Herts Baseball has announced that Rob Jones and Geoff Thomas will be co-managers of the Herts Raptors for the season.

The Raptors will play in the Single-A League for 2014 after the BBF rejected their application to be promoted to Double-A.

This managerial role has been vacant since the club’s AGM last November. On advertising the role, a large number of candidates expressed an interest, but the club moved to install Jones and Thomas.

Jones has considerable experience, having been with Herts since the early days when the club had only one team. He has since played a key role in the growth of Herts Baseball.

As a player, Jones was 2005 Batting Champion with the Herts Falcons’ second team, playing in Division 1 (now AA), and in 2008 was Batting Champion for the Herts Raptors (Single-A league) and in the same season was awarded the Outfield Gold Glove.

Thomas is a knowledgeable player with over 10 years playing experience. He has been a member of the Herts Eagles for the last two seasons, having previously played and been on the board at Bristol.

Together, they have outlined their vision for developing a team culture and have a strong coaching ethic to ensure the players understand all aspects of the game.

The timing of the appointment is key as the managers of the adult league teams will shortly be going through the process of determining their preliminary 2014 rosters. The Raptors will be active in the Spring League series, commencing on March 22 with a home fixture against London Musketeers.