With slowpitch league seasons having ended around the country for 2013, look below to find out how things turned out in some of Britain's top leagues.
Greater London Softball Mixed League
by Matthew Waller
Here are the results from the GLSML's six divisions for the 2013 season.
Minors 3
It’s pretty much unheard of for a team to go 14-0, but Canary Cubs have done it in their first-ever season. Second place was a three-way tie between Base Invaders, Werewolves and Raiders Indigo. Base Invaders, formed from last year’s development sessions, got the promotion spot on head-to-head results.
Minors 2
It’s pretty much unheard of for a team to go 14-0, but two in a season? Fuzzy Ducks, the development team from two years ago, reinforced by a number of Ad League B-grade players, had a 100% record and a massive +192 run difference. Wily campaigners the Mob finished comfortably in second place to bounce straight back up after last season’s relegation.
Minors 1
This division was very tight at the top with two clear leaders – Richmond Swingers and Private Is. Their rivalry went right down to the final game of the season when Swingers, who were promoted last year, just edged it by 15-13 to finish top.
Majors 3
Dazzlers won the division after leading for most of the season – a testament to their innovative recruiting techniques. Joining them in promotion were Thundercats, who put in a string of great performances after getting relegated from Majors 3 last year but squeezing back in due to a team folding.
Majors 2
2007’s development team, Comer’s Homers, were front-runners from the start and defensively towered above their rivals. The other promoted team was Meteors 1, finally making it back into the top division that they used to rule.
Majors 1
The top division finished just as it did in 2012 – Mescalitos second, MI5 first. Typically, promoted teams do well everywhere but Majors 1, where they tend to go straight back down. However, there are hopes that next season Meteors 1 and Comer’s Homers (finally getting to play against the person they were named after – Kim Comer) can buck this trend.
Manchester Softball League
by Harry Somers
There's a new name on the Manchester Softball League Division 1 trophy this year, as Lions at last broke the long-standing (13-year) Greensox-Mavericks duopoly to take the title. After a shaky start, Lions posted 12 consecutive wins and were crowned champions with a game to spare, allowing them their traditional fancy-dress season closer which, like their opening game, ended in a bad-light-enforced tie. That was against the Outlaws, who for a while had also looked like breaking the previous hegemony but faded and ended up 5½ games behind the leaders. In second place were last year's champion Greensox, 2 games behind, with Mavericks (6), Thunder (6½) and Dodgers (7) trailing the Outlaws.
The (slightly misleadingly named) Playoff Division, which involves the bottom and top three from the first nine-team rotations of Divisions 1 and 2 respectively playing two further rotations (confused...?), was won for the third year in a row by Lightning: their 9-1 record barely compensated for their disappointment in failing to stay in Division 1, so better luck next year. But second-placed Mossley Mayhem will be delighted with their rise, having won Division 3 last year, spending just half a season in Division 2 and making it to Division 1 for next season. Also returning to Division 1 will be the Camels in third place, while Mutineers will start next year in Division 2, unlike this year. Bullfrogs return to the second tier along with Tigers, who escaped Division 3 last year only thanks to the promoted Bluesox folding, and were a little out of their depth in the Playoff Division.
The Outlaws II were also third-time champions in Division 2, once again narrowly missing out on elevation to the Playoff Division and winning all but one of their post-split games. Speeders were comfortable in mid-table, and with Dragons winning only two of their 18 games and propping up the table, the scrap to avoid the other relegation spot went to the wire as Storm and Bats faced off in a conveniently if coincidentally scheduled winner-takes-all encounter in the last game of the season. Bats won it comfortably with a 19-4 slaughter.
It was a double triumph for the Outlaws franchise as the Enforcers took the Division 3 title, one game ahead of both second-placed Hurricanes and third-placed Blue Gnus, who both finished with 10-5 records. Gnus miss out on promotion by dint of their 1-2 head-to-head record with Hurricanes, who will swop places with their clubmates Storm. Gnus could go up after all if Enforcers take the option of refusing promotion so as to maintain a Tuesday presence for the Outlaws Club. At the other end of the table, Hackers were rock bottom with just one win, and three of their 14 losses were forfeits. Next season the founder members will be the first team to have played in all five divisions! Joining them in Division 4 will be Drizzle, who with a 6-9 record ended up only one game behind the fourth-placed Pirates.
Camels II won Division 4 with a 14-1 record, two games ahead of the Wildcats (Tigers' second team in their first year), with Mayhem II also posting a winning record at 10-5. In a respectable fourth place were last year's mid-season newbies, the Barflies, with five wins out of 15, above the Phoenix with five wins but one forfeit among their losses. Moorkats went 2-13 while the newly-formed Colt 45s lost all five of their games.
Bristol Softball Association
by Brett McIntyre
The 2013 season was very competitive, with both the First and Third Division winners being decided on head-to-head records and the Second Division winners only having a one-game advantage over the second-placed team.
First Division
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jets | 14 | 11 | 3 | 61 | 1st |
| Flyers | 14 | 11 | 3 | 61 | 2nd |
| Sliders | 14 | 10 | 4 | 58 | 3rd |
| Guppy Spotters | 14 | 7 | 7 | 49 | 4th |
| Bristol Creamers | 14 | 5 | 9 | 43 | 5th |
| Crushers | 14 | 5 | 9 | 43 | 6th |
| TBolts | 14 | 4 | 10 | 40 | 7th |
| Buccs Whiz | 14 | 1 | 13 | 31 | 8th |
Congratulations to the Jets, who won the First Division for the second season in a row, grabbing the title away from Flyers in a final game déjà vu showdown. Both teams struggled for runs and to gain any dominance early on but from the fourth inning Jets took control and ran away with the game.
At the bottom end of the table, Buccs Whiz, who have struggled all season, were relegated. The other relegated team was Tbolts, who have unfortunately ended up being demoted due to infringements of league rules, though they were definitely one of the stronger teams in the second half of the season.
Second Division
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scorgs | 18 | 14 | 4 | 78 | 1st |
| LSDs | 18 | 13 | 5 | 75 | 2nd |
| The Force | 18 | 12 | 6 | 72 | 3rd |
| Lucky Strikes | 18 | 12 | 6 | 72 | 4th |
| Team Phoenix | 18 | 11 | 7 | 69 | 5th |
| Cheeky Monkeys | 18 | 9 | 9 | 63 | 6th |
| Greasy Mitts | 18 | 8 | 10 | 60 | 7th |
| Desperados | 18 | 6 | 12 | 54 | 8th |
| Grandslammers | 18 | 3 | 15 | 45 | 9th |
| Friendly Fire | 18 | 2 | 16 | 40 | 10th |
There were no surprises in the last week of the season. Scorgs had already won the Second Division title and are promoted to the First Division where they will be joined by LSDs, who saw off the Greasy Mitts in their final game to cement their promotion. What was pleasing was that both teams that were promoted out of the Third Division last year finished in the top half of the table and weren’t far away from reaching the promotion slots.
Grandslammers and Friendly Fire are the teams relegated to the Third Division.
Third Division
| Teams | Played | Won | Lost | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base Invaders | 14 | 11 | 3 | 61 | 1st |
| Monmouth Rockets | 14 | 11 | 3 | 61 | 2nd |
| Ice Cold Pitches | 14 | 10 | 4 | 58 | 3rd |
| Run'n'Base | 14 | 7 | 7 | 49 | 4th |
| Chipmonks | 14 | 7 | 7 | 49 | 5th |
| Go Balls Deep | 14 | 5 | 9 | 43 | 6th |
| Thunder | 14 | 5 | 9 | 33 | 7th |
| Keeners | 14 | 0 | 14 | 24 | 8th |
Base Invaders had won the division title before the final round of games, but the kids from Monmouth School in Wales, the Monmouth Rockets, finished on the same number of points and it was only Base Invaders' better record in the head-to-head games that gave them the title. Both teams will be promoted.
Ice Cold Pitches emphasised how competitive the Third Division has been this year by only finishing one win behind the top two.