The 2022 British Softball Federation Single-Sex Slowpitch National Championships were played on the mostly sunny weekend of 25-26 June by 24 teams on six pitches at the Somerdale Pavilion in Keynsham, near Bristol.
Tournament format
Ten men’s teams took part, with five in the Comp Division and five in the Rec Division. After each group played a double round-robin, the top two teams in each group met in the final – a Gold final for the Comp group and a Silver final for the Rec group.
There were 14 teams in the women’s tournament, but 10 of them entered as Comp teams. So the teams were divided into two round-robin groups of seven, with the Rec teams benefitting from a five-run scoring limit per inning when a Comp team played a Rec team.
After each group played a single round-robin, the top two teams in each group went to Platinum playoffs, the next two teams in each group to Gold playoffs and the bottom three teams in each group to Silver playoffs.
Tournament results
The results of the finals in all these competitions were as follows:
WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT
Platinum Final:
No Balls 13, Manchester Minx 6
Gold Final:
Wetcox 14, Bristol Bluebirds 8
Silver Final:
Pitchslap 22, Bristol Brigands 21
In the Women’s Platinum final, Manchester Minx pitcher Tanya Basu pitched well, but No Balls were still able to punch too many holes in the Minx defense.
MEN’S TOURNAMENT
Gold (Comp) Final:
Pyros 18, Godzillas 9
Silver (Rec) Final:
Bristol Beerly Legal 37, Cardiff Softball 10
In the Men’s Silver final, Cardiff Softball had high hopes of a win against Bristol Beerly Legal, having beaten them earlier in the day. But when it counted, Cardiff were no match for the youthful persistence of Beerly Legal, who consistently found both gaps and the fence.