Review of the 2023 season
What a year 2023 has been for British baseball.
GB Baseball have just won the silver medal at the WBSC European championship after reaching the final for the first time since 2007.
Despite the defeat by Spain in the final, the team did the whole country proud and rounded off the national teams season in style.
Nobody can forget the excitement of GB Baseball taking part in the World Baseball Classic for the first time.
Drawn in a group with USA, Canada, Colombia and Mexico, the team produced the greatest of displays to beat Colombia 7-5 and secure automatic qualification for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
GB Baseball is now in the top 20 in the world.
You can relive the 2023 World Baseball Classic here
The GB Under 23s also made the baseball world sit up and take notice as they qualified for the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup in 2024 by taking the silver medal at the European Championships
Photo courtesy of Paul Stodart
In Italy, GB Blind Baseball claimed the bronze medal in the WBSC European Championships at the beginning of October to round off a successful season which saw more clubs being formed across the country.
THE DOMESTIC SEASON
The dust has settled on the domestic 2023 season after a final weekend of baseball with Belles Baseball being crowned women’s champions for the second time in three years after defeating Telford 26ers in the final.
Photo : Jody Davies Photography
NATIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE
The London Mets finished top in the NBL standings with a 20-3 win loss record, only losing to the Essex Arrows, who finished second in the league, and the London Capitals.
Action from the Mets v Capitals BBF NBL final (Jody Davies Photography)
These three dominated the season with the Sheffield Bruins, Herts Falcons and East London Latin Boys finding it hard to keep pace with them.
The top four moved into the playoffs with the Mets shutting out the Bruins 11-0 while the Capitals produced a minor surprise by beating the Arrows 7-5 after they came back with three runs in the top of the seventh inning.
The three match final went to the wire. The Capitals launched a customary late inning surge to take the first game 5-3 but the Mets regained their composure to win the two Sunday games 14-0 and 5-0.
TRIPLE A
Eight teams competed in the AAA Division this year with the fight for a play off spot going down to the last weekend when the Herts Cardinals beat the Bristol Badgers to claim the last play off spot.
Eventual winners, the Bournemouth Bears finished top with a 19-6 record just half a game ahead of the Richmond Knights.
The semi finals produced some great baseball with fourth place London Metros scoring three late runs to beat the Knights.
The Bears also mounted a late comeback with five runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Herts Cardinals 9-5.
Bournemouth Bears celebrate their BBF AAA title
The final itself was even more thrilling as the Metros surged to 6-0 after the second inning. They were not to score again as Jose Lopez went the distance with 10 strikeouts over his nine innings pitched to claim the MVP award.
DOUBLE A
The AA Division consisted of 21 teams spread over four divisions. The London Sidewinders topped the South division with an impressive 20-5 record while the Richmond Dragons finished top of the South and South West Division with a 15-5 record.
Hurricanes Baseball, who went on to win the title topped the South East division going 15-3.
The Central and East division ended in a tie between Cambridge Lancers and Norwich Iceni who both finished with a 15-4 record. Iceni went into the playoffs based on the head to head record.
The semi finals saw the Sidewinders put Iceni to the sword in a 17-2 walkover win while the Hurricanes overcame the Dragons 16-13 after a nine run blast in the seventh inning.
The Hurricanes Max Goodsell (right) was the MVP in the BBF AA final
The final was a thriller which saw the Hurricanes win 10-8, scoring six runs in the last two innings to secure the trophy despite committing six errors.
SINGLE A
There were 25 teams contesting the Single A division across five divisions. Cardiff Merlins I beat Taunton Muskets in the final of the South West & Wales Baseball League (SWWBL) after claiming the Severn Division title with a 22-2 record.
The Muskets had finished second in the Wessex Division but beat Weston Jets in the divisional final.
Tonbridge Bobcats claimed the South East division with a 21-2 record while Herts Ravens and London Mustangs took the honours in South Central B and South Central A.
The Cambridge Royals won the East of England Single A division and faced Herts Ravens in the wildcard going down 18-1 at Basing Hill Ballpark.
Cardiff Merlins defeated the Herts Ravens 12-2 in the BBF A semi finals before shutting out the London Mustangs to take the title
The Ravens then travelled to Cardiff but suffered a 12-2 loss while the Mustangs strolled past the Bobcats winning the second semi-final 13-2.
Despite the anticipation of close, hard fought Single A final, the Merlins shut out the Mustangs 10-0 to claim the title. Pitcher Saliya Wijesinghe claimed the MVP award, striking out 10 Mustangs over his six innings pitched.
WOMEN’S BASEBALL LEAGUE
The 2023 teams were divided into the North and South Divisions. Belles Baseball were undefeated as they overcame London Mayhem and Bristol Bobcats to seize the South title.
In the North reigning champions, the Sheffield Bruins were also undefeated but due to player availability, their place in the final was taken by the Telford 26ers.
Belles Baseball proved too strong for the Telford 26ers in the final winning 13-3. Oona Ylinen claimed the MVP title, striking out six 26ers over her four innings pitched.
London Mayhem secured 3rd place beating the Leicester Diamonds 12-10
BBL HIGHER
Liverpool Trojans Navy clinched the BBL Upper title after defeating the Trojans Army side 2-1 in a best of three series, after losing the first game.
The Army defeated Manchester A’s 8-3 in the playoff game before facing up to a Navy side who finished top in the regular season with a 21-4 record.
BBL LOWER
Leeds Locos claimed the BBL Lower title with a 15-5 victory over the Wragby Warhammers in the final. The Locos had finished the regular season with a 16-4 record, one game ahead of the Warhammers.
EAST OF ENGLAND
The Cambridge Royals finished top in the EEBL with a 15-9 record, just one game ahead of the Norwich Warriors. The league was well contested with four of the five teams finishing within 2.5 games of the champion Royals.
NORTH EAST BASEBALL LEAGUE
The fledgling NEBL proved a great success with five teams taking part. The Newcastle Nighthawk Tallons beat the Nighthawk Wings 14-10 in the final.
YOUTH NATIONAL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The YNBCs took place at Farnham Park on the final weekend of the season with LYBL taking home all the age group trophies.
U10 coach pitch champions = LYBL
U12 champions = LYBL
U15 champions = LYBL
U18 champions = LYBL
THE SUMMER CUP
This inaugural two-day tournament featured 24 teams from across the UK divided into Gold, Silver and Bronze groups. Teams included Baseball Scotland and Baseball Ireland as well as teams from the SWWBL, the EEBL, the WMBL, Universities and Liverpool.
Despite the Saturday being badly affected by rain, the tournament was a great success with over 300 players descending on Farnham Park for the weekend.
The three finals were all closely fought with London Mets Bronze beating the SWWBL team 8-7. The impressive Long Eaton Storm took the Silver title beating Norwich Iceni 6-3, while London Mets Gold came back late to beat Essex Baseball Club 3-2 to take Gold.
OVER 45s and 16-23 TOURNAMENTS
The final weekend of the season introduced two new tournaments for players aged 16-23 and those over 45.
Well over 60 players took part across the two competitions with the Orioles claiming the 16-23 age group title and the Zacharys going undefeated in the Over 45s.
Plans are in hand to make these annual fixtures in the schedule.
ROLL OF HONOUR 2023
WBSC European Championships Silver Medal - Great Britain
WBSC European U23s Championship Silver Medal - Great Britain
NBL Champions - London Mets
AAA Champions - Bournemouth Bears
AA Champions - Hurricanes Baseball
A Champions - Cardiff Merlins I
WBL Champions - Belles Baseball
BBL Upper Champions - Liverpool Trojans Navy
BBL Lower Champions - Leeds Locos
South West and Wales Baseball League Champions - Cardiff Merlins I
East of England Baseball League Champions - Cambridge Royals
North East Baseball League Champions - Newcastle Nighthawk Tallons
Full tables, stats and results can be found here https://stats.britishbaseball.org.uk/en/calendar
A big thank you goes to those volunteers - umpires, scorers, ground staff, coaches and supporters - across the country who played a vital part in making sure the season was a success.
