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by Simon Fitzjohn

The cream of Britain’s co-ed softball talent descended upon Bristol on the weekend of August 13-14 for two days of sun-splashed, competitive slowpitch softball at the BSF Co-Ed National Championship. With Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies up for grabs 21 teams made the trip to the Clifton College Sports Grounds with glory in their sights.

Platinum and Gold Events

Three teams looking to make a splash in the Platinum and Gold events were last year’s winners, the Lions, who took platinum honours in 2010, the gold-winning Spam and the Bullfrogs, who had hoisted themselves into the top pool with their triumph in the silver category last year.

The 11-team bracket also included the Greensox, Mavericks, Guppy Spotters, Raiders, Oddsox, Knights, Creamers and Sheriffs.

Saturday’s play was all about separating the sides into Sunday’s Platinum and Gold categories, and it was the Mavericks and Spam who made their presence most felt.

Both Manchester’s Mavs and the London-based Spam eased to 4-1 records, with Spam dishing out the Mavericks only defeat on day one – a 10-9 thriller.

Also doing enough to make the five-team elite group were the Lions and Bullfrogs, who had 3-2 and 3-1 records respectively at the end of the first day’s play.

The battle for the coveted fifth spot really went down to the wire though, with the Greensox, Guppy Spotter and Raiders all ending the day with 2-2 records.

The crucial factor was the Greensox’s performances in the head-to-heads, and having beaten both their rivals (the Guppys 9-8 and the Raiders 16-6) it was the Manchester team who advanced to the platinum pool.

Sunday saw the five-team platinum pool play each other in round-robin matches, with the top two sides at the end of the day advancing to the one-off final match.

Having scraped into the upper echelon the Greensox were in no mood to take any risks and really stepped things up. A 14-3 dispatching of the Bullfrogs early on signalled their intentions, and a 9-6 defeat of the Lions shortly afterwards put them in the driving seat.

For the Lions, it was a real comedown after last year’s high and they simply could not get things going on the second day of play.
Losses to the Bullfrogs (9-1), Spam (12-5), the Greensox (9-6) saw them bow out of the running early on, although they did salvage some pride with a 7-2 defeat of the Mavs in their final game.

The Greensox meanwhile just kept on winning, and after their defeat of the Lions they followed up with tight victories over Spam (6-5) and the Mavericks (3-2) – giving them a 4-0 Sunday record and a spot in the final.

The race to meet the Greensox in the high-profile final came down to either the Bullfrogs, Spam or the Mavericks. Spam’s 9-3 defeat of the Bullfrogs, added to the Mavs’ loss to Greensox, saw Spam advance to the platinum final.

Platinum Final

The stage was set for a thrilling Platinum final, but in truth it was far from it as the Greensox strolled to a comfortable 12-2 victory.
With Mark ‘The Colonel’ Sanders keeping Spam in check with a dominant pitching display, it was left to the Greensox hitters to build an unassailable lead. The first run came in the bottom of the first after a dropped catch, with Simon ‘Student’ Hepburn doubling that with a sac fly in the second.

The third inning saw the Greensox break the game wide open with a five-run inning off Spam pitcher Ken Tong. The key hit was an RBI double from Danny Gunn that started the ball rolling.

Although Spam finally got on the board when Gemma Keenan singled home Jessica Cathro, it was a brief respite for the Londoners as the Greensox tacked on another five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Hepburn laced a two-RBI single, while Gunn added an RBI triple.

Spam were unable to get anything going as Sanders’ pitching, backed by some strong defence all round, saw the Manchester side hold their lead with ease. Three two-out hits did see a further consolation run in the top of the seventh, but the game had long been up.

Unsurprisingly for his efforts with the bat, Gunn was named male MVP, and his teammate, Linda Horan, won the female award.

Gold Event

The sides in the Gold bracket were to jostle for positions on Sunday, with the top four of the six teams advancing to semi-final showdowns.

The Windsor Knights proved to be the team to beat, rolling to wins over the Guppys (11-1) and the Oddsox (22-5) after an opening 5-5 draw with the Raiders. The Raiders also had an enjoyable Sunday, easing to wins over both the Sheriffs (10-8) and Creamers (10-3) to secure second spot.

Third went to the Guppys, mainly thanks to their 18-6 thrashing of the Sheriffs, while the final semi-final spot went to the Creamers, who enjoyed a 7-4 win over the Guppys on Sunday morning.

Both the Sheriffs and the Oddsox bowed out at this stage, although the Sox did enjoy a 15-0 shutout when the sides met.

The Knights faced off with the Creamers in the opening semi-final, and it was the favourites who advanced to the final after a 7-1 triumph.

The Raiders were not so fortunate, though, and ended up on the end of a 11-4 defeat as the Guppy Spotters made it through to the final.

The final proved to be a high-scoring affair with the lead changing hands, but in the end it was the Knights who came through, taking the gold trophy back to Windsor after a 14-10 victory.

Gold MVP honours went to Stevie J (Knights) and Mandy Lewis (Guppys).

Silver and Bronze Events

Ten teams competed in the Silver and Bronze categories, which were split into the separate events after Saturday’s play.

The Silver tournament on Sunday saw the Outlaws, Coyotes, Hove Tuesday, Brewers, Angels and Dohnuts competing for honours, with the six teams advancing to placings play-offs in their final clashes.

Straight out of the gate it was the Manchester Outlaws who surged ahead, seeing off the Dohnuts 7-3 and the Angels 10-5. They then went on to beat the Brewers 8-4, which when allied to Saturday wins over the Coyotes and Hove Tuesday saw them take first spot.

Surging into the other final place were the Brewers, who shrugged off their loss to the Outlaws as they beat both Hove and the Coyotes. So the Outlaws met the Brewers in the first-versus-second showdown for top honours, and it was the Manchester side who were to triumph again, the Outlaws easing to an 11-5 victory.

The third/fourth playoff proved a thrilling affair as Brighton’s Hove Tuesday scraped by the Angels 11-10, while the Dohnuts took fifth with a crushing 22-2 defeat of the Coyotes.

The Outlaws’ Greg Spiers and Jen Lucas were named MVPs.

Bronze Event

The four-team Bronze category saw Ascot, Didsbury Bats, Royals and the Rookies (from London’s advertising league) competing for honours. After a round-robin series of matches on Sunday the top two teams were to advance to a one-off final.

Ascot were clearly the team to beat, storming to high-scoring wins in all three of their Sunday games – 11-6 over Rookies, 16-6 over the Royals and 19-2 over the Bats.

Second spot was more hotly contested, especially after the Rookies and Bats played out a 12-12 draw.

But it was the London side who were to advance on run differential after crushing the Royals 23-4 in the final group game.

The final was to prove another one-sided affair as Ascot strolled to an impressive 25-5 triumph.

Ascot stars Netty Covey and Jeff Unsworth took the MVP acclaim.

With the games finishing in glorious sunshine, and with a fly-by by none other than the Red Arrows to boot, the weekend was truly one to remember for all those who attended, whether it be in a playing or watching capacity.

Roll on 2012!