With the slowpitch league season reaching the halfway point for most leagues around the country, here is a round-up of events during June from some of the BSF's top leagues.
Norfolk Softball Association
by Mark House
Better weather than last season has enabled the Norfolk Slowpitch League to run pretty much to schedule for the first 10 weeks of the season. Last year's champions, the Wolves, continue to dominate and are currently unbeaten. At the other end of the table, the Basehunters still seek their first win, despite some excellent performances and narrow defeats. The remaining four teams are all bunched together in a battle to secure second place and a spot in the play-off final.
In other news, 15-year-old Amie Hutchison flies the Norfolk flag for Team GB as they travel to Canada for the ISF Junior Women's World Championships. The young pitcher has been greatly assisted in her preparations through the arrival of import coaches Katy Austin and Megan Brown, and after she returns from Canada, Amie will play a leading role with the GB Under-16 Team at their European Championships in August in the Czech Republic.
In addition to working with Amie, the two Americans have been completing a full programme of coaching with high school pupils and local community players in Norfolk.
A full junior programme has been launched for the first time after a trial at the end of last summer. It started in early June, and play will continue throughout the summer, concluding at the end of September. To date, attendance has averaged around 50 players across two age groups.
The focus of the early sessions has been on knowledge, understanding and practice of fundamentals. Moving forward, the players are due to be split into teams to complete a full summer of league play.
Solent Softball League
by James Clarke
The Solent Softball League season has been a great one so far. We have been very lucky with the weather, with only a few games called off thus far (knock on wood).
It's a close race in Solent’s Division One, with the Southsea Sharks, Itchen Knicks and the OAPs fighting it out for the top spot. The OAPs are also the only undefeated team left in the Solent League, but we reckon it will be close all the way to the end of the season.
In Division Two, the Dodgers have started off strong with five wins out of their seven games played. Our university team, the UPSU Shafters, have already finished all 13 of their games due to the students leaving for summer holidays. Under the watchful eye of Simon ‘Hulk’ Tymms, they finished up the season with three wins, nine losses and a draw, which is very respectable for a team of mostly new players.
The Shafters also competed in a Single-Sex Tournament at Richings Park with a team of current and previous students. They started the day with a 27-3 win against the BucksBallas and the next game was a thriller, a 9-9 draw against a very strong Godzillas team, the highlight of which was stellar outfield play from Simon Tymms and Koudai Matsuzaki.
The Godzillas would go on to win the competition on the day, and the UPSU Shafters proved to be the only bump on the road for them. The Shafters finished up the round-robin with a nice win against the London Knights, 14-10, and ended up at the top of their group.
Unfortunately, in the playoff round, and after a long break the Shafters ran out of steam, lost to the Cockney Rebels, and ended up fourth in the Cup. Shafters veteran Davis ‘Simba’ Hurley said: “The day was a fantastic achievement for the young team, which consisted of players who are either still at university or graduated the previous year. The team and I are looking forward to competing at the Single-Sex Nationals on the official Opening Day of the new playing fields at Farnham Park.”
The Chichester Falcons also held an Opening Day at their new playing grounds in Fishbourne. Their slightly eccentric team captain David Morris organized a first pitch by Princess Leia and a Stormtrooper from Star Wars.
After some team photos, the game kicked off under perfect blue skies, unfortunately the Force was not with the Falcons and the Shafters went home with the win.
The Solent Softball League will also be staging a charity Kickball Tournament in aid of the Great Britain National Softball Teams in the Portsmouth/Chichester area on 29 September. Please make sure you ‘like’ the Tournament Facebook page to see and receive up to date information: https://www.facebook.com/CharityKickballTournament.
Manchester Softball League
by Harry Somers
Manchester Softball League reached the half-way stage in the season and the now long-established split from two nine-team divisions into three six-team divisions for the remainder of the season.
The main title race is as close as it can be in Division 1, with three teams (Outlaws, Greensox and Mavericks) tied on 7-2 records and the Lions just a half game behind thanks to their opening day tied game.
Dropping down into the Playoff Division where they can hope for more evenly-matched opposition are the Mutineers and Camels, who between them had just one win (obviously when they played each other) and Lightning, who ended the first rotation 2-6. There they will meet the Bullfrogs, who stormed Division 2 with a perfect record after eight games, and the two teams promoted from Division 3 last season, Mayhem (not unexpected) and Tigers, who only got to Division 2 thanks to a team folding. Just the latest coaching success story for Dave Wareham.
The remaining Division 2 teams are neatly spread out, each one game behind the one above, apart from the Dragons, who cannot be enjoying their so-far winless season.
In Division 3, it's a two-way fight between Hurricanes and Enforcers, both with 7-3 records, though the Blue Gnus are only one game behind. Struggling at the bottom are league founder members Hackers, who, with just one win so far, and two forfeits along the way, look like they will become the first team to play in all five divisions as long as they can recruit some players to make up the numbers next year.
Meanwhile, Camels II look like escaping Division 4 at last as their 9-1 record puts then two games ahead of the chasing pack made up of mainly rookie teams, including our newest, the Colt 45s, who joined the league half-way through (and nine games behind if you like) following our now well-established tradition of creating a new team out of the rookie training sessions held on match nights in the first half of the season.
Thanks to BSUK's Liz Knight for setting them up, and to Pete Nightingale for taking over when Liz was so cruelly snatched from us (London's gain, I hope they appreciate it!).
Cardiff Softball Association
by Matthew Insell
The 2013 Cardiff Softball season started in some turmoil but as the days have lengthened the league has gone from strength to strength.
Over the winter we were given the news that due to Cardiff Council budget changes, our pitch fees were due to increase significantly. Following lengthy lobbying by all the amateur sports leagues in the city, a more reasonable fee was agreed, mainly thanks to our League Head, Mark Munnery. As a by-product of this change, we were able to persuade the Council to move all our pitches onto the better ground at Pontcanna Fields, where previously we had been split between Pontcanna and another local park, Llandaff Fields. This also benefited the Diffodil Tournament at the start of June as they were able to play all teams close together instead of having to “hike” between grounds!
With the issue of pitches solved, we were ready to move forward with the 2013 season. We had a new team joining the league, further building on the steady growth of the past few years. With the introduction of the Valley Wet Socks, we changed the structure of the league, moving from one division of nine teams to two divisions of five teams.
In other winter developments, Mark Munnery was appointed to the BSF Executive as a General Officer and Holly Ireland appointed as the league's Tournament Officer. Her main responsibilities are to promote tournament play within the league and running the Dragon Warriors, a tournament team open to all league players. We also had our first coaching course run in Cardiff during April, partly funded by Lottery grants, with eight players passing and gaining their Level 1 coaching qualification.
As mentioned above, the league has been split into two divisions, with the top five teams from last year in Division 1 and with the remaining four and our newest team making up the second division. So far this season, the weather has thankfully had little effect on games with, only two weeks having been postponed due to unsafe conditions.
Division 1 has turned out to be a single-horse race, with the champions of the past two seasons, the Red Sox, streaking away, unbeaten in six games with only two games left against Division 1 teams. The games between the other teams in the division have all been very competitive, with everyone beating each other to leave them with similar records.
Division 2 has also been competitive. The Tiger Bay Rays, in their second season, have been pacing the pack and so far have four wins from four games. Just behind are the Llandaff City Cardinals, who have been the surprise team so far, also winning four games but losing one. They struggled last year without a win, but this year has seen an influx of new players and a new enthusiasm for the game!
Once the divisional games have been completed, then all teams will play four games against teams from the other division before the champions are crowned at the end of August.
Bristol Softball Association
by Brett McIntyre
We are just over the halfway mark in the season and all three divisions are being closely contested, with no clear leaders emerging.
Division 1 at 1 July
| Teams | Played | Won | Lost | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jets | 9 | 7 | 2 | 39 | 1st |
| Flyers | 9 | 7 | 2 | 39 | 2nd |
| Sliders | 9 | 7 | 2 | 39 | 3rd |
| Guppy Spotters | 9 | 4 | 5 | 30 | 4th |
| Bristol Creamers | 9 | 4 | 5 | 30 | 5th |
| Crushers | 9 | 4 | 5 | 30 | 6th |
| Buccs Whiz | 9 | 1 | 8 | 21 | 7th |
| TBolts | 9 | 2 | 7 | 20 | 8th |
Last year's top three teams in Division 1 are locked at the top of table and after the first round of games Jets lost to Sliders but beat Flyers who beat Sliders, so it's all to play for in the second half of the season. Three teams are also locked in the next three positions and if any one of these gets a run going and beats some of the teams above them they could also be in the mix at the end of the season. It looks a tall order for either Buccs Whiz or Tbolts to dig themselves out of the relegation slots, but there is still a mathematical chance that this could happen.
Division 2 at 1 July
| Teams | Played | Won | Lost | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scorgs | 10 | 8 | 2 | 44 | 1st |
| LSDs | 10 | 8 | 2 | 44 | 2nd |
| The Force | 10 | 7 | 3 | 41 | 3rd |
| Team Phoenix | 10 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 4th |
| Cheeky Monkeys | 10 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 5th |
| Lucky Strikes | 10 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 6th |
| Greasy Mitts | 10 | 4 | 6 | 32 | 7th |
| Grandslammers | 10 | 2 | 8 | 26 | 8th |
| Desperadoes | 10 | 2 | 8 | 26 | 9th |
| Friendly Fire | 10 | 1 | 9 | 21 | 10th |
Six teams are tightly grouped at the top of the table as the Second Division teams enter what will prove to be a crucial time of the seaso,n with four weeks of doubleheader fixtures starting up. It will be more than likely that the teams that negotiate these fixtures most successfully will be setting themselves up for the promotion slots.
Division 3 at 1 July
| Teams | Played | Won | Lost | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base Invaders | 8 | 6 | 2 | 34 | 1st |
| Run'n'Base | 8 | 6 | 2 | 34 | 2nd |
| Monmouth Rockets | 8 | 5 | 3 | 31 | 3rd |
| Chipmonks | 8 | 5 | 3 | 31 | 4th |
| Ice Cold Pitches | 8 | 5 | 3 | 31 | 5th |
| Go Balls Deep | 8 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 6th |
| Keeners | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 7th |
| Thunder | 8 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 8th |
As with the other two divisions, the Third Division is still an open race to see who will get the top spot and the second promotion slot, with Base Invaders and Run’n’Base battling it out at the top of the table and Monmouth Rockets, Chipmonks and Ice Cold Pitches right on their heels.
Greater London Softball Mixed League
by Matthew Waller
We’re now just over halfway through our season, and the divisions are starting to take shape and hint at what the final standings might look like.
In Minors 5 and 6 there are runaway leaders -- Fuzzy Ducks and Canary Cubs respectively. Minors 1 has two clear favourites -- Private Is and the recently-promoted Richmond Swingers.
Majors 3 also has two teams on level-pegging -- Dazzlers and Thundercats (who’ve shown great bouncebackability as they only remained in the division due to a team dropping out of the league).
In Majors 2, Comer’s Homers are surprising no one (apart from possibly their captain) by leading comfortably, but right at the top, in Majors 1, MI5 hold a narrow lead over early season favourites Mescalitos.
In other news, over 20 coaches from GLSML teams attended the ASA coach-training sessions at Regents Park. It was a great way to meet and learn from the coaches of some of the world’s best slowpitch softball teams. Especially valuable were their ideas for making the most of limited practice time. And it was amusing to see their shock when they learned that in British co-ed games women actually pitch...