Jersey Softball Association > Beans Away

Bean’s completely blow away opponents to claim title!
The Jersey softball team Bean Machine travel to the UK to compete in the Bristol Recreational softball tournament, laying to waste all their opposition and winning the D competition title very convincingly.

The tournament was held over two days at Clifton College’ sports grounds, with 32 two teams participating in two competitions, C and D, each of which is further split into two pools. The round robin stage sees each team play all the other teams in their pool, after which the teams finishing highest go on to play in the cup competition and the lower teams the plate competition. Quarter finals, semi finals and a grand final then decide the victors in each division.

Bean Machine made an excellent start to the tournament dismissing the Oxford Green Sox 14-1 and showing a great defence and good solid batting, putting in two very solid innings at the start to establish their dominance. The first home run of the campaign was scored by Peter Warrell (Kong).

In the second game against Nottingham’s Redbacks, Bean Machine proved overwhelmingly strong for the Redbacks and took the game 20-2. A fine first innings saw 6 runs scored, but in the fourth they batted right through the order to score a massive 10 runs in that inning. Fine performances from Sean Billson (Lord Biltong) at Short Stop, Tim Jones (Maestro) as Pitcher, Lindsay Miller (Stripes) at first base and Kerry-Anne Laffoley (Detox) at second base between them accounted for virtually all the Redbacks outs.

The next match saw the Machine pitted against Cheltenham All Spas, a team that they had met in the 2007 quarter final and only narrowly beaten. The Spa’s did provide more resistance than the first two opponents, but were always chasing the game after a strong first batting inning from Bean Machine who ran out deserved 20-10 winners in the end. Robin Tadier (Bullitt) played a tight game with the bat, making the pitcher work hard and never getting out. Three home runs from three ‘at bats’ from Matthew Satchell (Big Duck) saw him voted as the male MVP.

For the fourth group match Bean Machine faced the imaginatively named Multiple Scorgasms. At this point the weather had worsened and rain made the pitch a difficult prospect to deal with and grip levels worsen - at one stage resulting in a batter losing his grip on his bat and it flew out of his hands! The Beans raised their game immensely though and proved way too strong again, taking the game 21-5 with a total of 7 home runs scored. Nikki Billson (Mona Lisa), playing catcher for the Beans, had a good game taking several outs, as did Helen Holmes (Funny Face) batting strongly and not getting out. Paul Wilkinson (Tackleberry) also had a good game, handling everything coming his way at Left Field and getting a pair of home runs too.

The final game of Saturday saw the team meet an old foe in the form of the Hurlsey Hurricanes who had beaten Bean Machine in the 2007 tournament - a fact that created a great deal of speculation within the Beans. After a scoreless first inning, the Beans started kicking dirt into the eye of the storm and whipped in 8 runs in the second. The Hurricanes responded in the third with their only two runs of the game and from then on it was all Beans Beans Beans as they put in their best batting performance so far. The final score was a very satisfying 24-2, with Beans pitcher Tim Jones (Maestro) having a superb game with several strikeouts and plenty of assists plus Cherie Le Maistre (Wild Thing,) Claire Malzard (Tigger) and Steve Le Monnier (Slim) having an outstanding game with the bat with some good solid hitting.

After winning all their first 5 group games, Bean Machine had 2 more group games to play on Sunday morning. The first of these was against the Cheekly Monkeys, a team that Bean Machine had faced and defeated in the group stages last year. This year was no different, and although the Monkeys got two runs in the first inning that was all they ever scored with the Beans taking an 18-2 win. Beans pitcher Franck Matthews (Gazelle) had a good game for Beans taking a couple of good catches, as did Amanda Kelly (Splits) being a very safe glove on first base.

The last group game saw the team face Friendly Fire, another team that had defeated Bean Machine previously. However, this year Bean Machine was playing a lot more fluidly and extinguished the Fire with a torrent of runs and the defensive play blowing out the flames usually before they could even get on base, eventually taking the game 20-2. Beans' Micky Gosselin (Daisy Duke) had a tight tactical game with the bat, and Ricardo Pedro (eXocet) had a good game scoring 3 of the Beans 20 runs and only just missing out on a fourth in the last.

A 100% record of seven wins out of seven games ensured that Bean Machine finished top of its group and therefore would play in the D cup competition. The matches from now on were knock out matches, so any slip up now would be very costly.

That slip up almost happened in the quarter final as the Beans faced the Oxford Odd Sox, who finished 4th in their pool, on a very muddy pitch probably more suitable for Torville and Dean it was so slippery! After Bean Machine had beaten a fellow Oxford team earlier in the tourney, the Odd Sox were determined to avenge their colleagues. They made a great start, seemingly immune to the conditions that the Beans were struggling with, and after three innings they were 8-2 up. With barely an inning left, several substitutions and a reshuffle within the team saw an astonishing comeback led by new substitute David Turner (Deluge) who pounded in the first home run of the game to stir the Beans. The team found its legs again and a furious 4th inning saw them got a new lease of life and glide in 7 runs to take the game 9-8. It was the first time the Beans had been on the back foot and emotions were running high after that great escape.

In their semi final match the team met Pyros 2. With the difficulties faced in the quarter final and the adrenaline still flowing, Bean Machine were on their game and came out firing, being explosive with their fielding, conceding no runs, and rocketing the runs in with the bat, scoring 21 runs. A great result for the Bean Machine bringing the team back on track to its positive displays of the previous games.

The final saw the same two teams as last year fighting it out for the honours with Bean Machine meeting the defending champions Chipmonks in the final. Last year’s heartache of losing the 2007 final against this team was still fresh in the Bean’s minds and the team’s determination to win it this time was apparent immediately. Their focused fielding and excellent strategic batting gave them the lead in the first innings. The Beans then proceeded to extend their lead in the same way during the course of the game, with less of the previous power play and a more subtle and focussed way being preferred. The Chipmonks tried their best to break out but could not find the gaps in the field and capitalise when runners were on base. The final score of 18-1 and becoming the new champions of D Competition was an immense reward for the Bean’s thoroughly excellent play during the weekend.

At the end of the tournament as is Bean Machine tradition, every member of the team voted for their Most Valuable Player for both male and female. Tim Jones (Maestro) and Lindsay Miller (Stripes) were the recipients of the MVP awards for the tournament and each received a commemorative ball signed by the whole team.

This is the team’s first competition win and hopefully the first of many. Team co-principle Ricardo Pedro commented “We thoroughly deserve to return as the champions. It was great to see everyone enjoying the tournament and raising the profile of Jersey softball. Bristol is a great tournament as it gives the teams a nice amount of games and also gives us the opportunity to play against, and make friends with, various UK teams from different parts of the country. We now hope to see some of the teams perhaps on our shores next year for the Jersey Tournament.”

Fellow team co-principle David Turner added “Every member of this team has contributed to our success here, with all of them playing their best and having a great time doing so, which is all we ever want. It all clicked together and we have put on a comprehensive performance to be proud of, which I hope we can all take back home with us to our Jersey league teams.”

In order to continue to develop the team into 2009 and beyond Bean Machine would be keen to hear from anyone who is interested in sponsoring the team for future events. To find out more contact the Beans on the following e-mail address.