With just one event to go in the 2014 National Softball League season, the Pioneers hold a 3.5 game lead at the top of the NSL standings and look set to take the 2014 NSL title.
But last year's NSL champions H2O had the last word at the latest NSL competition, the British Airways Tournament on 14-15 June at the BA Concorde Club, defeating Pioneers in the final.
Race at the bottom
At the last NSL event of the season, Diamond Series 3 at Farnham Park on 26-27 July, the focus is more likely to be on the fight to secure the last couple of places in the Premier Nationals. Eight of the twelve NSL teams will qualify for the Nationals, and while the Warriors, sitting at the bottom of the standings with a 1-18-1 mark, have no chance to finish in the top eight, five teams will be fighting to secure those seventh and eighth positions.
The current occupants are Slammers (9-11) in seventh place and Legends (9-12) in eighth. But at Diamond 3, they will need to make sure they win enough games to hold off the challenge from the Knights (4-10), the Dragons (5-14) and the Mariners (4-13), all of whom still have at least a mathematical chance to qualify.
There could also be a scramble for the places immediately behind the Pioneers (19-2), with seeding for the Premier Nationals at stake.
Currently, Chromies (15-5) are second, Blue Steel (14-6) are third and H2O (13-7) are fourth. But those teams are tightly packed, and positions could be exchanged by the time Diamond 3 is over.
Finals
In tournaments featuring NSL competition, it is generally only the round-robin games that count in the NSL standings, and playoff results are only used if a particular fixture on the NSL schedule only takes place as a playoff game.
But playoff results still matter to the NSL teams as they lead to tournament trophies, and both the Final and Plate Final at the BA Tournament featured NSL teams and exciting one-run games.
In the Plate Final, Thunder (currently sixth in the NSL standings) defeated Blue Steel 14-13, while in the Trophy Final, H2O edged Pioneers 4-3.
NSL standings
NSL standings after the BA Tournament, with one NSL event still to come, are as follows:
| TEAMS | W | L | T | GB | RF | RA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pioneers | 19 | 2 | 0 | --- | 206 | 97 |
| Chromies | 15 | 5 | 0 | 3.5 | 197 | 107 |
| Blue Steel | 14 | 6 | 0 | 4.5 | 191 | 140 |
| H2O | 13 | 7 | 0 | 5.5 | 169 | 121 |
| Maniacs | 12 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 190 | 201 |
| Thunder | 11 | 9 | 0 | 7.5 | 147 | 127 |
| Slammers | 9 | 11 | 0 | 9.5 | 184 | 146 |
| Legends | 9 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 166 | 166 |
| Knights | 4 | 10 | 0 | 11.5 | 91 | 138 |
| Dragons | 5 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 83 | 190 |
| Mariners | 4 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 137 | 192 |
| Warriors | 1 | 18 | 1 | 17 | 87 | 223 |
NSL results
Results from the BA Tournament that counted in the NSL standings were as follows:
Saturday
Blue Steel 11, Warriors 9
Legends 12, Mariners 9
Thunder 6, Chromies 5
Dragons 7, Warriors
Blue Steel 15, Maniacs 11
H2O 8, Thunder 4
Slammers 21, Mariners 4
Pioneers 16, Legends 4
Legends 11, Chromies 2
Blue Steel 21, Dragons 2
Chromies 8, Slammers 3
Maniacs 9, Dragons 7
Legends 11, Blue Steel 10
H2O 5, Slammers 0
Pioneers 9, Chromies 5
Thunder 6, Blue Steel 2
Warriors 13, Maniacs 10
Slammers 12, Legends 5
Sunday
Pioneers 15, Thunder 4
Maniacs 12, Mariners 5
Slammers 11, Warriors 5
Pioneers 5, Dragons 4
Slammers 10, Thunder 9
Chromies 15, H2O 10
Maniacs 12, Legends 4
Blue Steel 6, Pioneers 5
Maniacs 17, Slammers 12
Pioneers 10, H2O 9
Legends 10, Dragons 3
H2O 7, Warriors 0
Chromies 12, Blue Steel 1
Mariners 6, Warriors 6
Pioneers 13, Maniacs 5
Dragons 8, Thunder 6
H2O 8, Legends 7