Twenty teams -- nine men's teams and 11 women's teams -- took part in the BSF's 2023 Single-Sex Slowpitch National Championship on the weekend of 10-11 June in Manchester, with four titles up for grabs.
Round-robins -- in three cases double round-robins -- were followed by semi-finals and finals to determine the winners. Interestingly, none of the four title-winning teams finished first in their round-robin standings, and one of the four title-winners finished last!
Men's Comp
Five teams competed in the Men's Comp division and Latinos finished first in the double round-robin standings.
But the title was won by the US military team Guzzlers, who beat Latinos by four runs in the Men's Gold final.
Men's Rec
In the Men's Rec division, the Royals from the East Midlands won just a single game in their double round-robin and finished dead last in the standings.
But the Royals came alive during the playoffs, defeating round-robin winners Scorchers by 13-9 in one-semi-final, then going on to beat Cardiff by 17-10 in the Men's Silver final.
The Royals' youngest player, 14-year-old Zach Gaunt, took home his first tournament winner's medal.
Women's Comp
Seven teams entered the Women's Comp division, and these teams played a single round-robin, which was won the the Blitzches.
But when it came to the semi-finals, the Blitzches went down 15-7 to the Topcats, Chaos just edged out the Travelling Dodgerettesd 15-14, and then Chaos prevailed over Topcats in the Women's Gold final.
Women's Rec
Four teams entered the Women's Rec division, with the United Nations team from the East Midlands topping the table.
But once again, round-robin performance didn't hold up in the playoffs. United Nations squeezed out the Liverbirds 10-9 in one semi-final while Cardiff defeated the Bluebirds 14-6. But in a thrilling Women's Silver final, the Cardiff Women, shown below with the Cardiff Men's Team, held on for a 19-18 win over United Nations.
