Tigers Tournament Reports 2012

Leicester

We put in a more than creditable performance at the East Midlands Labor Day tournament despite finding ourselves amongst the big boys in the Comp half of the tournament. We didn't let that overawe us and kept our shape as a team even when luck wasn't running our way. We only won one game over the weekend, getting revenge over the Pyros for their victory at Leeds, but were competitive in nearly all the others and with a bit more experience could have had 3 more wins.

We started with a close game against the Finsbury Dazzlers, though both the score and the game ran away from us in the last innings, then were only one timely hit away from a win against Abaci in the second game. The final two games on Saturday were one sided but we didn't let our heads drop against the Exiles (spot the A comp players) and Bobcats and kept plugging away to the end. First thing Sunday, in our last game of the first rotation, we could and perhaps should have won the game against the East Midlands Tigers.

In the second rotation we lost a close game against Rhythm, chalked up a convincing win against the Pyros, and then finished with a good performance against a Royals team who in the end just had a bit more experience and power than we did.

Batting stand outs were Dave E. and Beth with Steve, Kirsty and Becky also putting in notable performances. James and Ed also put up decent numbers and Emma got on base at a decent pace. Ed was the Home Run King with three, and Sam, Dave E and Steve got one apiece. In the field Kirsty and Emma both made light of their lack of experience at first. All the outfielders worked hard all weekend against some heavy hitting teams, in particular Sharon made a couple of spectacular takes and Beth also made some nice catches. James did an effective job at short with Sharon and Beth both doing good work at second and Sam doing well at both short and third when asked. Sam, Steve and Dave shared the pitching and all three performed effectively over the weekend.

Special thanks to Steve for playing with us, and last but not least Angie who made her softball debut on her 60th birthday on the Saturday and didn't let anyone down over the weekend.

MVP (M) Dave E MVP (F) Beth

V's	Score	F MVP	M MVP
Dazzlers	7-15	Beth	Ed
Abaci	8-9	Emma	Dave E
Exiles	3-20	Sharon	James
Bobcats	2-16	Beth	Dave W
EMSL Tigers	(12 RB) 8-11	Kirsty	Sam
Rhythm	6-9	Kirsty	Ed
Pyros	10-2	Becky	Dave E
Royals	3-9	Sharon	Dave E

Manchester

We performed well at the Manchester tournament, attaining mid table respectability in both our sets of round robin games. In the initial group we finished 3rd out of 5 teams, with wins against Cougars and Phoenix followed by more than respectable performances in defeat to the Bats and Bobcats. Our 50% record put us into the Trophy where we recorded another 50% record with a win against the Chargers, tie with the Dragons and loss to Thunder. We then lost a tight placing game to the Demons, a game we should perhaps have won. Even in defeat though it was useful experience, giving us a chance to give a few people a run out in new fielding positions.

Batting heroes over the weekend were Tony (.824), Sharon (.750) and Dave W. (.700). Richard was the Home Run king with two, including a Grand Slam that nailed down the win against the Chargers. Ellie had some impressive hits, with Chloe also getting on base at a respectable rate. Becky put in an encouraging performance on her team debut, making good solid contact with the ball. Sam impressed at bat and in the field and Dave E also looked good. James was his normal impressive self at short stop. Neil had his weekend cut short by injury but looked good in the one game he did play.

MVP (M) Richard MVP (F) Sharon

Leeds

Definitely a tournament of two halves. On the Saturday we competed well in a strong group, getting a well deserved win against the Cougars and put in good performances in the other games. On the Sunday the bats mysteriously fell silent and we failed to score enough runs to give ourself a chance in either of our first two games before just coming up short in a well played finale against the Highland Chargers. Heroine of the weekend was Sharon who played really well on 2nd and hit the ball really hard, getting better with every performance. Richard topped the batting stats and Ed also gave the ball some tap, especially on Saturday and took some good catches in the outfield. With James ill on the Saturday Mayhem guest Steve filled in manfully at short stop and played well throughout. Thanks to Steve and all the rest of the Mayhem contingent, it was a pleasure to have you as part of the team.

MVP (M) Ed MVP (F) Sharon

MSL Firstball

We had a very successful time at Firstball, ending up with a final record of Won 5, Lost 2, and tied 1. We started out in fine style with a comfortable win over the Clangers followed by perhaps our best performance of the weekend, a low scoring victory against a Sheriffs side who could get on base but didn't convert their opportunities.

Saturday afternoon saw a change in the weather and a change in fortunes as we lost consecutive games against Terriers and Raiders. Even in those games we kept our shape defensively and fought hard all the way. Our last game of the day was a see saw affair against Thunder II, Thunder were 9-3 up at one stage whilst we also had the opportunity to win it at the end but failed to score in the bottom of the last innings.

Our first two game on Sunday were both tight affairs, firstly against the Bats, a game we edged 10-9, followed by perhaps our worst performance of the weekend, some defensive miscues and unlucky bounces in the infield meaning we just scraped a 9-7 win against the Hackers.

Our last game was a placing game against Dynamite which turned into a bit of a laugher, 10 runs in the top of the 2nd meant that we strolled to a 19-3 win.

Highlights of the weekend were an impressive first day of Softball from Andrew, good pitching and powerful batting from Tony, and an excellent display at bat and in the field from Nancy.

Thanks to all the guests, especially Nancy, Helen, Jackie, Mikela and Natalie for their efforts over the weekend. The only down side was our customary collection of injuries with Carolyn, Uma and Sarah all possibly trying to return too soon, and Aimee suffering a bizarre leg injury whilst not involved in the play late on Saturday. Andrew was also unable to play on Sunday and Steve struggled with back problems throughout the weekend.

On the Stats side Richard was Home Run King with 4, with Tony (2), Sam (1) and Ed (1) also hitting four-baggers. King of the percentages was Andrew (.727) closely followed by James (.647) with Sharon leading the way for the women with a .611 mark. Another statistic of note was that 14 different women played for the team at some point over the weekend, surely some kind of record ?

MVP (M): Tony MVP (F): Nancy

Clangers	W	10-6
Sheriffs	W	5-3
Terriers	L	2-10
Raiders	L	6-16
Thunder II	T	9-9
Bats	W	10-9
Hackers	W	9-7
Dynamite	W	19-3