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Stags History

The Brentwood Stags were created in 1994 at the formation of the Brentwood Baseball Club. Unfortunately results and standings aren't currently available for the first decade of the Stags league play.

1994

The club played friendly games in 1994 against local opposition in preparation for the first season in 1995, playing at that time at the Brentwood Centre, three miles north of the clubs current ballpark.

1995

In their first season in the league, the Stags played in the BBF Southern Conference Div III, the lowest regional division, as was expected of new teams. They competed alongside teams from London, Waltham Abbey, Eastbourne, Cambridge, Fulham, Guildford and Crowborough.

Sadly for the club, they started with four straight losses against their more established and strong opposition and the club sat bottom of the standings. A concerted effort to prove their worth was put into place and the heavy drill sessions, player commitment and modernized yet proven traditional approach to coaching started to pay dividends, and the Club climbed up through the division at a steady rate, winning 10 straight games and ultimately the league title gaining automatic promotion in their first season with a 10-4 record, scoring over 300 runs, which is still believed to be a record today. Suddenly The Stags were on the map, though somewhat in a small way, as they romped home as the BBF Southern Conference Div III Champions in their first player managed season.

1996

A new challenge for the Stags in the shape of the BBF Southern Conference Div II loomed into view in 1996. The club played the Bracknell Blazers, Brighton Buccaneers II, Caterham A's, Gillingham Dodgers, Richmond Knights and Tiptree Rays for the first time as well as again locking horns with the London Wolverines. Despite being a division of a much higher standard than the previous year the managed to finish a creditable fourth.

1997 - 2003

Sadly at this time there is only a small amount of information available for these years. The Stags finished fourth in 1997, and they remaining in Division II until 2001. After finishing the 2000 season with a 5-6 record in 7th place (of 11) the BBF reorganised the league and the Stags were placed in the new Division I.
Unfortunately for the Stags, the change of division didn't suit and they finished the season at the foot of the table with a 2-12 record.

2004

Due to the number of Southern teams at Division 1 level the Stags were placed in the 8 team Southern 'Red' division, alongside familiar adversaries, the 'Blue' division also contained a number of the usual suspects. Unfortunately the change of league name didn't change the Stags luck and they only registered 2 regulation victories, both coming in the forst month of the season, this record was boosted by a forfeit by Sileby, who provided one of the early season successes and a double forfeit by the Shropshire Pumas. A final record of 5-9 and 6th place was the best they could achieve. - See the 2004 Stags Schedule & Standings

2005

Another season, another new division name! This time the rather confusing Division 1 - South (Northern), the division contained frequent opponents the Essex Archers, The Falcons, Herts' third team as well as the Richmond Riverdogs, Havering Cardinals and the second Cambridge Monarchs team. The season started badly with a 0-3 record before visiting Havering on May 8, a tense game ended 8-7 in the Stags favour. The confidence gained from this victory led to the Stags streaking four games, only to be brougth down to earth by Havering on home soil to give the Stags a 4-4 record, unfortunately the Stags managed to lose the remaining games for a poor 4-11 record and demotion to Division 2 - See the 2005 Stags Schedule & Standings

2006

Although disappointed by last season's relegation the Stags knew that their record at Division 2 level was a good one, so there was optimism in the camp going into the season. The positive thoughts were shortlived as heavy defeat followed defeat and the Stags knew very early in the year that the difficulties of the previous few years were to continue. They ended the season with the win column looking as empty as the players confidence. - See the 2006 Stags Schedule & Standings

2007

The Stags went into the summer with a large intake of new blood and some old hats with a lot to prove, following the previous season's poor record. The Stags opened at the Medway Mariners, and it seemed that nothing had changed over the winter with the Stags returning to Brentwood with a 24-7 defeat under their belts. However better things were definitely to follow.

The Stags' home opener saw the Bisons of Thames Valley visit Warley Field, and the Stags were not in a hospitable mood and following 6 home runs the Stags romped home emphatically by a scoreline of 35-3, amazingly not their highest run total of the season!!

Next up for the Stags was a trip to local rivals the Essex Archers for what is usually a tough place to visit, it was not the case this time with Jeff Allender, the MVP from 2006, being the hero by pitching a no-hitter in a 17-0 victory.

Due to the weather and the forfeit of the Southampton Colts it was almost a month before the Stags took the field again, unfortunately the time off cooled the bats and a defeat against the Mariners, who were on their way to the championship with a perfect record, was followed by a split double header against the Croydon Pirates. The Rays and Bisons then went on to beat the Stags at their respective ballparks. With two games left and the postseason out of reach the big question was will the Stags finish the season with a winning record, first up was the visit of the Archers, who were hoping for revenge following their 17-0 thashing by the Stags earlier in the season.

The Stags bats were hot and their complete dominance over the Archers with their biggest win of the year, a mammoth 36 runs to 6. Last up was a difficult trip to Braintree, knowing that a win would give the Stags a winning record but a defeat would leave then sub 500. The Stags started the game like their lives depended on it and at the middle of fourth they were 11-1 up, the 5th time in 11 games they were into double figures. The Rays pulled themselves back into the game and going into the ninth the scores were tied, thankfully after scoring 4 at the top of the inning, Allender recorded the final outs for the loss on only two more runs. This meant that the Stags finished with a 6-5 record. - See the 2007 Stags Schedule & Standings

After finishing the season with a winning record the club hosted the Sidewinders and a young team from Milton Keynes for a round-robin tournament which was played in good spirit.

2008

The quality of the Stags play in 2007, and in particular the number of runs being scored made the club very attractive to new players and it was hoped that the Stags could build on last years results in the renamed British AA South. The season started with the Stags in indifferent form, after 6 games there form was WLWLWL and they stood at 3-3. Unfortunately they had a mid-season dip in form, which has occured in most season's, losing 7 on the spin and staring a losing racord in the face. A couple of wins and a defeat in the final game left the club with a 0.333, 5-10 record.

The highlight of an below par season was the honour of being part of the prestigious London Tournament, despite being unable to asert their authority on the more competent sides, the weekend proved to be a great experience for all involved. - See the 2008 Stags Schedule & Standings

2009

With the club gaining relative success on the field and improving the ballpark off it the club attracted a lot of new players for the 2009 season, almost enough to run a second team, this didn't materialise but the Stags were a lot stronger that previous years.

A bad start to the season left the Stags with a 0-4 record and looking at a similar record to the previous year if they were lucky. A 6 game winning streak boosted confidence and then after losing the next 2 they again went on another winning streak this time the remaining 8 games.

Unfortunately their record of 14-6 was matched by both the Kent Mariners and the Croydon Pirates and they failed to make the final four. - See the 2009 Stags Schedule & Standings