Slowpitch softball league seasons had finished or were nearly finished as August gave way to September, with winners crowned and promotion and relegation issues decided. Read on for a round-up of results from leagues around the country.
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Solent Softball League
by Sefton Chatfield
The Solent Softball League season has a few games left to run thanks to the weather, but all the championship, promotion and relegation battles have already been resolved. Our champions this year are the OAPs (again), who went the entire season undefeated until losing their final game. Well done to the Killa Whales for being the only team to defeat them, and congratulations to the OAPs for winning the SSL title.
The Southsea Sharks will be playing in Division Two in 2015 for the first time in their history. The Sharks were one of the league's founding teams and will be favourites to go straight back up next season. But there will be hot competition from the other teams in the division to stop the team that comes down from going straight back up for the fourth year in a row.
The Hursley Hurricanes did just that this year by winning Division 2 in comfortable fashion, emulating the OAPs with only one loss on the season. Both new teams in the league this year – the Southampton Spitfires and the Ptown Zombies -- have done better than many new teams in SSL history by winning one game. Both teams will look to progress next year and are looking to challenge some of the more established teams and to move up the division.
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Development work
The Chichester Falcons have been busy this year starting a youth fastpitch team. Thanks to lottery funding from Sport England, the Falcons were able to run eight initial practice sessions completely free of charge for participants. All necessary equipment and coaching was provided, with a view to establishing a long-standing youth fastpitch softball system in the city and beyond.
The Falcons have run taster sessions at local secondary schools to give pupils a chance to try out their softball skills prior to club sessions in June. For many youngsters it was their first exposure to softball, and the Falcons made it a positive experience, with fast-paced and fun practice drills and games.
In the longer term, these players can look forward to taking part in national tournaments and to the possibility of a new Sussex Softball League to compete in. And they can even aspire to progress into GB Softball teams, playing internationally at Under-13, Under-16, Under-19 and adult levels. Initially, however, the Falcons aim to get children learning, playing and enjoying softball together, while building a strong foundation for the future of the sport in Chichester. The league is proud of what the Falcons have done and hope that it continues to blossom.
Tournaments
The Solent Last Ball Tournament has had to be scaled back again for a second straight year due to the original venue not being available, so we are holding separate Comp and Rec tournaments. The event was a success in this format last year, and, weather permitting, will be a good event this year too. We are hoping that in 2015 we can get back to our full two-day end-of-season bash as in previous years.
The league has had tournament success in 2014, with the Solent B-grade team reaching the final at Diamond 1 and Brad Gilmour being selected to play for the GB Slowpitch Team in the ISF World Cup in Florida early in the year.
Recruiting
The league has been very busy recruiting this year. This has included advertising on sites such as Gumtree, Spogo and Twitter; putting game reports into local papers in the Portsmouth and Southampton areas; and also putting a batting cage in the Southsea Show (an events show in Portsmouth), which generated a lot of interest and over 200 email address for our recruitment officer to bombard with information.
We are currently holding beginner sessions for these people to come along and see what softball is all about. Fingers crossed that this will bring new players and hopefully more teams.
Next year is the Solent Softball League's 20th anniversary, and we are planning big things. We will share our plans with the wider softball community through these updates, and hopefully our website. We are very much looking forward to it and can’t wait for next summer.
We would like to thank all of the teams that any of the Solent teams have faced in tournaments this season – it has been a pleasure playing you all. Also, a big thanks to all those faces behind the scenes that make tournaments happen, and to the BSF for everything they do to keep the sport going from strength to strength.
Manchester Softball League
by Harry Somers
The race for the Manchester Softball League Division 1 title went to the wire, as the two leading teams met in the final round of games in a winner-takes-all contest.
In a new format where the eight Division 1 teams play each other twice and then split into two groups of four for a third round of games, the competition had been very close, with the top three teams taking points off each other. But in the end, the reigning champion Lions were 1-1 with their main rivals the Greensox as third-placed Thunder fell away after a surprise defeat to the Mavericks. In the final game, the Sox coasted to a six-inning mercy rule win to regain the title from the Lions.
Relegated after a winless season were the Bullfrogs, and, with a 4-13 record, last year's runaway Division 2 winners Moseley Mayhem, apparently finding the step up to the top league a more daunting challenge than anyone expected.
Division 2
Coming up from Division 2, the relatively new Meerkats team will hope to do better in the top flight next season, having sewn up the division title a while ago with a 15-1 record, including beating all but one of their opponents by mercy rule. But the battle for the second promotion spot went to the final day, with Mutineers coming out on top as they won their final game while Speeders unexpectedly lost.
Similarly, the struggle to avoid the drop went not just to the final day but to the final inning, with the Camels suffering the agony of losing 24-23 after taking a five-run lead in the penultimate inning but letting in six in a final inning played in rapidly fading light.
This result handed a reprieve to the Blue Gnus, who had completed their schedule the previous week and ended with an identical 5-11 record but a superior aggregate score in their two games against the Camels. That's how close it was.
Not so close, however, for MSL founder-members Didsbury Bats, who came bottom of Division 2 with an 0-16 season, and for whom a switch to Tuesday softball will offer a brighter prospect if they can keep their players.
Division 3
Storm claimed the Division 3 title with a 13-5 record, one game ahead of the Enforcers.
In a restructuring exercise that will give us four equally-sized divisions, only one team will be promoted, which probably suits the Enforcers, who have three club-mates already playing on a Wednesday night.
Division 4
Division 4 was comfortably won by the new kids on the block, the Sefton Sharks, making their weekly 70-mile round trip from Merseyside well worth the bother as they ended with a 16-2 record. Like the Meerkats in Division 2, the Sharks mercied all their opponents at least once.
The Sharks were clearly swimming in too shallow water, and it will be interesting to see how they get on next year against slightly stiffer opposition. They, along with Hurricanes, will replace Camels II and Wildcats in Division 3.
Season finale
The season ended with a showpiece challenge game between GB and the Rest of the World which GB won 12-10 after nine innings. But the golden fleece of winning the top prize at the Nationals still eludes the Manchester Softball League, which otherwise has a fine record of plundering silverware at tournaments North and South.
Long-serving League Head Harry Somers will step down this autumn at the end of a seven-year presidency that has seen the MSL grow in both size and stature. But he will continue to serve on the Committee and support his replacement, who will be elected at the forthcoming AGM.
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Windsor and Maidenhead League
by Andrew Scott
Chalfont Phoenix may have won the Windsor and Maidenhead Softball League Division 1 title some time ago, but that didn't stop them from continuing with strong performances to the very end of the season as they finished with a 100% record: 12 wins out of 12.
Windsor Knights just clung on to second place with nine wins, with the BA Jets only just behind with eight wins, having lost their final game of the season to the Phoenix. Ultimately, it wouldn't have mattered, as the Knights had a significantly better run difference and also came out on top over the Jets in head-to-head games.
Normally, the drama in Division 1 is at the top or bottom of the table, but in the Windsor and Maidenhead League the middle of the table had its fair share of excitement this year, with the Maidenhead Royals and Richings Park Eagles both finishing on four wins. It was the former who took fourth place however, courtesy of a run difference only two better than their rivals.
Division 2
In Division 2, the title may not have been won so early in the season, but there was no surprise at the eventual winners. RG Blue Sox claimed the title with two games to spare and ended the season with 12 wins out of 14, narrowly beating out the Maidenhead Royals, who had 10 wins including a win late on in the season against the Blue Sox.
If the mid-table was close in Division 1, it was even closer in Division 2. Richings Parks Hawks, Bracknell Scorchers and Rattlesnakes all finished on eight wins, but it was Richings Park that claimed third place by virtue of one run.
Both divisions produced some exciting moments over the course of the season, but in the end it was the two strongest teams in each division that won the day. With some new developments in progress and new teams entering the league, the Windsor and Maidenhead League will probably be even more closely contested next year.
East Midlands Softball League
by Jane Keywood
The East Midlands League season came to an end on 4 September with both divisions decided by the final games.
In Division 1, the Brewers and Sheriffs went head to head for glory, while in Division 2 the Tigers were aiming to retain the top spot and keep Alea from winning the title by beating the Misfits.
On Pitch One, where the fight for the Division 1 crown took place, the Brewers soon took and held the lead until the final innings. But the Sheriffs were not down and out and came back against the Brewers and the fading light to take the match by 16-10. It was not to be for the Brewers, who fought hard to the end, but huge congratulations to the Sheriffs on winning the Division 1 title. The MVPs for the game were both from the Sheriffs – well done to Jenny Pooley and Shane Sharp for their performances.
On Pitch Two, the Misfits took the lead early on and the Tigers never recovered. Thanks to some great batting and fielding, the Misfits took the game by 10-2 and kept the Tigers from winning the game and the division. As a result, Alea have taken the Division 2 title, and congratulations to them for a great season.
Nationals glory
It was not all doom and gloom for the Tigers, though. They may not have won the top spot in Division 2 this year, but they had already qualified to take part in the Co-ed National Championships at Farnham Park in August. There, the Tigers made it to the final, where they met with a familiar United Nations team – drinking buddies from the night before soon became rivals on the pitch as the fight to be Bronze National Champions began. After a delayed start due to a tension-building thunderstorm, the game finally got under way.
The Tigers took an early lead and were able to stay ahead throughout, eventually winning 18-7 in a great game, with Harvey Pryor and Rachel Green earning the MVP awards. Congratulations to them and to the Tigers for becoming Bronze National Champions for 2014 (the team is pictured below with all their trophies).
Special thanks go to Charlie Hallam for undertaking the gruelling tasks of scheduling and organising league matches all year – we couldn’t have done it without you.
Finally, a massive well done to everyone in the East Midlands for once again making it a fun league with some great team rivalries, great softball and most importantly, fantastic people!
