By Gemma McArdle
Arguably one of the best softball tournaments in the country, the 2023 Leeds Tournament, played at the Grange Park Sports Club on the weekend of 8-9 July, did not disappoint.
This year’s tournament had everything: sun, showers, thunder, lightning, 24 teams from around the country, and a Saturday evening party full of drinks, Country music, line dancing, and karaoke.
The venue for the Leeds Tournament is quite unique because everything is all in one location: camping, softball, catering, and the party in the clubhouse, which has excellent facilities.
This year, teams were split into three divisions -- Gold, Silver and Bronze -- with the teams coming from Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Guernsey, London, East Midlands, Bristol, Oxford, Swindon, and Leeds. A special mention should also go to individual players who travelled down from Scotland and afar to guest for competing teams.
Saturday
Saturday started off without a hitch, with beautiful sunny weather, but at 10.30 am the heavens opened and we had a tropical downpour with thunder and lightning. Despite what the weather app foretold, we only lost one game from the schedule over the weekend and play resumed at 11.45 am with typical British weather -- sunny spells and showers – during the rest of the day.
After a fun day of softball, everyone got ready for the Country Hoedown party in the clubhouse. It was great to see that everyone got into the party spirit and there were many cowboy hats, boots, checked shirts, and denim around the room. A special mention goes to Cardiff -- every team member dressed up -- and to Harvey Pryor from Leicester Royals, whose fancy dress outfit arrived at 4.00 pm at the venue. Four and a half hours flew by while some of the best recent and legendary Country hits were played, and teams danced and sang the night away.
Sunday
After a treacherous evening for the campers, everyone was in high spirts on Sunday morning and Mother Nature clearly got the memo for better weather. There were even murmurs first thing of it being too warm!
After round-robin games had finished, the group standings were:
GOLD
1. Travelling Dodgers
2. Spittin’ Camels
3. Guernsey
4. Terriers
5. Meerkats
6. Mavericks
7. Sheriffs
8. Misfits
SILVER
1. United Nations
2. Cardiff
3. Oxford Foxes
4. University of Nottingham
5. Pyros
6. Manchester Drizzle
7. Pimlico Pirates
8. Manchester Tigers
BRONZE
1. Bristol Bam
2. Yorkshire Dales
3. Phoenix Fireballs
4. Swindon Bombers
5. Southport Seagulls
6. Coyotes
7. Hippos
8. Leicester Royals
The tournament format gives any team the opportunity to win silverware no matter how they performed during the round-robin: the top four teams in each group play for the Cup and the bottom four teams play for the Plate via semi-finals and finals.
Playoffs
The results this year in the finals were some of the closest we can remember, with four out of the six finals decided by a single run.
GOLD CUP FINAL:
Spittin’ Camels 14, Terriers 13
MVPs: Leone Colley from Camels and Joe Cybaniak from Terrriers
The Camels had some convincing wins over the weekend and managed to just hold on to their undefeated record with a slim win over the Terriers.
GOLD PLATE FINAL
Meerkats 11, Sheriffs 10
MVPs: Darren Shaw from Meerkats and Brittany Archibald from Sheriffs
Another closely contested final in the Comp division, with the Meerkats just able to get ahead of the Sheriffs. Both teams had a mixed bag of results over the weekend but were evenly matched in this nail-biting game.
SILVER CUP FINAL
United Nations 12, Oxford Foxes 10
MVPs: Adam Tooley and Tracy Sharpe from United Nations
United Nations was another team defending an undefeated record in this final. When these teams had met in the round-robin stage, United Nation’s win was a lot more convincing than in the final, but well done to United Nations, who kept their nerve as the Oxford Foxes upped their game and rose to the challenge.
SILVER PLATE FINAL
Pyros 8, Manchester Drizzle 7
MVPs: Bryony James from Drizzle and Andy Brailsford from Pyros
Another down-to-the-wire final. Both teams had had some great wins over the weekend and were evenly matched in this close encounter.
BRONZE CUP FINAL
Swindon Bombers 20, Yorkshire Dales 6
MVPs: Lisa Jepson and David Beasley from Swindon Bombers
Swindon finished fourth in the Bronze round-robin, but had a great win over the group stage winners Bristol Bam in their semi-final to earn the right to meet one of the home teams, Yorkshire Dales, in the final. The game was close until the final innings, when the Bombers’ bats caught fire.
BRONZE PLATE FINAL
Leeds Coyotes 10, Leicester Royals 9
MVPs: Erin Mellor from Leicester Royals and Joe Draper from Coyotes
When these two teams met in the round-robin the score also had only one run in it, but the Coyotes got their revenge in the final, overcoming the Royals to claim the silverware.