Earlier this month, the Alan Bloomfield Trophy – Over 45s Tournament was held at Farnham Park, where three drafted teams of veterans took to the diamond to battle for the coveted Over 45s championship.
Game 1 played out over five innings, with the Warriors taking on the Tigers. A Vytas Macenas home run in the third inning added to an already commanding lead for the Warriors, who went on to claim a 19–6 victory.
The Tigers had to regroup quickly for Game 2, where they faced the Braves. A Chris Chang home run helped bring in two fifth-inning runs, but it wasn’t enough to stop Braves pitcher Darrin Ward, who dominated on the mound as his team secured an 11-5 win.
Having both seen off the Tigers, the Braves and Warriors met in the third and final game of the tournament with the winner to be crowned the 2025 champions.
The game was a tight affair. The Braves took a 2–1 lead into the third inning. Despite adding an extra run to their tally, the Warriors came out of the inning with four runs of their own, giving them a two-run lead. The fourth and fifth innings were scoreless, meaning the Braves had to battle hard to regain the lead in the sixth and final inning and battle they did, plating five runs to take a three-run lead into the bottom of the inning.
The Warriors loaded the bases through a combination of errors and a hit-by-pitch, finding themselves just one run behind with two outs remaining. However, Braves pitcher Carus Velazco found his control when it mattered most, forcing a fly out before striking out the final Warriors batter to crown his team the Alan Bloomfield Trophy champions for 2025 with an 8-7 win.
The annual tournament for Over 45s is named in memory of former GB player Alan Bloomfield, who passed away in 2024.