The third Summer Cup hit the heights as nearly 400 players, umpires and scorers descended on a sun kissed Farnham Park for a weekend of high quality baseball.
The 18 teams journeyed from across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland to fight it out for the Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies.
In a fantastically close and high quality Gold final, the Dublin Spartans edged out London Archers 8-7 while SWWBL took home the Silver trophy after beating Edinburgh Rays 11-5.
“It was an absolutely fantastic weekend and we all got to play a whole load of baseball,” said Charlie Capener, manager of the SWWBL Silver team. “Obviously winning the final was the icing on the cake but it was great to meet up with players from across the country and share our love of the sport.”
Gallery courtesy of C.J. Hancock / @shot.by.c.j
The Bronze final was won by the Fire Breathing Kittens who held on against the Nottingham Thieves to win 9-7. It was their first title after three years of trying.
As well as the team trophies and medals, each division had its own tournament MVP who each received a custom jersey courtesy of Nuola.
Gold – Michael Jacobs (Dublin Spartans)
Silver – Andres Bianco (SWWBL)
Bronze – Leonard Kung (Fire Breathing Kittens)
“It was a wonderful weekend of baseball which would not have been possible without the contributions by the players umpires, scorers and the groundskeeper,” said Richard Evans, the BBF President. “Each game was hard fought and the three finals lived up to their billing.”
Five teams made their Summer Cup debut. The London 45ers proved tough to beat in the Silver group while the GB Women Development team took part in the Bronze group and picked up a victory in their last game against Croydon Pirates.
In addition, the County Durham Spartans, Birmingham Bats and the Edinburgh Rays also made their debut at the tournament.
“It was a great experience and a very well organised tournament. We thoroughly enjoyed the competition over the two days. Everyone on our team had a great time and want to come back again,” said Vytas Macenas, the 45ers player/manager.
Scotland provided three teams for the tournament including the Werewolves, the Saltire Sluggers and the Edinburgh Rays.
“We’d like to extend a big thank you to the organisers for an amazing two days of baseball. The atmosphere was truly incredible,” said Luke Rajczuk from the Edinburgh Rays.