The 2016 season has now ended or is coming to an end for most slowpitch softball leagues around the country. See below for reports on what’s been happening in some of these leagues towards the tail-end of the campaign.
LEEDS SOFTBALL LEAGUE
As the Leeds League begins to wind down, the standings look like business as usual for most of the teams taking part. But that’s not to say there haven’t been some upsets and giant-slaying along the way, which has made for a really competitive and nail-biting year.
The League
Masterbatters have already secured victory in the league after defeating Chokers in the Cup split competition, with a formidable nine wins to their name.
Second place is all to play for, though, with Cheekies in the silver position but the Chokers snapping at their heels in third.
In the Plate split, Coyotes currently lead over Bobcats, FireCrackers and Dales, though FireCrackers have found their stride while the Dales have had successes in some tough games. Coyotes remain as dangerous as they have been all season, while Bobcats could also upset the balance on the final day.
In the Spoon split, Detonators found their mojo once again after a string of key absences dampened their momentum early in the season. They lead over Diamond Knights and Dynamite, but this race is still wide open.
The Cup
After a two-year hiatus, the LSA Cup was unveiled with a brand new format, similar to our wildly popular Shake ‘n’ Bake Open Day. Players were seeded and then randomly picked from a hat to go into a pool of five teams: One Direction, Boyz2Men, Three Musketeers, Four Lions and Five Will Make You Get Down Now!
The competition was a fantastic way to keep softball games fresh and for players to play and mingle with others they hadn’t played with before. With the line-ups fairly even, it quickly became a game of wits for Cup team captains, as they decided how to best utilise their players.
With a string of convincing wins, it was Boyz2Men and One Direction that ended up in a two-leg Cup Final. The final was broadcast on Facebook Live and made for scintillating viewing. One Direction clocked up an early lead and still led by nine runs going into the bottom of the seventh inning. But Boyz2Men finally found their batting and proceeded to eat into OD’s run buffer with a grandiose comeback. On the final play, an errant throw allowed the winning run to score and Boyz2Men celebrated their Cup win in style.
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SEFTON SOFTBALL LEAGUE
The Crosby Vikings finished the third season of the Sefton Softball League on a high, winning all five of their final matches to secure back-to-back titles, beating contenders Formby Fins in a ‘winner-take-all’ end-of-season showdown.
The Vikings’ run came after a poor start to the season: they lost three of their first four games, with four new players learning the ropes after injury and university commitments taking half their female contingent. Excellent coaching alongside a real team ethos turned the season around for the Vikings, who also won the BSF’s Bronze National Championship at Farnham Park in mid-August.
However, four of the five teams led the league at some point during the season, which made for some exciting matches.
The Southport Seagulls started very well, with four wins in six games. But injuries took their toll and they dropped to third place in the second half of the season, level on points with the second-placed Fins. Some new players with great promise have been introduced into the team and the Seagulls are well placed to consolidate over the winter and mount a new challenge in the spring.
The St Helens Sabres competed well in every match, averaging nearly 15 runs per game, but only managed to convert that into three wins all season, which strangely all came against one team, the Sefton Sharks. The Sabres’ unique team spirit makes them a fantastic team to watch and the 2017 season could well be their year on Merseyside.
Other achievements for the league during the summer included the Sefton Sharks entering five tournaments and winning the Leicester Ashes Trophy in July.
The finale to the Sefton Softball League season – the Sefton Shield Tournament -- is always hugely oversubscribed. This year, the tournament will again feature the Aachen Aixplosives from Germany and will be played on the weekend of 24-25 September.
MILTON KEYNES SOFTBALL LEAGUE
All four teams have been battling to reach the playoff final in the inaugural season of the Milton Keynes Slowpitch Softball League.
At the time of writing, only one team, the Willow Lakers, have dropped out the race after a last-inning rally in their match against the Double D’s on 23 August fell just short. The match came to a close as the D’s captain, Craig Holmes, made one of the plays of the season to catch a fiercely-hit line drive from Lakers’ outfielder Dan Pritchard to record the final out.
The 15-12 victory for the D’s ended the Lakers’ playoff dreams, while D’s player Lee Grafton re-took pole position on the home run leaderboard. The Lakers, who have struggled with multiple injuries this season, can be pleased with their two wins and gutsy performances.
Meanwhile, the D’s, who have long been assured of a place in the playoff final, will face either the Towcester Tigers or Homerun Hornets, who face each other in a winner-take-all contest on 6 September.
The Tigers had the chance to secure their finals place in a match played on 9 August, but lost to the Lakers by 30-22 in a game where pitching and fielding was tough in windy conditions. However, the Tigers have the chance to make amends against the Hornets.
The playoff final will take place on Tuesday 20 September and will mark the end of a hugely successful first season for the league. Game nights have attracted large numbers, while beginners have been able to learn the basics in training sessions before joining in league play.
An Awards Night in October will provide a fitting end to the season before the teams move indoors for more softball action over the winter.
For all the latest results, news and pictures, please visit www.mksoftball.co.uk.
EAST MIDLANDS SOFTBALL LEAGUE
The East Midlands League is proving to be as competitive as ever and, having split into two divisions at the end of June, there are plenty of teams still fighting for honours.
Division Two
In Division Two, there are three teams in the hunt for the title, with the Tigers and Misfits level on 15 points each but with Misfits having played one game more than the Tigers. The Tigers also currently hold the advantage between the two sides, having won their head-to-head game a few weeks ago -- but the teams will meet in the return fixture on Sunday 4 September.
The Tigers have only lost one of their six games played, but that came in the season opener against the Beavers, and it is the Beavers who lie in third place, just two points behind the joint leaders.
Like the Misfits, the Beavers have already played seven games, but have a draw to their name along with two losses. The Beavers may be feeling slightly aggrieved that their last two games have been cut short due to fading light, with one of them ending in an 8-8 tie against Pulse, and the other reverting to a 22-21 loss against the Royals after six innings, despite the Beavers having been ahead in the top of the seventh with no one out when the umpire had no option but to call the game for safety reasons.
Behind these three teams lie Pulse, Royals and Rebels. For the Royals and Rebels, their chances for a title challenge this season are over, but both are still playing for pride to avoid finishing bottom.
Pulse, however, are still in with an outside chance, albeit only a mathematical one, as they sit five points behind the leaders with only six points left to play for. However, for a new side -- operating as a second team under the Misfits umbrella and consisting of seven new ‘development’ players from the fringes of the Misfits squad plus some Uni students who have stayed in Nottingham over the summer -- they are doing extremely well.
Pulse's last two games are against the two joint leaders on Sunday 4 September, and while they will be hoping for two wins to give them an outside chance for the title, they would also need Tigers and Misfits to tie the game between them, and then lose their remaining games, which could produce an unlikely three-way tie at the top. Throw in the Beavers’ results and it could even end on a four-way tie -- but the odds of that happening are slim!
The potential title-deciding games in Division Two will happen in the first week of September, with the Beavers meeting the Misfits on Thursday 1 September and then, as mentioned, Tigers, Misfits and Pulse all playing each other on Sunday 4 September.
Division One
Qualifying for Division One at the end of June were five teams: Sheriffs, Brewers, Pyros, Pyros Juniors and Redbacks.
The Redbacks actually came seventh in the first half of the season, pipping all three of the teams now battling for the second division title by just one point. Normally, seventh place would have seen the Redbacks playing in Division Two, but with both University teams (Loughborough, who finished fifth and Nottingham, who finished sixth) dropping out of the second half of the season, the Redbacks claimed the final place in the top division.
However, they have struggled at this level, with their closest result being a 12-8 defeat by Pyros last week. The Redbacks will be hoping to improve on this and claim at least one victory from their last two games.
The big shock this season has been the Brewers, who have traditionally battled for the title and always been in the top two, staring at a losing record for the first time ever, sitting on five losses and just two wins with only one game to play -- although two of these defeats were due to forfeits when they couldn't get a side out.
This leaves the top three, with the newly-crowned Platinum Co-Ed National Champion Sheriffs leading the way on 15 points. Just behind them lie Pyros (12 points) and Pyros Juniors (9 points).
Interestingly though, all three teams have only one loss each and it is the disparity in games played that have produced the difference in points on the board.
Pyros Juniors beat the Sheriffs in a recent game that was shown on a highlights package on the local Nottingham TV channel. However, the Juniors then went on to lose to their parent club Pyros the following week, with club pride meaning that the Pyros were all too happy to dent their young charges' chances at a first league title while also keeping their own hopes alive.
So Pyros Juniors still have four games to play, Pyros three and the Sheriffs just two, and while in theory all three teams have a chance, the Sheriffs will be pleased to have points already in the bag rather than having more games to play. Just as with Division Two, the first 10 days or so of September will be pivotal in the race for the title and a place at next year’s Nationals, with Pyros meeting the Sheriffs on 1 September and then Pyros Juniors seeking revenge against the Pyros the week after.
Single-Sex Finale
Just to finish this round-up of East Midlands softball, the third Nottingham Single-Sex event in 2016 will take place on 17 (Women) and 18 (Men) September.
Both events are now full and, while the Women’s event is once again a stand-alone competition, the Men’s event is the final part of this year’s three-tournament series, with the Sheriffs and Pyros both in the running to take the overall honours for this year.