The 2023 edition of the BSF’s National Softball League got under way on 20-21 May at Farnham Park, with 12 teams each in three divisions, and the early leaders after the first weekend of play are Legends in NSL1, The Mob in NSL2 and Meerkats in NSL3.

All three teams went 6-1 over the weekend – but all three have a number of teams right behind them who will challenge for the top spot when NSL play resumes on the weekend of 17-18 June.
 

New-look divisions

Each division is featuring new teams this year, after last season’s promotions and relegations and the expansion of NSL3 from eight to 12 teams.

Tempest and the Spittin’ Camels are the new teams in NSL1 this year, promoted from NSL2 at the end of last season, and both teams struggled a bit at the higher level, with the Camels sitting in ninth place after the weekend with a 2-5 record, just out of the Nationals places, while Tempest went 1-6 on the weekend and are currently in last place.

The Blitz Bombers and the Mavericks were the teams demoted from NSL1 at the end of last season.  The Bombers made a fine start in NSL2, with a 5-2 record on the weekend, good for second place and automatic promotion back to NSL1 if they can keep this going all season.  But the Mavericks went 2-5 and are currently in ninth place, just below the Nationals places.

MK NSL and Blitz Havoc came up to NSL2 this year after promotion from NSL3.  Blitz Havoc sit comfortably in mid-table, having gone 3-3-1 on the weekend, but Milton Keynes, after a 1-4-2 record, are in 11th place.

The Bees and SPAM were the teams that moved down from NSL2 to NSL3 after last season.  SPAM went 3-2-2 on the weekend, good for sixth place, but the Bees failed to win a game, going 0-6-1, and are currently at the bottom of the table.

Four new teams -- Southern Stormers, Tempest 2, fOXes and Panthers – joined NSL3 this year to bring the division up to 12 teams, and all did reasonably well on the weekend.  The Southern Stormers currently sit in fourth place, Panthers in fifth, Tempest 2 in seventh and the fOXes in eighth.

In NSL1 and NSL2, the top eight teams in the league standings after all three weekends have been played will advance to the NSL Nationals at Farnham Park on 2-3 September, while NSL3 will play league games over the three weekends to determine promotion and relegation.

The three weekends of league play will also determine promotion and relegation in NSL1 and NSL2, and this year, for the first time, NSL1 league play, rather than the NSL1 Nationals, will determine qualification for the next European Co-ed Slowpitch Super Cup in 2025.  So winning the league in NSL1 will be crucial.
 

NSL1

Legends piled up a 4-0 record on Saturday to get off and running in NSL1, though two of those wins – over the Spittin’ Camels and Pioneers -- were by a single run.  On Sunday, Legends lost a one-run thriller to Chromies for their only loss of the weekend and finished in first place.  But perennial NSL1 powerhouses Chromies, Pioneers and Knights are just behind them.

Last year’s NSL1 Nationals winners H2O came out of the blocks slowly on Saturday and finished the day with a 1-3 record, including losses to Tempest and Tigers, who were both in the bottom three by the end of the weekend.  But H2O came roaring back on Sunday, winning all three games while scoring 82 runs, including a 32-3 demolition of Chromies, to end the weekend in fifth place and in striking distance of the top.

Teams that now sit outside the cutoff for places in the NSL1 Nationals are Spittin’ Camels, Tigers, Greensox NSL and Tempest, but a lot can change over the next two NSL weekends.

NSL2

The Mob’s only loss on Saturday was to the Warriors, and two more wins on Sunday put them into the top spot in NSL2 at the end of the weekend.  But Blitz Bombers, Warriors and Terriers are very close behind them.

Honey Badgers matched The Mob on Saturday with a 4-0-1 record, but the Badgers lost both their games on Sunday, including a loss to the last place Ninos Privados, to slip to fifth in the standings.

With five teams within a game or so of each other in the middle of the table, expect a lot to change in this division over the two remaining NSL weekends.

Teams that now sit outside the cutoff for places in the NSL2 Nationals are Mavericks, Fuzzy Ducks, MK NSL and Nino Privados -- but again, there are a lot of games to come.

NSL3

The Meerkats’ only loss on Saturday came at the hands of one of NSL3’s new teams, the Panthers, in the last game of the day, but Meerkats picked themselves up to win all three of their games on Sunday by large margins and now sit on the top of the division and in the first automatic promotion place.

Storm, also with only one loss over the weekend, but also a draw, are just behind them in the second automatic promotion place.  However, Bracknell NSL, new teams Southern Stormers and Panthers, plus former NSL2 champions SPAM, have only two losses each and will be fighting for those promotion places over the next two NSL weekends.

Two teams will be demoted from the division at the end of the season, possibly to NSL4 if the BSF can get this final NSL division off the ground next year, and at the moment Maidenhead NSL and the Bees occupy those relegation places.  But both Sharks NSL and Shafting are not far above them, so there will be everything to play for in this division throughout the rest of the summer.

Playoffs

For 2023, NSL teams voted to keep the playoff rounds that follow the weekend’s schedule of league games, and each division finished the day on Sunday with Cup, Trophy and Plate semi-finals and a final. 

In NSL1 and NSL2, the team that topped the league standings also won the Trophy final, but in NSL3, second-placed Storm turned the tables on the league-leading Meerkats in a very close final. 

Results from the playoff finals were:

NSL1
Cup:  Legends 23, Chromies 16
Trophy:  H2O 13, Travelling Dodgers 7
Plate:  Spittin’ Camels 12, Greensox 11

The Cup final score was reflected to anyone watching on the new electronic scoreboard that BSUK, after prompting from the BSF, have purchased, primarily for use on Pitch 1 at Farnham Park

NSL2
Cup:  The Mob 18, Warriors 9
Trophy:  Badgers 17, Blitz Havoc 9
Plate:  Mavericks 11, Fuzzy Ducks 10

NSL 3
Cup:  Storm 17, Meerkats 16
Trophy:  SPAM 9, fOXes 8
Plate:  Sharks NSL 19, Bees 6

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