The fourth annual Chichester Softball Tournament, played on Sunday 17 April at the University of Chichester, was a resounding success, raising a tournament record amount of £1000 for a local charity.
Hosted by Chichester Falcons Softball Club, the event was in aid of The Aldingbourne Trust, who support people with learning disabilities to reach their potential across Sussex. Six teams entered and battled for honours in bright spring sunshine.
Returning to the tournament were the winners from the previous two years, the Vampire Batters from Crawley, along with Maidenhead Softball Club and the Solent Sluggers. New entrants were Thames Valley and the Southampton Spitfires, while the Falcons themselves filled the sixth slot.
Once again, Chichester’s Real Burger Kitchen was on hand to provide top-quality food and refreshments and there was a raffle with prizes kindly donated by The Softball Shop and by the teams themselves. There was also pitch-side music to provide the softballers with a little light relief from the furious pace of the one-hour timed ballgames.
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Pool play
Play got under way at 9.00 am and the Vampire Batters wasted no time, dispatching the Spitfires 15-5. Their joy was short-lived, however, as the Solent Sluggers pounded them 15-1 in Game 2, while Maidenhead put up a whopping 25 runs against the Falcons.
Thames Valley struggled a little, scoring runs steadily throughout the day but without quite managing a win in the round-robin stage, getting pipped 6-5 by the Spitfires in their last game. Meanwhile, the Sluggers were typically dominant, winning all five of their games.
The final
The final pitted the Vampire Batters against the Solent Sluggers, and there was a new Cup winner as the Sluggers cruised to victory.
Maidenhead Softball Club was the Plate champion, and the Southampton Spitfires the Plate runner-up.
The teams gathered at the end of the day for the raffle and prize-giving ceremony. Homemade cakes, softball gloves, toys and of course alcohol were won in a new-format raffle that generated hundreds of pounds for the charity, bringing the total to £993 which the Falcons topped up to £1000.
As always, the tournament was fully dependent on the hard work and generosity of numerous individuals. Special thanks go to Perry Northeast (University of Chichester), Mike Ford (The Softball Shop), Lewis Harding and Colin Cobden.