Hursley Hurricanes are the champions of a new indoor softball league that was set up and run in the Portsmouth area over five weekends in November and December by the UPSU Shafters.
The league brought together five local teams, including the Shafters, to provide competition experience over the winter months and ensure that players retained an interest in the game that many had picked up for the first time over the summer.
Finals Day
At the Finals Day, played on December 10, the Hursley Hurricanes defeated the Waterlooville Wolverines 20-12 in the first semi-final, while the Chichester Falcons were 20-11 winners over the Baffins Brewers in the second semi-final.
The final was a closely fought affair, but the Hurricanes defeated the Falcons by 20-16.
In the third place playoff, the Wolverines held off the Brewers to win by 21-19.
Innovation
The league operated a run-penalty rule, with any imbalance in the teams regarding gender resulting in the deduction of one run per imbalance per inning. So, for example, if a team fielded five men and three women, the team would be deducted two runs per inning, and if a team fielded three men and four women the team would be deducted one run per inning.
The rule was put in place to promote equality during play but also to allow teams to complete the schedule if they did not have enough players available.
League play
During league play, the Hursley Hurricanes swept nearly all who came before them, with the only blemish on their season a 16-16 draw against the Waterlooville Wolverines.
The Chichester Falcons impressed everybody by finishing second in the league despite it being their first-ever competitive games as a team, with most of their players completely new to the sport. It is hoped that the team will join the Solent Softball League in the spring.
The Baffins Brewers showed some good form in their matches and provided most of the banter throughout the tournament. They took full advantage of the run-penalty rule, only conceding one run through it as they finished comfortably in third place.
The Waterlooville Wolverines were a Solent League composite team, but suffered from lack of player availability, which under the rules caused them one week to start with a -8 run penalty per game! They were, however, the only team to give the Hurricanes any resistance with that 16-16 draw. The Wolverines were involved in a nail-biter in the final week against the Shafters to qualify for Finals Day.
The UPSU Shafters competed admirably, always with a smile on their faces. But they took a decision to play largely new recruits and their enthusiasm and athleticism was no match for the more experienced players in the league, so the Shafters finished in fifth place.
Their final game of the season, however, was a real heartbreaker as they faced off against the Wolverines in what was basically a knockout game for the Finals Day. After the first inning, the Shafters held a 5-4 lead.
But in the second inning walks and throwing errors came back to bite them (despite several highlight-reel plays including a diving tag from the Shafters’ pitcher) as the Wolverines came back to score with their final batter before the buzzer and won 14-13.