The London Fastpitch Softball League had its second day of play on Saturday, June 11 at Richings Park, and it's clear that the competition is going from strength to strength and developing a real community atmosphere.
Despite the fact that almost a whole team's worth of male players were away at the annual Zeisterslot Tournament in the Netherlands, all 12 LFSL teams were still able to play, thanks to an influx of new player from slowpitch and some creative juggling of players between teams.
New players are always welcome, and anyone who would like to join in at the next LFSL date, on Saturday, June 18, should contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Division 2
The LFSL is divided into two six-team divisions. Division 2 plays in the morning and consists of mixed male/female teams, with no limit on the number of male or female players a team can have. Teams in this division generally consist of younger or more inexperienced players, but there is a scattering of GB youth team players and stronger adult players to give each team some solidity.
During the first LFSL date on May 8, the team from Chalfont Softball Club went 3-0 and led the division. But they were leapfrogged on June 11 by a strong and male-dominated Hove Tuesday side, who won all three games and scored 47 runs in the process. Hove Tuesday now leads the standings with a 5-1 mark from Chalfont and East Anglia, both 4-2 (though East Anglia were 11-0 winners when the two teams met).
Lack of pitching is inhibiting some teams in this division and resulting in too many one-sided games. LFSL Commissioner Stan Doney will see if this can be addressed when the league convenes again on June 18.
Here is the Division 2 table after two weeks of play:
Hove Tuesday (5-1)
East Anglia (4-2)
Chalfont (4-2)
Richings Park (3-3)
Nottingham (2-4)
London Angels 2 (0-6)
Division 1
The LFSL's Division 1 consists of three men's teams and three women's teams that play in the afternoon and consist of stronger and more experienced adult and junior fastpitch players, including a number of players from male and female GB fastpitch teams.
On June 11, this division produced four games decided by a single run, two ties and no games where the margin was more than four runs. And some of those games had dramatic endings.
The women's team Oxford Wolverines, who struggled for wins in 2010, led the table after May 8 thanks to three straight victories behind the pitching of GB Women's Team Assistant Coach Celine Lassaigne.
But now things are tight at the top, with the men's team Richings Park Red holding a narrow lead over the Wolverines and the resurgent women's team London Angels.
The Angels, who have been the leading women's fastpitch club team in Britain over the past few years, had struggled on May 8, winning one and losing two. But they were 3-0 on June 11, thanks to a pair of come-from-behind wins. Kylie Marshall blasted a two-run home run in the final inning to give the Angels a walk-off over the Wolverines by a score of 8-7, and then Kylie tied the score at 6-6 in the final inning with another home run when the Angels played the Richings Park Women. Moments later, a walk-off double by Nadia Pavlova gave Angels the win.
The Wolverines also had a dramatic win to inflict the first defeat of the season on the men's team Richings Park Red. Trailing 4-3 in the fifth inning, the Wolverines scored two runs on a clutch two-out single by GB Women's Team outfielder Laura Thompson, then held on behind the pitching of Celine Lassaigne, who just outdueled the Reds' Ross Smith.
Earlier, the Wolverines and the Richings Park Women had shared a 2-2 draw, and Berkshire (essentially the GB Under-19 Men's Team) had gained their first positive result of the season with a 10-10 draw against men's team Richings Park Black. But Berkshire have been close in virtually every game this season and more wins are bound to come.
Here is the Division 1 table after two weeks of play (M=Men's Team and W=Women's Team):
M - Richings Park Red (5-1)
W - Oxford Wolverines (4-1-1)
W - London Angels (4-2)
M - Richings Park Black (2-3-1)
W - Richings Park Women (1-1-4)
M - Berkshire (0-5-1)
Thanks
Thanks are due once again to the GB youth team parents and players who provided the excellent catering to raise money for tournaments abroad coming up later in the summer.
And special thanks to Spencer Suckling, Ronnie van Loo and Larry Rushin for excellent umpiring throughout a long day, supplemented by Celine Lassaigne and Bob Fromer.