Diamond Series Softball Tournaments celebrated their fifth anniversary year in 2011 with record entries, good parties and tough competition in all three grades at Farnham Park.
The season began with the Combat coaches giving batting lessons to all and sundry at Diamond 1, and ended with a weekend of brilliant sunshine on July 30-31 for 48 teams at Diamond 3.
And the series deciders went down to the wire in all three competition grades: A, B and C.
Series Winners
In A-grade, the European Cup Champion Chromies edged past the absent H20 to take the series honours, though London Legends took first place on the day.
Mighty Muppets captured both the Diamond 3 title and the B-grade series award, but congratulations go to Manchester Fish, who were series runner-up at their first attempt at this level.
Manchester Thunder won Diamond 3 and the series award in C-grade, with Rhythm Rascals a close second.
Diamond 3 Winners
The teams that took trophies at Diamond 3 were:
A GRADE
Cup Winner: London Legends
Runner-up: BT
Plate Winner: Dragons
Runner-up: Pioneers
B GRADE
Cup Winner: Mighty Muppets
Runner-up: Kamikazi
Plate Winner: Oddsox
Runner-up: Comets Lunar
C GRADE
Cup Winner: Manchester Thunder
Runner-up: Chalfont Flames
Plate Winner: The Firm
Runner-up: Oddsox
Spoon Winner: Raiders Riot
Diamond 3 Standings
A GRADE
1 - London Legends
2 - BT
3 - Blue Steel
4 - Chromies
5 - Marvels
6 - Slammers
7 - Mariners
8 - Maniacs
9 - Pioneers
10 - Dragons
11 - Niners
12 - Windsor Knights
B GRADE
1 - Mighty Muppets
2 - Kamikazi
3 - Manchester Fish
4 - Creamers
5 - SPAM
6 - Swingers
7 - Oddsox
8 - Comets Lunar
9 - Solent Stingrays
10 - Clapham Thunder
11 - Nottingham Brewers
12 - Nottingham Exiles
C GRADE
1 - Manchester Thunder
2 - Chalfont Flames
3 - London Guerillas
4 - Mezcalitoes Ninos
5 - Rhythm Rascals
6 - Richings Park Red Kites
7 - Ascot
8 - Brighton Beachcombers
9 - The Firm
10 - Oddsox
11 - Richings Park Ospreys
12 - Firesliders
13 - Multiple Monkeys
14 - Vampire Batters
15 - Raiders Revolution
16 - Bristol Splitters
17 - Raiders Riot
18 - LASL
19 - Comets
20 - Solent Spartans
21 - Little Mister Men
22 - Chalfont Firebirds
23 - Grandballs
24 - Comets Solar
Overall Series Standings
A GRADE
1 - Chromies
2 - Blue Steel
3 - London Legends
4 - H2O
5 - Mariners
6 - Pioneers
7 - BT
8 - Dragons
9 - Marvels
10 - Maniacs
11 - Slammers
12 - Munster
13 - Windsor Knights
14 - Niners
15 - SPAM*
16 - Irish National Team
B GRADE
1 - Mighty Muppets
2 - Manchester Fish
3 - Solent Stingrays
4 - Kamikazi
5 - Nottingham Brewers
6 - Creamers
7 - GB Under-19 Fastpitch
8 - Clapham Thunder
9 - Raiders Rampage
10 - Swingers
11- Oddsox
12 - Nottingham Exiles
13 - Chalfont Phoenix
14 - SPAM*
15 - Comets Lunar
16 - Leeds Puddings
17 - Leeds Terriers
* SPAM played Diamond 1 and 2 in A-grade and Diamond 3 in B-grade.
C GRADE
1 - Manchester Thunder
2 - Rhythm Rascals
3 - Mezcalitoes Ninos
4 - Oxford Spirit
5 - Raiders Riot
6 - Vampire Batters
7 - London Guerillas
8 - Richings Park Red Kites
9 - Brighton Beachcombers
10 - Chalfont Flames
11 - Ascot
12 - Mighty Douche
13 - Multiple Monkeys
14 - Comets
15 - Legends of Filth
16 - Oddsox
17 - Firesliders
18 - Solent Spartans
19 - Richings Park Ospreys
20 - Bristol Splitters
21 - The Firm
22 - Raiders Revolution
23 - Rhythm 'n' Booze
24 - Meteors
25 - Little Mister Men
26 - LASL
Next Year
The Diamond Series will be back in 2012, bigger and better than ever.
"Our aim," Dave King said, "is to continually improve our product for the benefit of softball at all levels."
For more information on next year, visit www.diamond-softball.co.uk.