The 2015 season is now moving into the last few weeks for most slowpitch softball leagues around the country. Below are reports on what’s been happening in some of these leagues during July.
GREATER LONDON SOFTBALL MIXED LEAGUE
Here is a quick summary of the races in each of the GLSML’s six divisions, beginning with the three Minors Divisions:
Division 6 -- Minors 3
The top of the table looks closer than it is, as the rodents, Mouse Rat, have been outstanding and have won the majority of their games by mercy rule. With a pitcher who moves the ball, an error-free defense and power from the whole batting line-up, they will upset the Pick 6 apple cart and take the Minors 3 title.
The race for second place is between three teams: Raiders Silver, Parrots and Inferno. All three are tightly matched, and any of these teams can beat the others on a given day.
Mike Guy has successfully led Raiders Silver to nine wins from 12 games, but they have vital repeat games coming up against both Parrots and Inferno. The squawkers from Pimlico dropped points in their first game against Bat to the Future before winning five in a row, until Mouse Rat halted their charge. They sit in a tie for second place with Raiders Silver.
Inferno, meanwhile, produced an excellent 32-18 win over Mouse Rat early on, but the Pick 6 favourites lost against both Raiders Silver and Parrots, although they do have a game in hand. Bat to the Future, in their debut season, have adapted extremely well and are improving rapidly.
There have been some excellent games in the race for the second promotion place – a race that may be be the most exciting run-in across the six divisions.
Division 5 -- Minors 2
The Kamikazes have recruited well from within Ernst & Young and have a perfect record of 12 wins in 12 games. They are the first team in the league to be confirmed as division winners.
In their slipstream are the Tornadoes, who have adapted well after winning Minors 3 last year and are just ahead of the Voodoos in second place by virtue of their head-to-head results.
Snapping at the heels of both Tornadoes and Voodoos are the Tecumsehs, who have a game in hand but need to beat the Voodoos to have a chance of promotion.
In the bottom half of the table, the two promoted teams, Mescalitos Banditos and Knight Sliders, have struggled to find their feet, and despite some valiant efforts will be returning to Minors 3.
Division 4 -- Minors 1
The season started with an impressive win by Basejumpers at the GLSML First Ball, even though they had just avoided relegation last year because a team dropped out higher up the league. Their sudden jump to stardom seems to have come by combining the best bits of the folded Canary Cubs and the remnants of the original Basejumpers team.
Basejumpers were expected to be leading Minors 1, but Base Invaders have managed to win almost every game they’ve played and are holding their position at the top of the league.
Meteors 3, who just missed promotion last year by losing a playoff game to The Mob, are currently in third and are unlikely be in the running for promotion this year.
The middle ground is held by Pimlico Pirates, Cheetahs and Badgers.
The bottom of the league has been commanded by Comets Yellow and the Knights, both teams seemingly unable to get their players to maximise their performances.
Division 3 -- Majors 3
Fuzzy Ducks, an ex-development team augmented by members of various Ad League rookie tournament teams, continue their charge and are favourites to go straight up again. However, they won’t be unbeaten after losing their first game in two years to the Richmond Swingers.
The battle for second place is close, with Mescalitos Ninos one win ahead of Raiders Blue, with both teams having two games to play.
Division 2 -- Majors 2
After charging ahead at the start of the season, the Secret Agents/Private I’s have been pulled back and are now on a 7-3 record, as are Meteors 2. Comets Black are on 6-3 with one game in hand.
Majors 2 can be a strange division, with many teams trying not to get promoted to Majors 1. Partly this is due to not wanting to get beaten most weeks (there is a big jump in quality between the two divisions), but it’s also because A-grade teams and players are perceived (rightly or wrongly) to not be much fun!
Division 1 -- Majors 1
One of the biggest shocks this season has been the re-emergence of LNZ. Once perennial winners of the GLSML’s top division, they seemed to have lost interest for the last few years, preferring mid-table obscurity.
However, after some canny closed-season wheeling and dealing, they’ve picked up players from fastpitch and the now-defunct MI5 and are clear favourites to win the title from MI6, their closest rivals-- something that only four people predicted in Pick 6.
Report by Neil Karmeinsky & Duncan Ferguson
.jpg)
SOLENT SOFTBALL LEAGUE
The SSL season is creeping towards its last month, with all three divisions still up in the air regarding who will take the top spot and who will be relegated.
Division 1
The Portsmouth Dodgers are one win away from taking their first title in many years and stopping the OAPs from winning the title for the fifth consecutive year. But the OAPs are hoping that the Dodgers will slip up and they can still take the title from under their noses.
The Killa Whales are a team in transition. They lost half their team in the off-season and recruited a whole host of newbies. So it’s been a tough season and they have yet to win a game -- but a draw against the Knicks (who include GB’s Brad Gilmour) showed that the team has promise and will no doubt bounce back in future seasons.
Division 2
With the UPSU Shafters having played all their games, the race for promotion to Division 1 is between the current league leaders, the Southsea Sharks, and the current third-place team, the Chichester Falcons. The Sharks have one game left to play and are currently on 25 points, while the Falcons have three games left and have 21 points.
However, the bottom team, the Hursley Hurricanes, have only played six games and are sitting on 12 points, so they are not mathematically out of the title hunt.
One of three teams could claim the title and one of three teams could also be relegated. It’s going to be a nail-biting finish.
Division 3
This is the first time the Solent Softball League has tried a third division and it’s been a great success. The new Dodgers East team, playing in their first campaign, currently hold the top spot on 15 points, closely followed by the second-year Southampton Spitfires.
The Spitfires have come on leaps and bounds this year, with several new players who have fitted in perfectly with the rest of the team. They are only two points behind Dodgers East and will face them once more before the end of the season.
The Baffins Brewers are still in the hunt for the title and will hope that the two teams above them can drop points before the end of the season. Currently with 11 points, the Brewers will be hoping to snatch a win from both of the teams above them in the next couple of weeks.
The Zombies of P’town have struggled this year for one reason or another. They have yet to pick up a win, and cannot take the title, but will be hoping they can snag a victory or two before the end of the season.
SSL Summerball
The SSL Summerball was a mixed event. The Saturday was a lovely sunny day and much softball fun was had. There was a bouncy castle, a hog roast, three pitches of softball all day, a clubhouse bar and a live band to finish off a splendid day.
But Sunday was rain all day and no softball – at least, no softball outside. The organisers managed to hire a hall and those that were so inclined played a day of indoor softball. The second day of the outdoor tournament will be played at some point in the next two months.
Report by Sefton Chatfield
BRISTOL SOFTBALL LEAGUE
There are two more games of the season to play and all three divisions in Bristol are still undecided.
First Division
The defending title-holders Jets and the runners-up from 2013, Flyers, are tied at the top of the table. Unless there are slip-ups in the final two games of the season, these two teams looked destined to face each other again in a playoff decider.
At the bottom end of the division, there is no escape from relegation for Tbolts and Creamers.
Second Division
Three teams are still in the mix for the top spot and the two promotion slots in the second division.
Scorgasms lead the division on 71 points followed by LSDs on 68, with Greasy Mitts in a close third position on 65.
The doubleheader rounds have now been completed, and with some surprising results as the top teams unexpectedly dropped games. There are two regulation seven-inning games left to complete the season and the top three have completed the games against each other. So they now have to concentrate on their own performances and hope that their rivals drop points. The relegation slots have been decided, with Cheeky Monkey and Lucky Strikes occupying the drop spots.
Third Division
The third division also has three teams in contention for the title and the two promotion places.
Breakings Bats had some shaky moments in June but found their form again in July and are joint top of the table, equal on points with Chipmonks, who have played steadily all season.
One game behind the leaders are Base Invaders, who were flying high in June and early July but dropped a game to their bogey team this season, Run'n'Base. The Base Invaders have a must-win game against Chipmonks in their penultimate fixture.
Report by Brett McIntyre