It was another good day of fastpitch softball on Saturday 16 May at Farnham Park, as the weather warmed up nicely after a chilly start and 11 games were completed during the third week of play in the Great Britain Fastpitch League.
It was, however, a day of some chopping and changing, as GCSE exams kept some of the players in the GB Under-16 squads away and as a result, there was no GB Junior Meteors team and a couple of games in the afternoon saw players from different teams combine and games become more like friendlies.
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And as is usual in the GBFL, some pitchers played for more than one team in an effort to keep playing fields level and games as competitive as possible.
But in a league of male, female and mixed teams, the inevitable tendency for the all-male teams to win more often continued in Week 3. The two teams that combine players from the London Meteors Men’s Team and the GB Under-19 Men continue to occupy first and second place in the Division 1 standings, while the GB Under-19 Boys sit undefeated at the top of Division 2.
In this league, however, it’s not so much winning games as playing them that is the most important thing. With players from the GB Women, GB Men, GB Under-19 Women, GB Under-19 Men and GB Under-16 Girls making up about half the teams, the league is serving the vital function of giving them game time in preparation for European or World Championship tournaments to come during the summer.
Good pitching
A highlight on the day was the excellent pitching of GB Under-19 Women’s Team pitcher Amie Hutchison, who led the Under-19s to their first GBFL win of the season, a 9-4 victory over the Bristol Barbarians.
Later in the afternoon, pitching for the GB Junior Angels, a team made up largely of GB Under-16 players selected for European Championships, Amie gave up only four runs (not all of them earned) to The North, an adult team from the East Midlands. The North won the game 4-2, but it was Amie who made the U-16s competitive against more experienced and older opponents.
One of the outstanding batting performances on the day came from Shannon Henry of the North, who hit a vicious line drive home run over the 285-foot outfield fence and backed that up with more extra-base hits and RBIs.
It was also notable that the GB Junior Angels, though constantly faced with teams that are older and stronger, are beginning to find their feet and play with more confidence, even though many of them have only made the transition this year from Under-13 softball.
Pitching clinic
The GBFL teams will play the fourth of five competition dates on Saturday 23 May at Farnham Park. In addition to a full slate of games in both divisions, an experienced American pitching coach, Denise Davis from the Planet Fastpitch organisation in Massachusetts, will deliver pitching clinics to interested coaches and players over the course of the day.
Scores
Scores on 16 May were:
DIVISION 1
Meteors/GB U-19s2 16, Bristol 0
Meteors/GB U-19s1 7, London Angels 0
Meteors/GB U-19s2 14, GB U-19 Women 0
Meteors/GB U-19s1 14, Bristol 0
Meteors/GB U-19s2 7, London Angels 1
GB U-19 Women 9, Bristol 4
DIVISION 2
London Angels 10, GB Junior Angels 3 (friendly game)
GB U-19 Boys 8, The North 4
The North 4, GB Junior Angels A-Team 2
Oxford W, GB Junior Angels B-Team L (friendly game)
Oxford 12, GB Junior Angels 5
Standings
The GBFL standings after Week 3 are:
DIVISION 1
GB U-19/Meteors 1 (6-1)
GB U-19/Meteors 2 (5-2)
London Angels (2-4-1)
Bristol (2-6)
GB U-19 Women (1-4-1)
DIVISION 2
GB U-19 Boys (5-0)
The North (5-3)
Oxford (3-2)
GB Junior Meteors (1-2)
GB Junior Angels (0-7)
Photos by Jan Grafton