The Windsor and Maidenhead Softball League community came together on 9 April at Farnham Park for the inaugural Duncan McLean First Ball Memorial Tournament, honouring a league legend.
It was a chance for local teams to come together, play softball and remember a member of the community who did so much for the game in Windsor, and also nationally as a long-time BASU umpire, and who unexpectedly passed away last year.
The event was made up entirely of WMSL teams, playing in two groups of four in cold April weather.
Round-robin
It was a particularly poignant day for Duncan’s team, the Wildcats, and he would have been pleased with their start as they won their first game by 7-6 against Thames Valley.
Two other early games involved Reading teams taking on Maidenhead teams, with Reading coming out on top in both contests.
Meanwhile, the newly-promoted Rattlesnakes started their season with a win over Bracknell Scorchers.
The small-format event gave no room for slow starters, and after the first two rounds, it was the teams from Maidenhead and Bracknell who knew that their fate on the day ran through the Plate competition.
However, the Wildcats were having a good day, with a couple of wins and a draw guaranteeing a Cup spot. The two Reading teams were also on a roll, with the Blue Jays, despite a defeat to the Wildcats, winning their last game against Thames Valley and joining the Cup party.
In the other group, the Rattlesnakes enjoyed an undefeated run to the Cup knock-out stage, where they were joined by the Blue Sox. But Rattlesnakes beat the Blue Sox in the final round-robin game to pip them for top spot in the group.
Semi-finals
The Plate semi-finals threw up a Maidenhead derby as the Titans met the Spartans, while Thames Valley entertained Bracknell Scorchers in the other semi-final.
In the final WMSL tournament of 2021, the Titans and Spartans had met in a Plate semi-final, and then, as now, the Titans came out on top to reach another Plate final. Their opponent would be Thames Valley, who beat the Scorchers 15-7.
In the Cup, the Blue Sox defeat in the final round-robin game meant that the two Reading teams avoided each other and could potentially set up a final showdown. First, the Jays would have to get through the Rattlesnakes while the Blue Sox would have to prevail over the Wildcats.
These were two very different games. While the script was written for the Wildcats to make the final, the Blue Sox hadn’t read it and won at a canter by 20-3.
Meanwhile, the other Reading team came very close to making it an all-Reading final. Coming from behind, the Blue Jays tied the score at 14-14 in regulation time, bringing up the first tiebreaker of the season. The Jays took a 15-14 lead in the top of the tiebreak inning, but the Rattlesnakes rallied and with two runners on, a deep fly ball to centre field was dropped and this allowed the winning run to cross the plate.
Finals
The two finals were both hard-fought affairs.
In the Plate final, the Titans, who had started the day with two straight defeats but then posted two straight wins to reach the final, carried on that form to take the trophy.
In the Cup, the Blue Jays v Rattlesnakes final was a tight affair and a fitting end to the celebration of a league stalwart. The Rattlesnakes triumphed to go unbeaten on the day and take home the inaugural Duncan McLean First Ball Memorial Tournament trophy.
