The first-ever two-day co-ed slowpitch competition in Cardiff, the Diffodil Tournament, was a resounding success on the weekend of June 2-3 at the Cardiff Harlequins Rugby Club.
Eight teams from as far as away as Manchester and Oxford played through a sunny Saturday, and managed to complete the tournament on Sunday when the forecast downpours never arrived.
Results
Lucky Strikes were the tournament winners, and comfortably dealt with runner-up Manchester Magic in the final by a score of 26-6.
Multiple Monkeys were third, edging the Cardiff All-Stars, in their first outing against experienced opposition, into fourth place.
But the Cardiff All-Stars managed respectable scores against all opposition, with stellar pitching from Alex Catmur, quality fielding by Marc Verlander at shortstop and Adam Farr at first base, and a good batting display throughout the line-up.
The Wooden Spoon was won by the Oxford Beavers, and the Baffins Brewers won the award as the tournament's friendliest team.
Top performers at the tournament included Matthew Burnett with some monstrous home runs, Jane Boult with some fantastic fielding and sliding, and Tomo Ohno and Anthony Page for home runs in the final.
Accolades
Matt Oram from the Baffins Brewers emailed after the tournament to say: “The Brewers would just like to say a big thank you for organising the event so well and we absolutely loved being there! I think I personally can say I have never been to a tournament I enjoyed so much. Everyone wanted to have fun, which helped to make it a well-spirited event. We are looking forward to next year already!”
Diffodil Tournament Committee Chairperson Holly Ireland said: "We set out to run a fun, smooth tournament and bring the excitement of tournament play to Cardiff. The Diffodil exceeded our expectations. It was a great weekend for Cardiff softball, as we showed that Cardiff has well and truly joined the softball party. We'd like to thank everyone who helped make this tournament a success, and we look forward to providing more softball fun in Cardiff next year."