Thirty-six teams turned out for the 2017 Bristol wReck Tournament, played on the weekend of 19-20 August at the Clifton College Sports Ground, and it was the Bristol Bees who came away with the tournament’s top prize.
This very popular tournament has been increasing its numbers every year, and this time there were 20 teams entered in the B/C-grade Comp Division and 16 teams in the D-grade Rec Division on a beautiful weekend of plenty of sunshine and a cool breeze. A bit of rain on Sunday afternoon cleared up in time for the finals.
Comp Division
One of the highlights of the Comp Division tournament was the Archway School Panthers, a school team from Stroud, playing their first two-day tournament and performing exceptionally well, coming second in their group in the opening round-robin. Unfortunately, they ran out of steam in the knockout games when they faced much more experienced teams.
The Comp Cup was won by Bristol Bees, who dominated the final against the Bristol Creamers from the start. MVPs were Lucy Barker and Tony Soteriou, both from the Bees.
The Comp Plate final was a local derby between the two Guernsey teams that ended with the Curly Donkeys taking the title from the Lock In Squad. MVPs were Hannah and Sam Machon from the Curly Donkeys.
In the Comp Spoon final, the Boo Bees produced an exceptional bout of batting that gave them an easy win over Friendly Fire. MVPs were Tara Dunningham from the Boo Bees and Paul Thornton from Friendly Fire.
Rec Division
Another new team entered the Rec Division in the Bristol wRECk this year -- but this team was not only new to the tournament, but had not played a single game of softball prior to the event. The majority of the team were players who had attended Bristol Softball Association training sessions and formed a team called the D-Bulls. And to their credit, they managed to win a couple of games.
The Rec Cup was won by Flycatchers, who played well all weekend and defeated the Hammers in the final. MVPs were Zoe Glass and Ed Peebles.
In the Rec Plate final, another team playing in the Bristol wRECk for the first time took the title, as the Oxford Tigers defeated the Dragon Warriors. MVPs were Ellie Gilroy from the Oxford Tigers and Mike Searing from the Dragon Warriors.
The Most Sociable Team award went to the D-Bulls and the Best Fancy Dress award to the Oxford Tigers.
Extra games
There were two noteworthy extra games run during the tournament.
A youth game was run by Holly Ireland for children who have taken part in BSA training as well as the children of wRECk participants -- a fun game that was officially umpired and scored. Because there weren’t enough children to make up two teams, players from the Bristol Creamers and Boo Bees made up the opposition. The ‘adults’ batted opposite-hand to normal and played with the youth team’s bats, and the game was won by the youth team.
Each year at the Bristol wRECk, the umpires try to take on an All-Star team in a game on Saturday evening, and the umpires have yet to win this game. This year, the umpires acknowledged that they were not going to win the game with their sporting abilities, so they tried to win with their extensive knowledge of the rules. Unfortunately for them, this was not enough. Better luck next year!