Hochtaunus district (jf). The 2022 season in the 2nd Baseball Bundesliga South has already ended for the Bad Homburg Hornets (the last double-header is on October 2nd on the schedule), but with the organization of the German School Championships the Kurstadt-based company still has a long way to go on the last weekend in September big highlight ahead.
With 13 wins and 15 defeats, the hornets’ 1st men’s team in the 2nd Baseball Bundesliga South-West even has a negative record after 28 games, which means fifth place in the final table instead of the hoped-for promotion.
The return to the 1st Bundesliga, which the hornets had been aiming for before the start of this season, was clearly missed despite a few newcomers. “The lack of a pitcher was decisive for this,” says spokesman Sebastian Wagner, summing up the current misery of the team. “Immediately before the start of the season, two players who had been scheduled for us canceled and over the course of the last few months, a total of five pitchers have not been available.”
As a result, the most important position in baseball had to be filled again and again during the round by people who were not sufficiently trained for the task. Even the 50-year-old coach Arlen Barrera had to go to the throwing mound due to a lack of alternatives.
In his career as a player, Barrera had gained experience in the 1st Bundesliga with the Mannheim Amigos (1996), in Friedberg (1999) and with the Mannheim Tornados (2000 and 2001) and was also in Schriesheim, Dreieich and with the Mainz Athletics and the Saarlouis Hornets active.
In the five-month second division season, the Hornets have also been badly shaken by bad luck with injuries, so that in some matches only a minimal squad could be called up and no substitutes were available. This is also an explanation for the seven defeats in a row in the final phase of this season after the two wins in the Hessen derby at the Darmstadt Whippets (on August 20th 9:0 and 3:2).
Experienced Fabian Fermin Hernandez, who is a member of the board newly elected ten months ago as Vice President Sport, has stood his ground this Bundesliga season and made sure with great commitment that the round was played properly to the end.
In the last game on September 4th in Mainz, six youngsters from the “Taunus Baseball Academy” were on the field: Leon Krüger, Francis Goula, Hernandez’s son Kenny Fermin Giere, Leo Lehmann, Noah Lorenz and Kiano Ghaliai.
“This is the right path to our future. We managed to bridge the gap between the juniors and the 2nd Bundesliga«, Wagner refers to the Hornets’ youth concept, which should bear fruit in the sporting field in the next few years.
27 talents are currently being trained at the “Taunus Baseball Academy”, some of whom come from Mainz, Schriesheim and Darmstadt to travel to Bad Homburg once a week in order to be able to work with Fabian Fermin Hernandez and his coaching team.
The fact that the Hornets are hosting the German School Championships 2022 on September 24th and 25th, for which the host team also qualified, proves that the professional youth work in Bad Homburg is also registered with the umbrella organization.
Mayor Dr. Oliver Jedynak is the patron of the event, with the new title holder being determined on two fields at the Taunus Baseball Park. Admission is free.
Under the leadership of the former IT manager Frank Krüger, outside the board (President Yovany Castaneda Street, Managing Director Marcel Foltz, Vice President Administration Heike Kiss, Vice President Finance Manuela Brandl, Vice President Sport Fabian Fermin Hernandez and Vice President Young Talent Marty Hanson) formed a support team.
A uniform outfit for all teams (white home jerseys and black away jerseys) can already be seen as a striking visual result and now the focus is on improving the infrastructure of the Taunus Baseball Park in the Northwest Sports Center.
