Bristol Men Finish Second in Mens Silver National Championships
The Round-Robin
A tense and close final game saw Bristol Brigands men’s
softball team finish in second place at the national championships held in
Birmingham.
Playing at Silver level the Brigands came up against some
strong opposition. Saturday started with a solid performance to beat the Bush
League 11-7. Next up was the Oxford Gargoyles. A weak start saw the Brigands
trailing by 10-5 after 4 innings. A fine batting performance in the top of the
5 saw Bristol put 6 past the Gargoyles to take the lead. The
Gargoyles then just managed to squeeze the required 2 runs in with a dropped
catch in outfield with 2 outs costing Brigands the game 12-11. Next came the
London Knights… lets just not talk about that game; suffice to say Brigands did
not play to their potential (and I’m not printing the score).
1 win and 2 losses after 3 games and next up was the
Wombats. The Brigands stepped up to the plate with something to prove following
the game against the Knights and didn’t disappoint. A strong batting and
fielding performance with 10 runs in the 5 innings saw Bristol’s
men walk away with a second win of the day 26-8. And so Bristol’s brave
warriors came to play the last game of the Saturday. Another strong fielding
performance saw the Kippers’ run count held to 9 runs. Unfortunately an equally
strong fielding performance by the Kippers ended up with a final score of 9-8.
With 2 wins and 3 losses the Brigands retired to the bar for
the evening to reflect on some strong performances and reflect on the day’s
events over some cold beverages. Spirits were still high (just don’t mention
the Knights) after solid fielding performances and the feeling was that if the
bats started working on the Sunday then anything could happen. And work they
did!
Game 1 on the Sunday saw Brigands against the Tigers. A 13-7
result with everyone except the captain and vice captain scoring saw the big
cats tamed and the Brigands went into the last round-robin game knowing that they
needed a victory to get to the Silver semi-final.
Last up was the Manchester Tripods. Manchester teams tend to
be pretty handy at bat, so a strong fielding team was called for. The game
turned out to be a cracker with Tripods taking an early lead 4-1 after the 2
innings. 5 runs for the Brigands in the 3 innings was beaten by 8
runs by the Tripods. Another 5 runs for the Brigands in the 4
innings saw a reply of 2 by the Tripods. 14-11 down going into the last innings
the Brigands knew that they needed to score and then get the Tripods out to
win. A quick innings saw the Brigands score 4 then take a deliberate 3
out to go into the field up by 1 run. Tick, tick, tick… everyone knew that time
was running out and the pressure was on. Tripods’ first batter stepped up and
sent a fly ball to Hugo in the outfield: 1 down. Tripods’ next batter stepped
up and hit a grounder to Tim who threw to Glenn on 1 base: 2 down.
Just one more out required. The pressure was on the batter and he hit a
grounder to Mark at short-stop who threw him out at 1 base. 3 up,
3 down and a 15-14 score saw victory by the finest of margins and a place in
the semi-finals.
The Semi-Final
The semi-final game was against the Kippers who, from the
previous day, had already demonstrated their fielding ability. A revised
batting order was therefore drawn up to maximise the Brigands’ offensive
potential. The game commenced with Bristol in the field. A shaky start saw
Kippers score 4. Brigands’ response was cut short by a strike out for the 3
out with 2 runners on base but 0 scored for the innings. 2 shut-downs in a row
and steady batting from the Brigands saw Kippers’ lead disappear and Brigands
took the lead 6-4after 3 innings. 2 more for Kippers in the 4
innings was followed by 4 from the Brigands and the lead increased to 10-6.
Kippers got another 1 run in the 5 innings with Brigands matching
it before time expired. 11-7 to the Brigands and a place in the final against…
yes, you guessed it, the London Knights!
The Final
Bristol entered the final with bad memories of a fielding
and batting collapse the previous day that had resulted in a 15-0 thrashing by
the Knights. It was a determined team therefore that took to the field. Pride
in Bristol softball had to be restored. Brigands won the toss and elected to
field first. A good fielding display saw Knights all out for 2 runs scored.
Adam stepped up to bat for Brigands and hit a solid single base hit. He was
then forced out as Tim’s ground ball was fielded by 2 base who
threw to short-stop. Paul stepped up and hit a solid base hit to get 2 on base.
A huge home run from Mark followed to bring them home met with whoops of
delight from the now gathered Bristol crowd (thank you ladies for supporting
us). With no more runs scored Bristol led 3-2 after 1 innings.
And then disaster struck. Nerves and tiredness kicked in to
see the Brigands fall apart in the field. Chances came and went following
numerous infield and outfield fielding errors and Knights just seemed to keep
on scoring. After what seemed like an eternity the 3 out was made
by Adam with a fine catch in left field. The damage? 14 runs conceded. The
Brigands, shaken from their fielding collapse and with memories from the game
from the day before coming back, could only respond with 3 runs from Glenn,
Mike and Tomo. 16-6 after 2 innings.
But the Brigands were not to give in. Innings 3 saw the
outfield return to form with outs by Hugo and Adam seeing the Knights only
score a further 2 runs. Brigands stepped up to the plate with confidence
restored. Mark led off with a solid double. John stepped up behind to hit to
Knights short stop but a mis-throw saw a collision with 1 base and
the ball go dead. John bruised and battered opted for a courtesy runner and
Mark who had just come home from 2 base took his place there again
to run for John. Glenn and Hugo then got on base and with a home run from Mike
before the final 2 outs the score stood at 18-11 after 3 innings.
Knights stepped up and were shut down. Brigands stepped up
and scored 3; 18-14 after 4 innings. Knights followed with 2 runs to be met
with 5 more runs from the Brigands with Kev’s batting returning to form to
score the 5 run. 20-19 after 5 innings. Knights looked nervous.
Brigands playing on adrenaline had forgotten about the 2 innings.
1 run each saw the 6 innings end 21-20 entering the final innings.
Knights stepped up to bat with their top of the order batter. An error in the
field cost a run as the second batter moved the runner home. A 3 base hit saw
the second run conceded before the 1 out of the innings. A 1 base
hit saw the runner on 3 come home. The 2 out came as
the batter grounded out to Chris on 3 base who threw to Glenn on 1
base. Two 1 base hits followed before the final out. 4 runs scored and Brigands
needed 6 to win.
Brigands also stepped up to the plate with their top of the
order batter and Adam didn’t disappoint to get on base. Tim, Paul and Mark all
followed and scored to tie the innings score at 4-4. 2 more runs required… John
stepped up and hit a solid drive only to be caught out by Knights’ left
fielder. 1 down. Chris stepped up and hit a single base hit. Glenn then
grounded out to short-stop who forced Chris out at 2 base but
couldn’t manage the double play. 2 down. Brigands hearts were in their mouths
as Hugo stepped up. A clean drive was met with a gasp of excitement but a fine
catch by the centre-left fielder ended Brigands’ dreams of a victory in the
final. Final score Knights 25 – Brigands 24.
Brigands showed a huge amount of spirit and the team ended
the day elated after a fine comeback. Knights’ captain complimented the
Brigands on their performance – the only team to score more than 6 runs against
them all weekend. Mike put in a fine pitching and batting performance and was
Brigands’ MVP for the final game. Rookie Chris was by far the most consistent
player in Brigands over the weekend and gets Brigands’ Tournament MVP award.
All I can say to conclude is watch out Knights… we’ll get you next year!
