The second edition of National Softball League play for 2023 took place at Farnham Park on the weekend of 17-18 June, and when it 
was over, Legends in NSL1, The Mob in NSL2 and Meerkats in NSL3 were sitting at the top of their respective tables.
But none of these teams have very big leads, and in NSL3, Meetkats are only half a game ahead of the two teams behind them thanks to having played a game more. So there will be everything to play for at the top of all three divisions when the NSL reconvenes for its third and final weekend on 29-30 July.
For NSL1, the key issue at the top of the table is that the team finishing first will qualify for a place in the 2025 European Co-ed Slowpitch World Cup.
In both NSL1 and NSL2, the battle will be on to finish in the top eight after the final weekend, which will bring qualification for the BSF NSL National Championships at Farnham Park on the weekend of 2-3 September. Below that, the four teams in each division that don’t qualify for Nationals will be fighting to avoid relegation, with the bottom two teams going down to the division below for 2024.
In NSL3, the battle to finish in the top eight has added urgency, since the BSF plans, dependent on the availability of grass pitches at Farnham Park, to shrink NSL3 from 12 to eight teams next year and introduce an eight-team NSL4. So all four NSL3 teams that finish out of the top eight may find themselves in NSL4 next season.
NSL Division 1
Legends have been by a long way the most consistent team in NSL1 this year, and they went 7-0 on the weekend to stretch their lead over second-place Pioneers to two games. Most of those seven wins were pretty comfortable, with their only real challenge coming when they squeaked through 10-9 against the Spittin’ Camels in the first game of the day on Sunday.
Pioneers also had a good weekend, going 6-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of Blue Steel in their first game on Saturday morning -- but the Pioneers had more close games over the weekend than Legends.
Here’s how the teams fared over the second weekend of NSL play:
Legends’ task on the final weekend will be to hold off perennial heavyweights Pioneers and Chromies, the only teams with a realistic chance of catching them.
The top six teams in the standings look fairly safe with regard to making the Nationals, but it looks like four teams might be scrapping for the final two Nationals places, and four teams could also be battling to avoid relegation.
The Cup playoffs for the top four teams on the weekend that followed the NSL league schedule produced three tremendous games.
In the 1v 4 semi-final, Legends edged out the Travelling Dodgers by 14-13, and in the 2 v 3 semi-final, Pioneers eked out an 11-10 win over Chromies.
There was no respite from thrillers in the final, where Legends beat Pioneers 14-13, repeating their triumph from the Cup playoffs in May.
In the Trophy playoffs, things weren’t nearly so tight. H2O beat Tigers 25-2 in one semi-final, Knights held of the KKs by 13-9 in the other semi-final, and H2O won out over Knights by 19-11 in the final.
In the Plate playoffs, Blue Steel just managed to overcome the last-place Greensox by 5-4 in one semi-final and the Spittin’ Camels took out Tempest in the other semi-final, 16-13. Blue Steel defeated the Camels in the final by 14-10.
NSL Division 2
In NSL2, LNZ stormed back from a mid-table performance on the first NSL weekend to top the standings for this weekend with a 6-2 performance, moving up to a virtual tie for second place overall. But the NSL2 standings are still headed by The Mob, who have only lost three games over the first two weekends of play.
Here is how the teams fared on the second weekend of play:
The issue at the top of the NSL2 table is promotion, with two teams going up to NSL1 for next season, and four teams are looking to be in with a chance.
In terms of Nationals qualification, there could be as many as seven teams in the standings below, from Naturals down through Milton Keynes, who have a chance of either getting there – or failing to do so.
As far as relegation is concerned, it looks like two of the current bottom three will probably go down to NSL3 next year – but which ones?
Here is how the table stands before the final weekend in July:
In the Cup playoffs for the top four teams that followed the NSL league schedule, the Naturals defeated LNZ 22-18 in the 1 v 4 semi-final while The Mob edged out Mavericks 11-9 in the 2 v 3 semi-final.
The final was no problem for the high-flying Mob, who beat the Naturals 23-7 and, like Legends in NSL1, repeated their Cup final win in May.
In the NSL2 Trophy playoffs, Blitz Bombers beat Fuzzy Ducks 8-6 in one semi-final, Warriors took out Honey Badgers by 16-10 in the other semi-final, and the Warriors continued to pound the ball in the final, defeating Blitz Bombers by 15-7.
In the Plate playoffs, the Terriers, who came last in NSL league play on the weekend, rose up and smote Blitz Havoc by 18-10 in one semi-final, while Miton Keynes defeated Ninos Privados in the other. The Plate final was a one-sided affair, with the Terriers beating Milton Keynes by 19-2.
NSL Division 3
Promotion is the first order of business for the NSL3 teams that aspire to it, and Bracknell NSL, Meerkats, and Storm, who topped the table below on the weekend, will go into the final NSL weekend in July with very little between them.
Two of these three teams look likely to win promotion, though Southern Stormers will consider themselves in with a shout.
Less certain, though, is who will make the cut for the top eight and stay in NSL3 for next season and who will help to inaugurate the new NSL4 next year if enough pitches are available at Farnham Park to make this happen.
While the current bottom four in the table below look the likeliest candidates for NSL4, Shafting might have a nervous weekend in July, and a sharp loss of form by any of fOXes, SPAM or Tempest 2 could see them dragged into the struggle.
In the NSL 3 playoffs that followed the league schedule, Bracknell defeated fOXes 17-5 in the 1 v 4 semi-final, and Meerkats held off Storm by 13-10 in the 2 v 3 semi-final.
Meerkats then ran up a huge score to win the Cup final over Bracknell by 34-9. Meerkats had been the losing Cup finalists in May.
In the Trophy playoffs, SPAM defeated Tempest 2 in one semi-final by 10-5, while Southern Stormers beat Shafting by 15-10 in the other semi-final. SPAM went on to take the trophy, defeating Southern Stormers by 21-12.
In the NSL3 Plate playoffs, Bees won one semi-final by 10-3 over Maidenhead, while Panthers were awarded a 7-0 forfeit win over Sharks in the other. Bees and Panthers then played a close final, with the Bees coming out on top by 10-8.