The first day of a tournament is notoriously difficult, especially for a fairly inexperienced squad. A good first day can give a solid platform for the business end of the tournament on the Sunday. Everybody had a good day getting to know everybody else in the squad on the Friday and everybody was looking forward to get cracking with the Softball!

Saturday, July 7th

Game 1
Wildcats 13 – 18 Guernsey Development

Guernsey batted really well, especially in the second inning when they scored 13 runs racing into a 16-1 lead. This led to the umpires checking all of Guernsey’s bats again and this threw them off of the game slightly when Wildcats rallied to get right back into the game. Home Run for Jake Mahy.

Game 2
Guernsey Development 6 – 8 Game of Throws

Timed games meant that Guernsey unfortunately lost this game. Very tight contest throughout the whole game and after the 5th inning they were losing 8-6. In the 6th Guernsey managed to score 3 runs and when Wildcats scored another it was 9-9. Guernsey were 1 out away from a draw when ‘Ballgame’ got called due to going over the allowed time slot. Scores reverted to the previous completed inning. Home Run from Jake Mahy.

Game 3
Flycatchers 4 – 23 Guernsey Development

Only a 3 inning game due to Guernsey’s awesome batting! The 8 runs in the first and second innings followed by 7 in the 3rd did all of the damage for Guernsey. Flycatchers never really got into the swing of things and a tight field meant Guernsey only conceded 4 runs. None of the final 8 batters for Flycatchers managed to get on bag. 3 Home Runs from Josh Smith.

Game 4
Guernsey Development 23 – 1 Cardinals of Cardiff

Virtually a replica of the game before against Flycatchers, 8 runs in the first and second innings and 7 in the 3rd inning! Cardinals of Cardiff didn’t trouble the scorer until the 3rd inning when they scored their solo home run. Home Runs from Kirstie Marquis, Josh Smith & Jake Mahy.

Game 5
Victorious Secret 4 – 22 Guernsey Development

Game 5 was at the end of a very long, hot and sunny day and Victorious Secret were unbeaten until this point. They had also been drinking (not water) all day and weren’t really wanting to play. Guernsey capitalised on this with some awesome base hitting, scoring multiple runs in every inning. Then keeping a very tight field meant Guernsey ended with a great first days play. Home Run from Joe Mariess.

Sunday, July 8th

Going into Sunday Guernsey were joint 2nd in the table, having won 4 and lost 1 game. 1st place played the other 2nd place side on the first game on Sunday and where Guernsey could potentially finish in the table would become clearer after this.

Game 6
Guernsey Development 7 – 5 Grandslammers

Early start for Guernsey on the Sunday morning but they started spritely with 5 runs in the first inning. Grandslammers replied strongly in the 2nd inning with 5 runs of their own before Guernsey scored 2 more runs in the 3rd inning. This was enough to seal the win and get the day off to a cracking start. Home Run from Joe Mariess.

Game 7
Guernsey Development 31 – 0 TV Hurricanes

This was only a 2 inning game and Guernsey were on a high. With Jake Mahy only having to pitch to 8 batters it meant Guernsey spent most of the game with the bat in their hand. Excellent base hitting, consistently finding the gaps, along with a few errors in the field meant this game was done and dusted quite early on. 12 runs in the first inning and 19 in the second. Home Runs from Joe Mariess, Josh Smith and Alex Cramphorn.

Game 8
Coventry Blitz 10 -10 Guernsey Development

5 innings were played in this game. Coventry Blitz were 6-2 up after 2 innings but Guernsey kept scoring every inning to be 8-6 up after the 4th inning. Top of the 5th and Blitz scored 4 to retake the lead, but Guernsey’s consistent batting ensured they scored another 2 runs to tie the game. Tournament rules were not strictly followed here as Guernsey would have won if the game had stopped after 55 minutes on a count back to the previous inning.

After 8 Games Guernsey Development finished 1st of 10 teams. This meant 2 chances to make the final in a ‘Double Elimination’ style format.

Game 9 – Semi Final (1st v 2nd)
Guernsey Development 8 – 7 Wildcats

Another controversial game in which the ‘Timed Game’ rule decided the outcome. This time in Guernsey’s favour. This was a different Wildcats team to the side they had previously beaten, with some different players getting involved. Guernsey scored in every inning, bar one, and this again was a very solid performance in the field. After the 4th inning Guernsey were winning 8-7.
When the 5th inning started there was approximately 10 minutes remaining but when Wildcats scored 4 runs to take the lead Guernsey knew they had to bat out for 3 minutes to win the game. Guernsey’s first batter of the 5th inning was caught out and then 3 solid base hits from Hannah Machon, Jake Elmy & Jemma Wilson ensured Guernsey saw the time out to revert back to the 4th inning and win the game. Wildcats would go on to play against Victorious Secret to decide who would play Guernsey in the final.

Game 10 – The Final
Guernsey Development 15 – 4 Victorious Secret

Team Captain, Joe Mariess, finally won a coin toss and Guernsey ended up being the home team. A full 7 inning game with no time restrictions could have been the biggest challenge of the weekend. The starting team was announced and this was the coaches most difficult selection of the weekend. They promised everybody would get on and they lived up to that promise.

Jake Mahy pitched his 10th game of the weekend to Joelle Pengelley who was catching, with Jemma Wilson on 1st base, Joe Mariess on 2nd base, Josh Smith at Short Stop, Cody Gallienne on 3rd base, Kirstie Marquis, Jake Elmy, John Rihoy and Hannah Machon in the outfield.  Rob Priaulx & Chrissi McColl were Extra Batters, leaving Hannah Simon and Alex Cramphorn eager to come on!

In the first inning Guernsey managed to restrict Victorious Secret to 1 base runner, not getting any further than 1st base which gave Guernsey incredible confidence when they came up to bat. They scored 5 runs including a home run from lead-off John Rihoy as well as 2 home runs from Josh Smith (also scoring Kirstie Marquis) and Joe Mariess (also scoring Jemma Wilson).

Top of the second and Guernsey were 5-0 up. They again managed to hold Victorious Secret to no runs with nobody getting passed 2nd base! Rob Priaulx crossed the plate for Guernsey in the bottom of the second to give Guernsey a 6-0 lead.

Third inning and it was ‘3 up 3 down’ for Guernsey in the field; with the first 2 batters hitting to short stop and second base and both being thrown out on first with 2 great catches from Jemma Wilson. A great catch from Jake Elmy ended the inning. Guernsey went on to score 4 with Josh, Jemma, Joe & Jake Elmy crossing the plate.

Victorious Secret again failed to trouble the scorer in the forth inning when Jake Elmy took 2 catches at Centre Field and Jake Mahy claimed a Strikeout! One run for Guernsey in the bottom of the inning when Jemma hit another base hit to score Josh Smith.

Fifth inning and with Guernsey leading 11-0, Alex Cramphorn came on for the Development side. Chrissi & Rob took up their places in the field and this lead to a slight reshuffle of positions. Victorious Secret managed to score their first run of the game but more tight fielding restricted them to no more than that. Hannah Simon came on for the Guernsey side in the bottom of 5th and this inspired Jake Elmy to hit a home run to keep Guernsey’s runs ticking over every inning.

Top of 6, Guernsey leading 12 -1 and Victorious Secret finally found some form and scored 3 runs on base hits. Guernsey got out of the inning with another strikeout for pitcher Jake Mahy. Chrissi McColl, Alex Cramphorn & Josh Smith all scored for Guernsey in the bottom of the 6th inning in what would turn out to be Guernsey’s last bat of the tournament.

Final inning and Guernsey winning 15-4. Cody Gallienne & Jake Mahy both took infield catches and then the final play came straight back at Jake to throw the runner out on first base with yet another great catch by Jemma Wilson.

Great performances all round with both the bat and the glove. Official MVP’s for the final go to Jemma Wilson & Jake Elmy.

All in all a great weekend on the Diamond!

 

Bristol Main Tournament – July 7th & 8th, 2018