Chichester Falcons Softball Club hosted their third annual Indoor Fastpitch Tournament on Sunday 25 February – the only event of its kind in the UK – at the Westgate Centre in Chichester.
Players enrolled individually and were assigned to teams, given their team shirts, and met their teammates for a furious day of fastpitch in the sports hall.
The hall space is large enough to fit a full 60-foot diamond, so stealing and bunting was all on the table, and a clean hit to the back wall earned a home run. The Falcons recently purchased a pitching mat thanks to the generosity of Chichester District Council, which made pitching significantly more comfortable and safe on the hard floor.
An ideal spread of ability and experience saw each team boast at least one very capable pitcher and catcher, plus a handful of Academy players, some expertise from GBFL stalwarts, and a gang of local junior and senior Chichester Falcons.
Competition
The initial round-robin was very close, but the Green Team, led by James Wheeler, just crept ahead with two wins, with Megan Rollins’s Black Team hot on their heels.
A round of playoffs ensued where Hugh Scorgie’s White Team somehow went from bottom to top and earned themselves a spot in the final, while Mike Crispin’s Blues narrowly lost to the Black Team despite a fine performance from pitcher Ieuan Gale.
Grand Final
The Grand Final came down to the wire. The game was tied at the scheduled stop time, so an extra inning was needed, and in the bottom of the inning, the Black Team wasted no time as Joe Coxon stole two bases to get himself on third with one out.
There followed an intense battle between veteran pitcher Hugh Scorgie and young Benjamin Burdon at bat, playing at his first ever competitive event. The hall erupted as Burdon managed to steer a looping hit just over third base to bring in Coxon, cueing pandemonium both in the dugout and the viewing balcony above.
MVPs
MVPs for the tournament were Megan Rollins, who pitched all day long for the Black Team with great strength and consistency, and Emma Biles, who excelled at catcher, shortstop and with her bat throughout the event.
Thanks go to Becca Butler from the Solent Softball League who kept scores all day, and to Mike Crispin, who umpired, captained, and helped to administrate the event.
