Loan Wolves 23 - 15 Ticklers
Over the Winter, the Loan Wolves decided to expand with the aim of playing teams in two leagues this year. The first team still in the Greater London softball Mixed League (GLSML), and the second in the less competitive Publishers' Softball League (PSL). At our latest AGM, I ended up becoming vice-captain of the PSL, somehow. My hustings speech was based on the fact that though I've never captained a sports team I have done so for quiz teams, and moreover I've seen many sports films in which a ragtag team of misfits and plucky no-hopers wins the championship...
Playing in different leagues rather than different divisions of th esame means that in theory players can turn out for either side depending on numbers available to play etc. Except this week and next. Where the two matches are on the same night. Things were pretty tight, but we managed to get just enough players out for both sides.
I now have a job at Regent's College, which is fortunately not far from Primrose Hill where all the PSL matches are scheduled. So I finished work, changed into softball gear and trekked off to the pitch. Primrose Hill is - unsurprisingly - hilly, with sloping pitches lined up so that the setting sun is full in the batter's eyes. We've played there before occasionally, but we are yet to get used to it as a regular venue. This was the start of our learning experience.
New PSL captain Alex had carefully reviewed the players available to him and chosen as strong and balanced a side as possible. We had a mix of experienced and novice players, no knowledge of the opposition, and no expectations as to how the game would go. We warmed up with throwing drills, and impressed the opposition with our orange team strip and matching rain jackets.
As home side, we had the advantage of batting second. We made a decent enough showing in the field in our first inning, and did well with the bat. We kept the lead throughout, with Kate's pitching at the heart of our defence and some good base running - new players Doug and Holly deserve a mention for the good sense they showed at bat. One unfortunate effect of the minimal number of players was that as a team we didn't always manage to sort out our base coaching. Tzippy fell victim to this when she was tagged out running from Third. We're sorry, Tzippy.
The sloping pitch means balls can run away in the outfield. The opposition, perhaps due to more experience of the ground, did better than we did at stopping these getting away from them. It also means that the pitcher has to pitch uphill, which is tricky and also wearying. Poor Kate was bushed from running up that hill all evening. But she kept it together, pitching more consistently than her counterpart from the Ticklers.
We did make some fielding errors, not all of which were down to people playing in unfamiliar positions. However, we kept our cool and maintained pressure on the opposition. The evil setting sun went behind clouds, and the skies started to darken. At the top of the Fifth, we were (I think) 17-9 up. Hold their score down, keep the lead, the game couldn't last more than another inning due to light.
In that fifth inning, the Ticklers brought some pressure back to bear on us. Two great hits put seven runners round. One of these was worth mentioning - a powerful hit to rightfield. We probably weren't alone in weighting our outfield to leftfield, with that aforementioned slope carrying hits further there. A player able to hit really well to rightfield can capitalise on that.
We didn't panic, though, and kept the lead. We asked the Ticklers if they were willing to call it a ballgame as darkness was descending and they were behind with us to bat, but they wanted to play on. So we took our Fifth inning in the gloaming, resulting in an increased lead. At this point it was getting on for nine o'clock and another innings wouldn't have been playable, so it ended there with us logging our first victory for the fledgling PSL side. A call to Finsbury Park revealed that the other Loan Wolves side had also won, a narrow victory against Raiders Orange.
So even though we were stretched to get a team out we posted a credible win, gave new players (and returning players in new positions) some experience and had fun. As good a start to the season as could be hoped for.
For myself, I got to play at First. Made one out there. Struck out at my first at-bat, which wasn't so great. But made first run of the season later. And have a 100% record as vice-captain. "I promise you victory, I promise you good times...".
Playing in different leagues rather than different divisions of th esame means that in theory players can turn out for either side depending on numbers available to play etc. Except this week and next. Where the two matches are on the same night. Things were pretty tight, but we managed to get just enough players out for both sides.
I now have a job at Regent's College, which is fortunately not far from Primrose Hill where all the PSL matches are scheduled. So I finished work, changed into softball gear and trekked off to the pitch. Primrose Hill is - unsurprisingly - hilly, with sloping pitches lined up so that the setting sun is full in the batter's eyes. We've played there before occasionally, but we are yet to get used to it as a regular venue. This was the start of our learning experience.
New PSL captain Alex had carefully reviewed the players available to him and chosen as strong and balanced a side as possible. We had a mix of experienced and novice players, no knowledge of the opposition, and no expectations as to how the game would go. We warmed up with throwing drills, and impressed the opposition with our orange team strip and matching rain jackets.
As home side, we had the advantage of batting second. We made a decent enough showing in the field in our first inning, and did well with the bat. We kept the lead throughout, with Kate's pitching at the heart of our defence and some good base running - new players Doug and Holly deserve a mention for the good sense they showed at bat. One unfortunate effect of the minimal number of players was that as a team we didn't always manage to sort out our base coaching. Tzippy fell victim to this when she was tagged out running from Third. We're sorry, Tzippy.
The sloping pitch means balls can run away in the outfield. The opposition, perhaps due to more experience of the ground, did better than we did at stopping these getting away from them. It also means that the pitcher has to pitch uphill, which is tricky and also wearying. Poor Kate was bushed from running up that hill all evening. But she kept it together, pitching more consistently than her counterpart from the Ticklers.
We did make some fielding errors, not all of which were down to people playing in unfamiliar positions. However, we kept our cool and maintained pressure on the opposition. The evil setting sun went behind clouds, and the skies started to darken. At the top of the Fifth, we were (I think) 17-9 up. Hold their score down, keep the lead, the game couldn't last more than another inning due to light.
In that fifth inning, the Ticklers brought some pressure back to bear on us. Two great hits put seven runners round. One of these was worth mentioning - a powerful hit to rightfield. We probably weren't alone in weighting our outfield to leftfield, with that aforementioned slope carrying hits further there. A player able to hit really well to rightfield can capitalise on that.
We didn't panic, though, and kept the lead. We asked the Ticklers if they were willing to call it a ballgame as darkness was descending and they were behind with us to bat, but they wanted to play on. So we took our Fifth inning in the gloaming, resulting in an increased lead. At this point it was getting on for nine o'clock and another innings wouldn't have been playable, so it ended there with us logging our first victory for the fledgling PSL side. A call to Finsbury Park revealed that the other Loan Wolves side had also won, a narrow victory against Raiders Orange.
So even though we were stretched to get a team out we posted a credible win, gave new players (and returning players in new positions) some experience and had fun. As good a start to the season as could be hoped for.
For myself, I got to play at First. Made one out there. Struck out at my first at-bat, which wasn't so great. But made first run of the season later. And have a 100% record as vice-captain. "I promise you victory, I promise you good times...".