The defending national champion Chromies took a slim lead at the top of the table in National Softball League 1 after games played at the first NSL event of the year during the Diamond Series tournament at Farnham Park on 14-15 May.
Only round-robin games at NSL events count in the NSL standings. But Chromies went on to win the Diamond 1 A-grade tournament in dramatic fashion, 15-14, with a six-run comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning in the final against Blue Steel, highlighted by a home run by Moera Flett over the 285-foot outfield fence.
How it works​
The full schedule for NSL 1 will be played this year at only three tournaments – Diamond 1, Diamond 2 and the Windsor Invitational Tournament, and will involve each team playing home and away against the 11 other teams in the league.
The top eight teams in the NSL1 standings when those three tournaments have been played will qualify for places in the Premier Nationals, part of the BSF’s Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships to be played on the weekend of 13-14 August at Farnham Park.
The BSF’s NSL 2 competition, which has begun for the first time this season, will be played over a larger number of tournaments, and will take into account all round-robin results at those tournaments obtained by the six teams currently signed up in determining final standings. The top four teams in NSL 2 will get a place in the Platinum Nationals.
Scores
The 42 NSL 1 games played at Diamond 1 featured four draws (with Manchester Thunder figuring in three of them) and a number of close games, including 12 decided by just one or two runs. Only five games were decided by margins of 10 or more runs, suggesting that the NSL will be a competitive league this year. One game, between LNZ and Thunder, was 0-0.
The Chromies, who have won four straight National Championships and seven of the last 10, started in confident fashion, winning their first three games, but then suffered an 18-4 pounding by Blue Steel and drew their next game 10-10 with Manchester Thunder before recovering to finish the day on 5-1-1. But the Chromies rode their luck, only scoring three more runs on the day than their opposition.
Right on their heels in a tie for second place are Pioneers and Blue Steel, each with 5-2 records. In contrast to Chromies, Pioneers had a run differential of +38 and Blue Steel +39. Seven of the 12 teams finished the day with winning records.
At the moment, Legends and Bristol Bees, with two wins each and Manchester Greensox and LNZ, with only one win each, are outside the Premier Nationals places and will need to do better when NSL play resumes at Diamond 2 on the weekend of 11-12 June to move up into the Premier Nationals places.
NSL 1 Standings
NSL standings after Diamond 1 are:
| TEAMS | W | L | D | GB | RF | RA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chromies | 5 | 1 | 1 | --- | 59 | 56 |
| Pioneers | 5 | 2 | 0 | .5 | 66 | 28 |
| Blue Steel | 5 | 2 | 0 | .5 | 74 | 45 |
| Manchester Thunder | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 59 | 51 |
| H2O | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 69 | 63 |
| Windsor Knights | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1.5 | 63 | 49 |
| Slammers | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1.5 | 35 | 42 |
| Leeds Terriers | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 49 | 74 |
| Legends | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3.5 | 44 | 45 |
| Bristol Bees | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3.5 | 49 | 61 |
| Manchester Greensox | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 38 | 65 |
| LNZ | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 31 | 67 |