The 2015 season has now reached or passed the halfway point for most slowpitch softball leagues around the country. Below are reports on what’s been happening in some of these leagues during June.
BRISTOL SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION
We are now over halfway through the season in Bristol and nothing has been decided in any of the divisions. Every team has dropped at least one game and there are no clear leaders as yet.
First Division
The Flyers are still the team on top in the First Division, with just the one loss, but the Jets are hanging in there and aren't prepared to let the title that they have owned for the last few seasons go easily. Crushers in third place are playing solid softball and could still push the two teams ahead of them.
At the bottom end of the table, Creamers and Tbolts are in the relegation zone and while not yet mathematically eliminated, they are running out of games to dig themselves out of the pit.
Second Division
Three teams look like they will slug it out for the title and three teams look like they are in the dog fight to avoid relegation. Scorgs lead the division at the moment on 44 points, but Greasy Mitts and LSDs are still chasing the leaders on 41 points.
In the relegation battle, Buccs Whiz on 27 and Cheeky Monkeys and Lucky Strikes on 26 look to be the teams scrapping it out to avoid the drop. We recently had the commencement of doubleheader games, where so much can change if a team has an off night or two.
Third Division
Three teams share top spot in the Third Division -- Base Invaders, Breaking Bats and Chipmonks, all on 39 points. Base Invaders, who were one of the relegated teams from last season, had a couple of unexpected losses early on but appear to be back to winning ways and look like the team to beat if anyone else wants to win the title.
Breaking Bats set the early pace and went through the first round of games unbeaten, but have lost to both their title rivals over the past two weeks and will be keen to get out of this slump as soon as possible.
Chipmonks are in there as well, quietly winning their games and keeping themselves in the mix for promotion and for the title. If any of the top three slip up, Ice Cold Pitchers in fourth place could still come through to nick a spot in the top two.
Congratulations to the new league side this year, Transformers, who picked up their first league win two weeks ago.
-- Brett McIntyre
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SEFTON SOFTBALL LEAGUE
The BSF’s newest league, the Sefton Softball League on Merseyside, only started play in June, and it was the perfect opening month for the Formby Fins, as they made it four wins out of four.
A couple of one-run victories, and a 27-8 slaughter of the defending champion Southport Seagulls, have been the highlights of their season so far.
The Fins’ most recent win came in a 12-8 result over the Sefton Sharks. This included two home runs by Luis Arrevillagas, which extends his lead to four on the home run leader board.
Lying in second place are the Crosby Vikings. Led by Captain Ray Bennett, this team is looking determined to go one place better than their runner-up spot last season. With all of their matches so far decided by just one run, it is giving a lot of their new additions much-needed experience when it comes to those crucial final innings. This week, the Vikings squeaked past the Southport Seagulls in a 12-11 thriller.
Battling in third and fourth place respectively are the Seagulls and the Sefton Sharks.
Mixed fortunes
Southport’s season as defending champions has been a mixed one. With a lot of changes during the off-season, first-time captain Sam Steele is looking for a positive 2015. The team comfortably defeated the Sefton Sharks 19-12 in torrential conditions at the start of the season, but then the 21-run defeat to the Fins -- a rare occurrence since their birth as a softball club – has given Southport something to think about.
Meanwhile, the Sefton Sharks have had quite a rollercoaster June. After a tough loss to Southport, they came back strongly after their rest week with an impressive 25-14 win over newcomers St Helens Sabres.
And despite the recent four-run loss to leaders Formby, Sefton felt positive after pushing the only unbeaten side left in the league.
Though they don't yet have a win to their name, the St Helens Sabres have made quite an impact in the Sefton League. Led by former Seagulls captain Natalie Leyland, this talented side has made the established sides work hard for their victories.
Despite a couple of heart-breaking one-run losses in their opening series of matches, Leyland and her Sabres’ side look fearless and determined to record a few upsets.
Have a go
For anyone looking to give softball on Merseyside a go or come down to watch, the venue is the Northern Cricket Club in Crosby and we play on Mondays at 7.00 pm.
You can also check out the league website (www.seftonsoftball.com), like the Facebook page by typing in Sefton Softball and follow the league on Twitter (@SeftonSoftball).
-- David Grice
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SOLENT SOFTBALL LEAGUE
The Solent Softball League’s season has so far been a bit of an odd one.
One team completed all its fixtures by the end of May (that’s our student team, the Portsmouth University Shafters) and are currently sitting at the top of Division 2. The league’s newest team, the Dodgers East, have only played three games (winning two of those and narrowly losing the other). The current top team in Division 1, the Dodgers West, have played all but three of their games, whereas the defending champions, the OAPs, have only played four games.
So the league tables look a bit odd, with one team having played 12 games and one team only having played three.
Veterans Day
One of the ways the league is celebrating its 20th anniversary season was a Veterans Day, held on Saturday 27 June, with many old faces donning their cleats and bringing out their old glove for a day of friendly softball.
The four teams taking part on a beautiful sunny day -- the Sharks, the Dodgers, the Shafters and a composite team -- played a total of six games with great spirit, lots of laughs, some aches and pains and a pulled muscle or two, but the results were not what the day was all about. A BBQ followed the games and everyone had a fantastic day.
Heading into July, teams will start to catch up with fixtures and league tables will start to take shape. We will also be holding our Summer Ball Tournament and trialling a new venue that we hope will be good enough to use for something else we have in mind. Fingers crossed!
-- Sefton Chatfield
SWINDON SOFTBALL LEAGUE
The league season is now over halfway through, and so far we’ve enjoyed excellent weather and a much higher standard of softball than we have ever had before, with three teams vying for the top spot and the other two teams improving each week and pushing their opponents to closer results.
For regular updates visit www.swindonsoftball.co.uk or our Facebook group.
As of 1 July, the league standings were:
| TEAM | GP | W | D | L | RF | RA | RD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 36 | 70 | 8 |
| Bombers | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 87 | 49 | 38 | 6 |
| Aries | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 85 | 56 | 29 | 6 |
| Tin Horse | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 115 | -82 | 2 |
| Dodgers | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 44 | 99 | -55 | 0 |
The league-leading Panthers are looking for a fourth league title in a row, but Bombers and Aries are currently tied in second place (Aries with a game in hand) and both are more than capable of taking the top spot in the coming weeks.
Tin Horse and Dodgers, despite their losses, are playing decent softball and getting a good player turnout each week.
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Monday night training
Regular Monday night training -- we run free open sessions for anyone to come along and join in -- has been working well over recent weeks. This is a great opportunity for new players to learn a few basics before playing a league game and for intermediate players to work on techniques or a new position. The coaching team work at keeping these sessions varied and fun.
Investing in training equipment this season has been a big help. We’ve built a softball-launching catapult for more controlled outfield fly-ball training, and the latest purchase was a set of weighted batting balls that allowed every player at training to improve their power: a great success for many players who didn’t realise they were capable!
Swindon Softball League Open
The annual Swindon Open was held on 24 May, and there was a great turnout of local players, family and friends as well as players from nearby leagues in Birmingham, Oxford, Windsor, Bristol and Solent.
Scratch teams were formed in the morning and a round-robin format was played. But once the games were done and everyone had a good chat, a laugh over awesome or awful plays, a few jars of cider and a slice of pizza, there wasn’t much need to remember which teams won which games!
Thanks to Sneaky Weasel Cider for sponsoring the event with a batch of free cider!
We asked everyone who came along to play or watch to vote for MVPs, and this year the accolades and prizes went to Debbie Moores and Kai Benaim, excellent wherever in the field they were playing.
-- Dave Jones
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CENTRAL SCOTLAND SOFTBALL LEAGUE
It’s crazy to think we have already played a full half of the 2015 season and that the second half is under way.
Week 7 saw two important games played at both ends of the table. Chargers, fighting for their first win of the season, played the Coyotes, while Saltires and Honey Badgers battled it out to maintain their undefeated record at the top of the league.
Coyotes had some key players back for the game, which helped them overcome the Chargers by 18-5.
Saltires started early in their game against the Honey Badgers, scoring six runs in the first two innings, and after four innings they were ahead 10-2. Honey Badgers tried to string together a comeback in the last two innings, scoring seven, but it was too little too late as the game ended 13-9 to the Saltires.
In the current standings, the Saltires are on top with a perfect record, followed closely by the Honey Badgers and Pimpin. AJ’s, Fockers and Rocks are sitting at mid-table and Coyotes and Chargers are fighting for the wooden spoon.
Due to grounds repair and catching up with rained-off games, the annual single-sex games and Old Yins v Young Guns fun games have been rescheduled to the end of the season.
Leeds Tournament
The Honey Badgers were the only team to represent the CSSL at a tournament in June, and they have done the league proud! They entered the Leeds Tournament for the first time on the weekend of 27-28 June and walked away with the Comp Plate trophy.
This year, the tournament split up into six different competitions after pool play, and the Honey Badgers ended Saturday with a 4-1 record, which put them into the second top competition. They played some great games over the weekend, including a 13-12 walk-off win against the Manchester Fish, and they saw off the Leicester Royals 13-7 in the Comp Plate final to bring home the silverware.
Well done to the final MVPs Deborah and John from the Honey Badgers!
-- Teppei