By Abbie de Zwart
Wilmere Lane in Widnes hosted 12 teams on the gloriously sunny weekend of 27-28 May for the 2023 Liverpool Shield tournament.
The round-robin stage kicked off on Saturday with the 12 teams playing in two groups of six.
Round-robins
In Group A, Bolts (Edinburgh), Swindon Bombers, Cardiff, Yorkshire Dales (Leeds), Drizzle (Manchester) and Southport Seagulls competed for places in the various playoff rounds.
Cardiff were the pick of the group, winning all five of their games. This included a surprise battering of Swindon Bombers by 20-3, as well as a 26-1 win against Drizzle and a 21-9 victory over Seagulls.
Swindon Bombers finished strongly, their defeat to Cardiff being their only loss on the first day, and took second place in the table.
Group B hosted Bristol Bam, Bats (Manchester), Bobcats (Leeds), Kelpies (Glasgow), Manchester Stingers and the Liverpool Trojans.
Bristol Bam were on their usual form, finishing top of the table by the end of the day with a 3-1-1 record, but Bobcats were close behind with three wins and three losses.
The shock result from Group B was the Stingers’ 20-5 defeat by Trojans, but the Stingers redeemed themselves later by holding it together against Bobcats in a very close 15-14 loss.
Playoffs
The wind picked up in Merseyside on Sunday but the sun was still out as the playoffs began.
Trojans successfully battled the other teams from the bottom of the round-robin tables to claim the Spoon.
The teams from the middle of the two tables fought for the Plate. The semi-finals saw Kelpies beat Stingers and Dales beat the Bolts to head to the final, where Dales clinched the Plate with an 18-12 win.
Cardiff had no problems in the top final, beating Swindon Bombers 23-8 to claim the Shield.
Liverpool Softball League thanks everyone who attended, and we hope to see you at the Liverpool LGBTQ+ Tournament at The Northern Club on 16 September.