E-mail:
softballers@ascotblues.com
Saturday:
Excited by the first tournament of the season and most of the team
wearing the new kit, Ascot got off to a good start beating our
league rivals Chalfont Phoenix (8-3). This was followed by victories
against Oxford Spirit (12-7) and Meteors 3 (16-11). Only defeat for
the weekend was against Tainted Glove (4-6). True charter of a good
team is the reaction to a defeat and Ascot was focused and efficient
in beating Voodoos (18-1), perfect finish to a lovely day of
Softball.
Sunday:
After a crucial extra hour of sleep and inspired by the sunshine of
a beautiful Sunday morning, Ascot was once again firing on all
cylinders… carrying the momentum into the final two games of the
group stages beating Raiders Blue (19-1) and
Solent C (19-2).
Semi finals:
As group winners Ascot were up against the 2nd team from group B,
our friends RP Falcons. As usual the game started with lots of
banter but the girls and boys of Ascot were focused enough to be
runaway winners (19-2).
Final:
There were some grumbles from the opposition (well 2 players)
regarding an extra hitter we had brought in but we prevailed. Ascot
rose to the occasion and sailed past Oxford Spirit to win the C
grade final (19-3), WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!
Highlights of the tournament:
1. Sahan doing his best to throw the game against Meteors, and rest
of the team digging in to make up for those errors!
2. Jo getting strikeout! Never mind it happens to all of us at some
point… well not watching ;)
3. Dora, simply awesome! Nothing getting past in the fielding.
Female MVP, well-done girl.
4. Double plays by Jeff and Liam.
5. We were all like machines (with some minor bugs still to be
ironed out), doing the right thing at the right time. Hitting 134
runs in only 9 games, awesome.
Big thank you to all our guest players Robyn, Sally, Emma, Sarah,
Ruth, Pat and Nicky, without you we weren’t a team. Thank you!
Ascot Blues Softball Club are champions of the
Windsor & Maidenhead Indoor Softball League. On Tuesday evening the
Blues had two convincing wins to take the title. Chalfont Park were
easily beaten 80-54, with Ascot batters opening up a big lead in the
first innings. Some lax fielding by Ascot in the second let Chalfont
back into the match, but they never really troubled the Blues' lead.
The second evening match was against a strong Thames Valley 'A', who
by the end of the first innings had a big lead over the Blues. In
the second innings, Ascot managed to regain their form with the bat
and rapidly piled up the runs. With some sharp fielding, Thames
Valley only added a few more runs to their first innings score.
Ascot nudged the victory 58-50, and with it secured their top place
in the League.
The win sets up the Blues for their full, outdoor season, which
starts in April. Matches are held at Ascot's home ground in Locks
Ride, North Ascot.
New players of all abilities are welcome: men and women, aged 16+.
The Club has two teams in the Windsor & Maidenhead League, which
plays competitive matches throughout the area.
For more details email softballers@ascotblues.com
The umpiring training course for the 2009 season is to be held at Chalfont on the first 3 Wednesdays in March: 4, 11, 18, starting at 8:00pm. The BASU test will be offered at the end of the course. This is an excellent opportunity to become an umpire, or just get to know the rules better.
This year the league is paying the fee, so there will be no cost to
clubs or individuals. Hope to see you all there.
If you have any questions, please either email
Brian
at bmoores@netsuite.com,
or ring him on 07775 660942.
A big shout out to all Blues players for winning the league, after 4 years of coming second it was about time that Ascot finished top.
So lets look forward to competing in Division one next year.
Also remember that to book the first/second weekend in September because we will be off to the Nationals again next year, with our automatic entry for winning the division.
We finally got our first tournament win in the very last one of the season. Congratulation to all who took part.

next training session is on Monday night from 6:30pm @ Locks Ride