The second weekend of competition in the BSF's 2014 National Softball League took place at the Diamond Series 2 tournament at Farnham Park over the weekend of 7-8 June, and Pioneers, Chromies and Blue Steel (in that order) currently top the NSL table.
Pioneers have lost only once over the two NSL tournaments played so far and are in first place with a 13-1 record. Chromies, National Champions in 2012 and 2013, are right behind them at 12-2. And Blue Steel, who seem to improve every year, are 10-3.
H2O, last year's beaten finalists at the Premier Nationals, and the only team to defeat the Pioneers this season in NSL round-robin play, might be among the leaders but for losses at Diamond 2 to Blue Steel and, unexpectedly, to Mariners and Maniacs.
Three other teams have winning records after two NSL events – new NSL team Thunder and H2O on 9-5 and Maniacs on 8-6.
With 12 teams in the NSL and only eight places available for the Premier Nationals at the end of August, the teams that currently sit below the cut-off line are Knights, Mariners, Dragons and Warriors. Both the Knights and Mariners (4-10) have a shot at climbing into the top eight places (with Legends and Slammers, both with 5-8 records, looking the most vulnerable), and Knights helped their cause during Diamonds 2 with a 6-5 upset win over Chromies.
But Dragons (3-10) and the winless Warriors (0-14) have a mountain to climb if they hope to qualify.
Nevetheless, games across the NSL continue to be close contested. Out of 35 NSL games played ay Diamond 2, almost a third (11) were decided by a one-run margin and over half the games (18) were decided by a margin of three runs or less.
Scores
Scores from the round-robin games that count in the NSL standings from Diamond 2 were as follows:
Saturday
Pioneers 6, Slammers 3
Maniacs 7, Knights 6
Thunder 10, Warriors 3
Chromies 10, Legends 4
H2O 20, Dragons 3
Mariners 10, Blue Steel 4
Chromies 13, Warriors 6
Legends 15, Knights 9
Thunder 7, Maniacs 6
Dragons 9, Slammers 3
Blue Steel 5, H2O 3
Pioneers 16, Mariners 9
Knights 6, Chromies 5
Maniacs 10, Warriors 9
Thunder 5, Legends 4
Mariners 18, H2O 10
Blue Steel 11, Slammers 8
Pioneers 3, Dragons 2
Chromies 10, Maniacs 3
Legends 6, Warriors 5
Knights 13, Thunder 9
Slammers 6, Mariners 5
H2O 7, Pioneers 5
Blue Steel 12, Dragons 0
Chromies 8, Thunder 4
Maniacs 6, Legends 5
Knights 8, Warriors 1
H2O 6, Slammers 0
Mariners 10, Dragons 6
Pioneers 12, Blue Steel 9
Sunday
Chromies 10, Mariner 6
Maniacs 10, Slammers 5
Pioneers 21, Warriors 1
Blue Steel 5, Warriors 4
Maniacs 7, H2O 6
Chromies 10, Dragons 1
H2O 5, Legends 2
Pioneers 9, Knights 1
Mariners 5, Thunder 3
Slammers 12, Legends 2
Blue Steel 11, Knights 5
Thunder 15, Dragons 1
Standings
NSL standings after two weekends of play are:
| TEAMS | W | L | T | GB | RF | RA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pioneers | 13 | 1 | 0 | --- | 133 | 60 |
| Chromies | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 150 | 67 |
| Blue Steel | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2.5 | 125 | 84 |
| Thunder | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 79 |
| H2O | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 122 | 85 |
| Maniacs | 8 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 114 | 132 |
| Slammers | 5 | 8 | 0 | 7.5 | 115 | 93 |
| Legends | 5 | 8 | 0 | 7.5 | 102 | 94 |
| Knights | 4 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 91 | 138 |
| Mariners | 4 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 113 | 141 |
| Dragons | 3 | 10 | 0 | 9.5 | 52 | 138 |
| Warriors | 0 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 53 | 171 |