Chichester Falcons Softball Club got their 2022 fastpitch calendar under way by hosting a successful mixed indoor tournament on Sunday 13 March at Westgate Leisure Centre in the city.
The tournament had two aims: to introduce fastpitch softball to the local slowpitch community and to give established fastpitch players, both women and men, some competitive game time ahead of the Great Britain Fastpitch League season.
Players were able to enrol individually and were rostered into four even teams of eight players each for a full day of indoor games in the sports hall. Team shirts were provided for all players.
An ideal mix of newcomers, GBFL stalwarts, local juniors, Academy Softball members and high-level athletes gathered for the morning briefing before games got under way. Each team had at least two pitchers and two catchers, which made for a good day of meaningful at-bats for the experienced players and an exciting experience for those trying fastpitch for the first time. Games were umpired and scored by sitting teams.
Round-robin
The tournament began with a full round-robin of six games where each team played the others.
At the end, the standings were tight and places were decided by run difference for three of the teams.
The White team, led by GB Women’s Team player Amie Hutchison and James Wheeler from Chichester Falcons, went undefeated to take the top spot while the Reds, Blues and Greens all won a game each.
Alyson Spinas-Valainis from BSUK (who pitches for the Dutch team Olympic Haarlem) and Amy Morris from the Falcons (a former GB Under-13 player) both threw well for the Reds. GB Men’s Team player Ieuan Gale led the Blues steadily through the day and Bronte Harvey (Falcons) and Hugh Scorgie (GBFL) worked a blistering battery for the Greens.
The indoor format allowed for wall catches and some truly spectacular defensive plays, complemented with a pair of home runs – both grand slams – from Amie Hutchison and the Falcons’ Josh Bristow.
Playoffs
In the playoffs, the Green team was swept aside by the Blues, despite being bolstered by the arrival of Olly Howley from the Falcons and the GB Under-23 Men's Team, who travelled down from Loughborough just for the tournament.
Meanwhile, the Whites were too strong for the Reds in their playoff, and the Whites then defeated the Blues 4-1 in the grand final.
Aims achieved
David Morris, one of the tournament's main organisers, said, “We could not have asked for a better mix of players for this inaugural tournament. To see local kids from our fastpitch juniors go up against pitchers like Alyson and Amie (and hit off them), and the group of slowpitch players from the local Solent League get stuck in and find success in this format, made the whole day worthwhile for us.
“Everybody understood the big picture in this important developmental event,” David added, “about why we wanted to do it and what they could take from it. Everybody got on base and every team won at least one game. We can now look forward to the GBFL in a few weeks and we hope to see everybody there again. We would definitely like to make this tournament a regular annual event in Chichester.”
Photos by Jade Masters