Just 13 National Softball League fixtures were played at the Pioneers Tournament on the weekend of June 22-23 in Canterbury, and H2O recorded a win and a draw to keep their place at the top of the NSL standings. But the real battle is the one shaping up for the last couple of Premier Nationals places as the teams currently occupying places 7-10 are within two games of each other with two NSL events left to go.
These will be played at the Bristol Main Tournament on 6-7 July and at Diamond Series 3 on 27-28 July.
Only the top eight teams in the NSL standings after Diamond 3 will qualify for the Premier Nationals, scheduled for August 31-September 1 at Farnham Park.
Four into two
The six teams that can feel reasonably assured for their Premier Nationals places at this point unless something goes drastically wrong are H2O, Pioneers, Chromies, Blue Steel, Maniacs and Legends -- though Legends, who can be somewhat inconsistent (despite drawing with H2O at Pioneers), may be casting glances over their shoulder during the last two NSL weekends.
However, the four teams that would seem to be in a dogfight for the final two Nationals places are Slammers and Mariners, who currently occupy those places, and the Dragons and Knights, who sit just behind them. Only the Warriors, at 4.5 games out of eighth place, would seem to have little or no chance of making the Premier Nationals in their first season.
And when it comes to the Premier Nationals, the main question will be the same one that has dominated the tournament over the past few years: can H2O find yet another way to be the best team over the regular season and still fail to win the National Championship?
Standings
The NSL standings after the Pioneers Tournament are shown below.
With two NSL events to go, BSF Tournaments Officer Liz Graham has warned teams that if any scheduled NSL fixtures fail to be played, results will be taken from a "bank account" of games played during playoff phase at NSL tournaments. However, Liz is currently projecting that only one NSL fixture may not get completed.
| TEAMS | W | L | T | GB | RF | RA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H2O | 17 | 1 | 1 | --- | 243 | 125 |
| Pioneers | 14 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 208 | 120 |
| Chromies | 12 | 3 | 1 | 3.5 | 194 | 81 |
| Blue Steel | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 238 | 122 |
| Maniacs | 9 | 6 | 1 | 6.5 | 153 | 162 |
| Legends | 8 | 9 | 2 | 8.5 | 140 | 153 |
| Slammers | 5 | 10 | 2 | 10.5 | 123 | 150 |
| Mariners | 6 | 13 | 0 | 11.5 | 135 | 190 |
| Dragons | 4 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 92 | 177 |
| Knights | 3 | 12 | 1 | 12.5 | 81 | 210 |
| Warrors | 2 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 116 | 233 |