E-mail:
softballers@ascotblues.com
New Decade - New Committee
The
committee remains much the same as last year, so I would just like
to extend my thanks to those members for all their hard work last
year, and their ongoing commitment to the successful running of the
club.
There are a few vacancies which need to be filled but one in
particular almost immediately - 'Tournaments Officer' . Myself and
Sahan filled this role last year but we need to have a dedicated
person to do this. I'm sure you'll appreciate this needs to be
filled asap as tournaments are already taking entries. No
tournaments officer = no tournaments. Please let me know if you
want more info on this or any other role and are interested.
Other vacant positions are:
1. Vice Chairman (mainly shadow the chair with a view to take over
in the future)
2. Recruitment Officer
3. Tournaments Officer
So that's it for the club committee, however there are still a few
League Committee positions vacant which urgently need to be filled:
1. Secretary
2. Tournaments Officer ( responsible for organising 1st ball,
WIT, and a potential Last Ball. If this position isn't filled soon,
these tournaments will be canned)
Thanks
Neena
Indoor league Continues
Following the success of the 'autumn' league, another indoor softball league will start on Tuesday 12th January and run for 8 weeks. Games are held at the Herschel Grammar School in Slough at times between 8.30 and 10.30pm. The Ascot team competed well in the last league and so we've decided to enter a team again (numbers permitting) - I think all involved last time would agree its just for fun and is a nice way of keeping up your softball skills in the winter!
Diamond Series Champions
WIT Report
Congratulations to all those players (Ascot plus guests!) who played
in the Windsor Invitational Tournament (WIT) on 18th – 19th July.
The Ascot Blue Sox came a respectable 10th in the B grade
competition, in their debut tournament at that level. Many thanks to
Gary for stepping in at the last minute and managing not to break
himself all weekend! Impressive team performances early on ensured
victory against Creamers (16-6) and Common People (20-1) but close
games were lost games against the Muppets (7-6) and Raiders (14-12)
to contribute to a narrow losing record of 3-4 at the end of
Saturday. Early morning sleepiness and headaches resulted in a
Sunday morning loss to Guppies (9-5) but we recovered in style to
beat local rivals Wildcats 22-9. Victories in the quarter- and
semi-finals against Chalfont and Chargers put the Sox in the plate
final where we again met the Guppies. Sadly energy levels had
drooped and the game was ended early on a mercy rule, 17-2. Still,
it was a great performance over the weekend which all should be
proud of! Highlights include a star performance from Robbie (guesting
from the Zambezi Warriors) which included 4 homeruns in 4 at-bats
against Creamers; Dora’s ‘proper’ homerun against Marlay SC, and
Jojo’s throw to the invisible man at third against Chalfont…
Meanwhile, in the C grade competition the Ascot Blue Jays did well
to be in the Plate competition at the end of Saturday, as a result
of Ian’s spectacular grandslam against Squares which ensured victory
by a single run, running out 8-7 winners. Other results from the
Saturday include a narrow loss to Flatpackers (7-5) , and losses
against Glandslammers (15-3) and Raiders (15-0). Sadly, results
continued on Sunday despite Tom’s impressive contribution (despite
wetting himself LOL), with the Jays struggling to score in two of
the four games (Scorpions 15-0, Devil Strays 15-0, Usual Suspects
11-4 and Flatpackers 9-7). Well done to Dallas for catching
everything which came her way on Saturday and to Liz for a superb
double play (tag and throw to 1st) against Scorpions from 2nd base.
Indeed, everyone should be proud of themselves, we came up against
some very good – top end – C grade teams. For many of the team this
was their first full tournament ‘experience’, so we hope it will be
the first of many! Thanks also to Kate, Steve Caroline, Stella,
Clare and Martin, our valuable guest players.
Diamond Series 1 Champions
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!
Indoor Champions
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
Free Umpire Training Course 2009
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.
League Victory
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.
Last Ball Victory
We finally got our first tournament win in the very last one of the season. Congratulation to all who took part.
Other interesting news and weather
Outdoor Training
Will restart April @ Locks Ride