” cycle, working with Milton Keynes schools to offer baseball as part of their school curriculum.
The 2005 season included the return of the
pony age group team and a
bronco team that performed beyond pre-season expectations.
2006:
BaseballMK continued with all three teams (
Seniors,
Pony &
Bronco) playing in the BBF leagues.
The Bronco team once again succeeded in reaching the National Finals repeating their feat of 2004.
However, again BaseballMK was beaten in the semi-finals by the eventual National Champions.
The Senior team had a good season and where only one win away from post season qualification for the first time in their history.
The season concluded with the retirement of
Rob Norris from the team concluding a twenty year playing career.
2007:
This season promises to be an interesting year for
BaseballMK.
The
senior team have a new head coach and have transferred from the Midland to the Southern league hoping they will enjoy a more balanced competition than previous seasons.
Keith Sherman has also began his fifth full season as head coach of the
Warhawks and was elected to join the British Baseball Federation's Executive Board.
The season ended on a bit of a low note with the
Bronco team being eliminated from post season play during the last regular season game of the season.
Both the
Pony and
Senior team qualified for post season play, however the Senior team failed to win a close semi-final game, and the Pony team lost in the final game finishing in second place.
Trophies:
Mini World Series Champions,
Southern Division 1 Group B Pennant,
Southern Pony League Pennant
2008:
Nothing could have prepared
BaseballMK for this season.
By the middle of the season the club were no longer allowed to use the field at
Woughton on the Green, after an ongoing maintenance dispute exploded resulting in both parties agreeing they could no longer work with one another.
Shortly after this, the development of
our new home was delayed when Milton Keynes Council refused to transfer some of the essential funding to the project.
By the end of the season BaseballMK's future was very bleak with only the Pony team completing the season after the joined forces with pony team from Brentwood.