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Tigers Tournament Reports 2013

Red Rose 1 day tournament

Opponent Score
Mayhem W. 18-5
Thunder W. 8-6
Sefton L. 9-10
Thunder (Final) L. 10-19

We had a successful day at the Red Rose tournament, finishing first in the round robin games before losing the final to a strong Thunder team. We had a comfortable win against an off colour Mayhem team in our first game, before upsetting Thunder in perhaps our best performance of the day in Game 2. Game 3 showed that we might have got a bit over confident, we never managed to put enough runs on the board against a strong hitting Sefton team, and despite being in front for most of the game they earned a well deserved win by scoring 7 in the bottom of the fifth (last) innings.

A 2 and 1 record was enough to put us in first place after the round robin, and give us home advantage in the final, where we faced Thunder for a second time. We took an early lead in that game, shutting out their heavy hitting line up for the first 3 innings, but they got on a roll in the 4th, batting round the order and posting 9 runs. They scored heavily again in the top of the fifth to take an imposing 16 - 3 lead. Whilst we did keep our heads up and rallied for 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth we never seriously looked like coming back into contention, and they ran out comfortable winners.

Home Run Heroes were was Ed, with 3, and Richard, who recorded 2 four baggers. Ed and Richard (both 800) also led the male OBP leader board. Kirsty and Chloe lead the way for the women (600), and both were hitting the ball hard. Fielding highlights included Sam, who gave us good pitching throughout the day, and Matt, who was was solid at short. Elsewhere Kirsty and Deb each looked good at first, and there was lots of other good work in all parts of the field. Our outfield work in particular is gradually improving, there were nice catches from several people and a general awareness of the importance of getting the ball back into the infield quickly and securely, there was even some backing up on view !

The day was not without it's casualties, Neil couldn't take the field for the last game because of back problems, and Anu turned her ankle running the bases, and we all wish both a speedy recovery.

MVPs

Ed Kirsty
Tigers

Manchester

Opponent Score
Mayhem L. 10-12
Thunder W. 16-4
Honey Badgers L. 6-8
Camels W. 10-9
Cougars W. 11-1
Buschini's L. 10-14
Demons W. 9-8
Dragons L. 3-8

We had a generally successful time at the Manchester tournament, finishing with a 4 and 4 record and put in some good performances even in the defeats. We started on a low note against Mayhem, gifting them a game we should have won, but things improved after that. After a routine win against a Thunder team that were less than the sum of their parts we put in one of our best performances of the weekend in a narrow (6-8) loss to the Honey Badgers. After a two hour gap we played well again, and got revenge for last week's league loss with a narrow win against the Camels. We finished the day with tea in the pub after another easy win against a very weak Cougars side.

We had another slow start on Sunday with a loss against Buschini's, we did bat well but the fielding was a bit wobbly. Next up were the Demons in a game were defence was on top throughout, we were 8 - 4 down in the last innings but their pitcher had a wobble and we showed commendable patience to put together a run of walks and hits that took us to the win. Victory put us in a semi final against a strong Dragons team. We didn't play badly but they hit really well and never really gave us a sniff, highlight of the game was an impressive performance by Chloe in the outfield, including took two fine catches.

Male batting leaders were Karl (882), Richard (875) and Dave (833), the female top 3 were Anu (600), Irene (438) and Becky (389). Home Run leader was Ed with 3 with Karl (2), Uric and Richard (1 each) also chipping in. In the field Sam put in sterling work at pitcher, Chloe got better and batter in the outfield, Irene looked good at both first and second, Dave enjoyed his one appearance at first and Karl and James both did good work at short stop. All the rookies got lots of useful experience and the whole team played well.

MVPs

Karl Irene
Tigers

Leeds

Opponent Score
Team 20 W. 12-4
Maidenhead L. 2-9
Dynamite W. 6-1
Meerkats W. 15-7
Cougars L.10-25
Pyros L. 6-8
Misfits L. 8-14

We had a successful Saturday at the Leeds tournament but found it tougher going against higher quality opposition on the Sunday, though we didn't let our heads drop and played hard throughout. On Saturday morning we started with a routine win against Team 20 before losing a hard fought game against Maidenhead where we looked good in the field but the batting struggled against some good pitching and excellent fielding on their part. In the afternoon we chalked up two more wins against Dynamite and a ringer heavy Meerkats team that seemed to be a lot less than the sum of its parts.

Sunday was tougher, we suffered a heavy loss first up to the Cougars, the one game over the weekend where heads did seem to drop, then in the trophy play offs we suffered a tight loss to the ever energetic Pyros before playing well in defeat to a very noisy Misfits team

Male batting leaders were Matt A.(909), Karl (875) and Matt H. (786), the female top 3 were Sarah N. (632), Sarah H. (455) and Emma (385). Home Run leaders were Karl and Richard (3 each) with Tony (2) and Uric (1) also chipping in.

In the field Karl led the team well on Saturday, Richard made some nice plays at third, and Sarah Newman looked excellent on second. Deb played well at both second and first and Emma also did well on one. Apart from the hiccup in the latter stages of the Cougars game we worked hard in the field as a team all weekend.

MVPs

Sam Sarah
Tigers at Leeds

Firstball

Opponent Score
Thunder L. 7-8
Hackers L. 10-11
Terriers L. 7-12
Mayhem L. 13-16
Phoenix W. 16-4
Camels W. 12-3
Dynamite L. 12-16

We used Firstball to get a bit of game time under our belts, blooding most of the many new players we had recruited over the winter and also getting most of the old lags back into the swing of things. The mixing and matching that ensued meant we creaked a bit defensively at times but overall our performances were very encouraging. We started well with a one run loss to Thunder, then suffered another one run loss in a game to the hackers that we seemed to have in the bag at one stage. Come the afternoon we wobbled a bit with a heavy loss to a Terriers side who had a bit too much class for us, followed by a run fest in which Mayhem came out on top.

On the Sunday we gelled a bit more as a team and recorded impressive victories against Phoenix and Camels before going down 16-12 to a strong Dynamite team in the quarter final.

There were lots of impressive individual performances over the weekend. Chloe, Steph and Deb headed the female batting chart with Lindsey also showing impressive power. No surprise at the top of the men's list with Sam closely followed by Richard being the top two, but new boy Peter stood out in third place. In the power stakes it was Ed and Richard leading the way with 3 homers each whilst Sam also got a four bagger.

In the field Emma did some stirling work at first, Deb looked good at both second and third and Chloe looked impressive when she played on Sunday. For the guys Sam pitched well, Matt A looked impressive on debut, and Ed's performance, particularly in the outfield, caught the eye.

Overall it was a very enjoyable weekend with lots of encouraging performances in addition to those mentioned above. By Sunday tea time it was very much mission accomplished with lots of players blooded, lots of experience gained and even a couple of wins to reflect on afterwards.

MVPs

Ed Emma
Tigers at Manchester Firstball