Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons

Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons

Sport	Baseball
Founded	2012
League	Collegiate Baseball League Europe (CBLE)
Division	Western Division
Based in	Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
Ballpark	Estadi CBS Sant Boi, Club de Béisbol y Sófbol Sant Boi
Colors	Purple, silver, white
Owner	Collegiate Baseball League Europe (CBLE)
Head coach	Chris Cummings
Manager	Mike Graham
Championships	2012, 2015
Division titles	2016

The Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons is a summer collegiate baseball league franchise team that represents Spain in the Western Division of the Collegiate Baseball League Europe (CBLE). Sant Boi Barcelona, hosted by CBS Sant Boi, plays its home games at Sant Boi Stadium in Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. With a 33–19–5 (.632) record as of the conclusion of the 2016 season, Sant Boi Barcelona ranks first all–time in victories and winning percentage among CBLE franchises. The Falcons have registered four .500 or better winning percentage seasons in their history, including one 11–win season (2016). The Falcons have won a total of two league championships, including 2012 and 2016, as well as the CBLE's 2016 inaugural Western Division pennant.

History

The Klarberg/van der Meiren Era (2012–2014)

The CBLE’s Sant Boi Barcelona baseball franchise traces its origins back to 2012. The early years brought about early successes for the franchise, namely during the inaugural CBLE season in 2012 when Sant Boi Barcelona won the first CBLE Championship. It proved to be a fruitful beginning for Falcons baseball. The 2012–2014 period produced the three–year Falcons head coaching tenure of the 21U Sweden national baseball team coach Tony Klarberg, representing the longest coaching tenure during Falcons baseball. His tenure included the most success of any Falcons team prior to 2016, compiling a 5–1 (.833) record in the 2012 short season tournament format. In 2012, the Falcons surrendered only 5 total runs, posting two shutouts.

CBLE President Jan Marteen Kops recalled: “[Teams] played a single round home and away roundrobin tournament and the Falcons became champion with a 5–1 record. Losing only their final game against (the Amsterdam) Bombers who had a guest pitcher with professional experience with the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League. The 2012 Falcons were by far the best team that ever played in CBLE. All teams consisted of 14 players, drafted by their coaching staff from a 120 player list. With only a jersey, a hat, 5 meals, and host families for all 56 players while only playing 5 days in Oosterhout, Netherlands, we only asked a 50 Euros fee to cover the costs. It attracted a lot of young European prospects that played at the highest level in their countries because it took only one week from their summer break. Falcons coaches Tony Klarberg (Sweden) and Filip van der Meiren (Belgium) both knew the young European baseball players better than the other coaches because they ran the 18U franchises for their countries. Their draft picks were very smart, picking top players from Belgium, France, Czech Republic, and Bulgaria in late rounds where other coaches only knew Dutch elite players.”

The early success was short–lived, however, as subsequent Falcons teams registered records of 2–4 in the following year’s renewal of the short season tournament format in 2013 and 5–5 in the first full season format in 2014. Nonetheless, in all three years, the Falcons reached the CBLE Championship Series finals. Klarberg departed the franchise thereafter. Overall, Klarberg’s Falcons teams produced a 12–10 (.545) record during his tenure at Sant Boi Barcelona, making him both the longest–serving and the franchise's all–time leader in wins (12) in Falcons history. Most importantly, as the person responsible for shaping the Falcons franchise and helping CBLE establish its international relevancy in his three seasons leading Sant Boi Barcelona, Klarberg’s tenure laid the foundation for the franchise as CBLE’s most successful and prominent and set the stage for the emergence of the early most successful era for Falcons baseball.

The George/Berghmans Era (2015)

Former [Major League Baseball]]© International Envoy Coach Don George and assistant coach Mitchell Berghmans (Dutch Tigers) took over the Falcons in 2015. The pair produced immediate results as the franchise posted a then new team and CBLE record 10–5 (.667) mark and won the franchise’s second CBLE Championship in its fourth consecutive trip to the CBLE finals. Following the 2015 season, the coaches left Sant Boi Barcelona with the second winningest record in franchise history to lead the CBLE’s London Cavaliers franchise team representing Great Britain.

The Graham/Cummings Era (2016–2017)

Under new managerial direction by AAU International Ambassador Coach Mike Graham and on the field by head coach Chris Cummings–longtime coaching partners of the Maryland RBI advanced skills development travel-select team of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States (AAU)–a full Falcons rebuild became necessary in 2016. The coaching staff also consisted of assistant coach and former pro Jim Hoyer (also of Maryland RBI) and assistant manager Bob Davenport. Under the new leadership the Falcons held true to form and continued the franchise’s winning ways in the ranks of the CBLE elite.

Sant Boi Barcelona signed many prized recruits, including MLB Prospect Guide select Stewart Rich (Georgia College & State University, RHP), All-America honorable mention as named by Perfect Game USA, World Wood Bat Association (WWBA) World Championship All-Tournament selection and former East Cobb Astros travel–select team teammate of MLB’s No. 1 pick in 2015 and Atlanta Brave Danby Swanson; Northwest Missouri State University’s Nikko Pablo (RHP), 2016 two–time NCAA Division II Pitcher of the Week, and James Holler (IF); WWBA All-Tournament selects Jimmie Gentry (Albright College, IF) and Eastern University’s Brandon Snow (IF); Perfect Game USA Follow Prospect and AAU All-America select Connor Graham (Virginia Wesleyan College, OF); AAU All-America selects Brandyn Vogtsberger (Towson University, RHP) and honorable mention Dominic Stanbery (Anne Arundel Community College, RHP); Eastern University’s Mac McGrath (OF); intercollegiate club players CJ Cummings (University of Mary Washington, IF), Jake Fedorczyk (UMBC, C) and Jake Hoyer (Towson University, LHP); and Dutch amateur club UVV Utrecht’s Dave Janssen (C) and Hugo ter Steege (RHP). French player Paul Bodin (La Rochelle Boucaniers) played with the Falcons in France.

Chris Cummings

The Falcons reeled off a red hot nine victories within their first 10 games, streaking to a 9–2–1 start that clinched CBLE’s first ever Western Division Championship pennant by a four game lead and earned a No. 1 seed in the CBLE Championship Series. The franchise achieved nearly the same success as ever previously, making its fifth consecutive trip to the finals. In contrast to the 2012 and 2015 championship seasons, however, the 2016 campaign through Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands may be remembered for what the Falcons did not accomplish. Sant Boi Barcelona, the Western Division Champion and No. 1 top seed in the tournament, lost in an epic CBLE Championship Game match by a 5–2 score to the La Rochelle Admirals representing France. The Admirals were led by MLB’s former Florida Marlins scouting director Jay Hemond.

Despite its disappointing 2016 finish, the Falcons led the league in numerous categories. For the second consecutive year, Sant Boi Barcelona produced a double–digit wins total. The Falcons finished the season with an 11–4–1 mark, good for first all–time for the franchise as well as for all of CBLE for wins in a season. The season concluded the most successful two–year run (21–9–1) both in Falcons and CBLE history for any franchise. The Falcons had both CBLE’s most prolific offense and defense. Opponents were outscored 89–44 (5.6-2.7 avg.) by the Falcons on the season, including three shutouts. Seven Falcons players were named to the CBLE All–Star team: Rich, Pablo, Holler, Vogtsberger, Snow, Fedorczyk, and Ter Steege. Vogtsberger was named the CBLE’s Most Valuable Pitcher. Holler led the league and set a team and league single-season record for RBIs (18). Gentry led the team in hitting (.383). Graham set a franchise record for runs scored (15). Cummings (.929) and McGrath (1.000) led CBLE third basemen and outfielders in fielding percentage, respectively. The Sant Boi coaches were named the CBLE West's coaching staff of the year.

From 2012–2016, the Falcons baseball franchise produced an overall 33–19–5 (.623) CBLE record. During that span, Sant Boi Barcelona participated in five CBLE Championship Series finals, won a Western Division Championship, and claimed two CBLE Championships.

Rivalries

In terms of competitiveness, intensity and longevity, the matchup with the La Rochelle Admirals (France) is Sant Boi Barcelona's fiercest and most storied rivalry, "the CBLE summer collegiate baseball league version of MLB’s Red Sox-Yankees in an ALCS Game 7." The two franchises have competed on an annual basis since 2012, generating some of the most exciting and memorable games in CBLE history. The two franchises have met three times in the CBLE Championship Series finals to play for the league championship. Sant Boi Barcelona has won one of these meetings for the CBLE Championship (2012); La Rochelle twice (2014, 2016). Sant Boi Barcelona holds a 12–7–2 (.572) series lead. Sant Boi Barcelona has also won seven of the last 10 meetings (7–2–1, .750). Sant Boi Barcelona also enjoys a long–standing rivalry with the London Cavaliers (Great Britain). The two franchises have also competed annually since 2012, except in 2015 when the Cavaliers did not field a team. Sant Boi Barcelona holds a 10–4–3 (.676) lead in the series, and has won eight of the last 10 games (.800) between the franchises. Sant Boi Barcelona and the Eastern Division power Praha Dragons (Czech Republic) have also met several times in key CBLE matchups, including the CBLE Championship Series best-of-three semi-finals in 2016 and 2015 finals, both won by the Falcons.

Traditions

In the pregame team huddle before taking the field for a game, the players shout in unison “1–2–3” followed by the translation of “falcon” for the country in which the game is being played. For example, in Great Britain, the shout is “falcon;” in France, the shout is “faucon;” in Spain, “halcón;” in Holland, “valk.” The pregame tradition is a recognition of the significance of CBLE’s international character.

Uniforms

Sant Boi Barcelona's standard uniform consists of a purple jersey (home) or a white jersey (away) with white pants and a purple hat adorned by the silver "Falcons" logo on the forefront.

About the CBLE

The Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons are a charter member of the CBLE, which was founded by European baseball innovator Jan Maarten Kops in 2012 in Oosterhout, Netherlands. The 2016 season featured six teams representing cities in Spain (Barcelona), France (La Rochelle), the Netherlands (Amsterdam and Oosterhout), Austria (Vienna), United Kingdom (London), and Czech Republic (Prague). Rosters included players from all over the world ages 18–23. As the only collegiate summer league in "the Old World," CBLE offers collegiate players a high–level baseball experience and cultural exposure to Europe at the same time. CBLE is affiliated with the Northwoods League, one of America’s premier summer collegiate baseball leagues comprising teams of top college players from the Midwestern United States and Canada. Follow CBLE at http://www.cble.org to keep up to date on the latest happenings, Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons baseball can be followed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/santboifalcons. Euro Baseball TV televised the CBLE Championship Series live in 2015.

External links

• Collegiate Baseball League Europe
• CBLE Facebook
• Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons Facebook
• Maryland RBI Baseball Facebook
• Maryland RBI Baseball
• AAU Baseball
• Mister Baseball
• Major League Baseball

Notes

This article "Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Sant Boi Barcelona Falcons. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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