dms Jersey Flyers have been crowned champions following one of the toughest seasons in 25 years of softball in Jersey.
The Jersey Softball League Division One title came down to the last game of the season with the Flyers gaining a crucial win over CPA Pirates to secure the top spot.
The 2019 season started with a round-robin stage, where Flyers only just made the cut into the top division phase. Playing the other top three teams twice in division one, Flyers finished the season strongly with 5 wins and 1 loss. 15 points meant Flyers finished top of the table above nearest rivals, Romerils Raiders and Jacksons Falcons.
Captained by Phil Bouchard, who first started playing softball in 1994, the Flyers is a co-ed softball team which includes players ranging in age from 17 - 45.
Bouchard re-joined the Flyers this season to team up with long-term players Chris and Michelle Le Lion, Javier Gomez, Candice Parsons, Jackie Davis, Nikki Gasulla-Sole and Fil Gouveia.  Also on the playing team this season we’re new team-mates Jessica Page, Jean-Paul Netto, Lauren Quémard, Adam Brandie, Charlie Noel and Siân-Louis Nobel. The squad was boosted by the availability of Tim Jones earlier in the season.
Bouchard said’ “I put this year’s success down to the level-headedness and teamwork of our experienced players combined with some great fresh talent coming through from the new faces in the line up. We stepped up in must-win games. I’d like to thank all the other teams and their captains for making the 2019 season so competitive and enjoyable.”
The Flyers is the JSA’s longest serving team within the Jersey league structure and has an ethos of playing hard but fair within a fun and friendly atmosphere on and off the field.
Next, the newly crowned champions of Jersey softball will take on their Guernsey counterparts on 7th September in Guernsey for the Channel Island title.

​Pictured: (back row L-R) Candice Parsons, Nikki Gasula-Sole, Jessica Page, Michelle Le Lion, Jackie Davis. (front row L-R) Jean-Paul Netto, Chris Le Lion, Adam Brandie, Javier Gomez, Phil Bouchard. (Front centre) Jenson Davis (bat boy).

The next meeting will go ahead next Thursday, 28th March.  A few points to mention now before Agenda etc is circulated:

• A few matters were discussed at the AGM which will be added to next week’s agenda, including the structure of the summer league/summer league rules and inter-insular games against Guernsey. If you are have any detailed comments/proposals to make on these matters or if you cannot attend the meeting and want us to consider your views, please send to us by email no later than cob on Tuesday;
• If there are any other matters which you would like added to next week’s Agenda, please let us know as soon as possible;
• If anyone knows of or has a meeting room which we might be able to use for this meeting, please let me know! 

Thanks all
Lauren

The 2019 AGM will be held on Tuesday 12th March at 6pm at the Vauban room, Fort Regent.
​All JSA members welcome.

Agenda
1. Apologies
2. Approve minutes of the AGM held in 2018
3. Matters Arising from the minutes
4. Presidents Report
5. Treasurers Report
6. Amendments to Constitution and/or Standing Orders
7. Election of Executive Committee
President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary
Fixtures Officer
Umpire in Chief
Development Officer
Press Officer
Corporate League Organiser
Webmaster
Island Coach
8. Date of next meeting
9. AOB

This year will mark the 20th anniversary of the UK-based tournament, and an unprecedented five European National Slowpitch Teams will be flying in for the event to provide stiff competition for the local and ex-pat teams based in Great Britain.

Jersey has participated in the British Softball Federation’s event on past occasions but not for a number of years.

The JSA’s island coach Phil Bouchard said, “Our team is made up of many of Jersey’s most experienced softballers and this tournament will be a chance to evaluate where we are on an international level. The main target for most teams will be the ex-pat USA team. I think we may be a surprise package for some, as we do not get many chances to travel to events at this level. I firmly believe we will prove to be stiff competition for the other national teams attending and I know the whole squad is proud to be representing Jersey at this level.

The World Series is a competition involving "national” or “regional” teams – even though many of the teams are made up of players living in the UK.  There are English, Scottish and Welsh teams made up of players who come from or live in those countries, plus GB Masters and GB Futures teams, and there are British-based ex-pat teams representing countries or regions from around the world. 
Over the past decade, as the tournament has become better known in Europe, teams have flown in to represent Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. 

The Jersey squad has been training hard under the JSA’s coaching team of Phil Bouchard and George Kellogg and selection for this travelling team has been tough.

The Teams

England
GB Development
GB Masters
Scotland
Wales
USA
Canada
Anzacs
Africa
Japan
Latin America
Belgian National Slowpitch Team
Czech National Slowpitch Team
Ireland National Slowpitch Team
Jersey National Slowpitch Team
Netherlands National Slowpitch Team
UCE Travellers (Germany)
Craicers (Ireland)

Jersey Squad
Phil Bouchard (coach)
George Kellogg (captain)
Dec Renouard
Chris Halford
James Marshall
Robin Tadier
Matt Dorey (ringer)
Amanda Halford
Claire Summers
Lauren Glynn (JSA President)
Lindsay Satchell (JSA Vice-President)
Beth Rosser
Jussie Smith (ringer)
Ali Wade (team manager/scorer)

Island Training Sessions have now begun and will be taking place every Monday in July at the back pitch at Jersey Rugby Club grounds. 

The ‘open sessions’ are running between 6 and 8 pm and will run to 6th August.

The sessions are a great opportunity for any Jersey softball players, from any league to participate in structured training that will definitely improve your game.

If you would like any more information about Island Training please get in touch with Island coach Phil Bouchard at ​jsaislandcoach@gmail.com

The Jersey Softball Association’s Summer league continued their second round of games at Les Quennevais over the weekend which saw the top four teams in the league flex their experience.

The DMS Flyers opened their double header on Sunday against Trinity Tyres Phoenix with a large lead after the first inning. Phoenix made some fielding changes and managed to hold the Flyers towards the end of the game but they couldn’t get their bats going against a strong Flyers defence resulting in a Flyers win 24 – 8.

Flyers continued their double header with a second game right afterwards against Watergate Warriors where they battled back and forth with a team of fairly new players to the sport showing their competitive edge. Flyers pulled together though and showed their experience with the bats and pulled out another win for the day 24 – 6.

Corefocus Cubs also had a double header and started their fixture off with a tough game against CPA Global Pirates. They found the competition tough with Pirates coming out strong and in full form early on. Pirates dominated the game and finished 27 – 4.

The Cubs were able to bounce back in their second game from their earlier defeat to put up a good defence against the hard charging Romerils Raiders. Each side traded blows across the six innings played, with both teams’ pitchers battling against difficult wind conditions. Raiders edged the Cubs with a few well-timed grand slams with bases loaded, creating a comfortable lead of eight runs by the end of the game, winning 13 – 5.

Finally, the last game of the day saw the seasoned Jacksons Falcons take on their sister team, Motormall Eagles in a friendly match. Their skilled fielding and expert batting proved too strong for the Eagles on this occasion who were suffering a key loss in players due to injury and absence. Falcons took the win 26 – 1.  

The Summer League continues its fixtures on the 17th June. 

Two teams of Jersey softballers, the Thundercats and Transformers, competed in the Bristol DD Cup tournament over the bank holiday weekend with both teams taking home silverware.

The Thundercats had an excellent first day as they won all six of their games. The offense was working well with home runs, triples, and doubles had all around. Robin Tadier, team captain and trip organiser, pitched five of the day’s six games, and kept his opponents on their toes with some tactical pitching, resulting in strikeouts throughout the day.

The defense was working spectacularly, with some exciting plays like newbie to the sport, Rhys Benest, having a diving catch off a line drive down the third base line in his first ever game. A more exciting play came in the fifth game of the day when Scott Roberts caught a deep pop-up in right center field with runners on second and third base. He launched the ball towards home plate where Kelly Tadier expertly tagged out the runner coming to steal home, and quickly threw the ball to Chelsey Warner, who tagged out the runner attempting to steal third resulting in a rare triple play to close out the inning.  

Transformers also did well in the morning of their first day but found some tough competition in the afternoon which resulted in two wins, one tie, and three losses on the Saturday. Transformers pushed through the fatigue on the second day and found their groove again after their first game. Team captain Paulo Dos Reis also pitched an excellent weekend and even shutout an inning with three consecutive strikeouts. Short stop Stuart Emmanuel had some great diving catches throughout the weekend and one in particular noted by the umpire as ‘catch of the weekend.’ Other great plays included Caitlyn Hennessy’s first ever home run and some amazing left field catches by Cameron Ramsay.

The second day saw Thundercats drop a game from their winning record as they struggled to get the bats going against a strong defensive opponent. They met the same team in the semi-finals which was a tense and very competitive game, where both sides were tied on runs for three innings before Anthony O’Grady hit a home run, bringing in another runner on base to come ahead. A further home run by Niall Boylan sealed the victory, Thundercats finishing strong on the defensive side by holding their opponents to no runs to make it into the Cup final.

Transformers stomped their opponents in the semi-final 21:1 with some excellent batting securing their place in the Plate final. They battled through the final and pulled out all the stops including a sneaky play by third baseman Andy Romeril, where he defended home plate with a convincing fake throw to second in order to tag the runner on third base. Despite every player leaving their absolute best on the pitch they came up just short and finished runner-up in the Plate final.

Thundercats met a tough team in the Cup final and faced some very difficult but expert pitching against the female MVP from their opponents. It was back and forth on the runs in the first few innings but Thundercats kept their bats going and came out ahead later in the game whilst simultaneously holding their opponents in the field. They won the final 14-5.

Robin Tadier, Thundercats team captain and trip organiser, commented on the win: “The final score doesn’t do justice to how tough a game this was. The opposition’s fielding was almost impenetrable. We were inching around one base at a time, and it seemed that we were always getting closed down just as we had all bases loaded. We were all flagging, and how the team kept their nerves I do not know. I am incredibly proud of how everyone played across both teams.”

He continued: “After the Cup final players were recognised for their performance and Chrissie Hennessy from Transformers received female MVP in the plate final, whilst male MVP in the Cup final was our short stop on Thundercats, Anthony O’Grady, for his excellent batting and clutch field play.”
​
Robin Tadier and the Thundercats will compete abroad again towards the end of the season in October this year as they return to their annual American tournament, Ad World Series, due to take place in Orlando, Florida.

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The first games of the 2018 Jersey softball summer league kicked off on Sunday with four exciting games at Les Quennevais playing fields.

The first game of the day saw the seasoned Jacksons Falcons take on a new team filled with returning players to the league this year, Romerils Raiders. It was a close game from start to finish as the Raiders worked together for the first time as a new team and boasted some excellent fielding. However, the Falcons proved a strong side and kept their lead for the majority of the game flexing their experience and training by taking home a win 10 – 5.

One of the two games in the middle of the day saw the Motormall Eagles take on the Watergate Warriors in a match that saw the Warriors gain an exceptional lead over their closely contested rivals. The Eagles offensive side wasn’t strong enough to keep them in the game as the Warriors took this one away 38 – 9.

At the same time on pitch 2 the champions of the 2017 Summer League, DMS Flyers, took on the Corefocus Cubs in a dramatic fashion as both teams tied in the final innings. The Cubs were up by 11 runs in the last inning with assurance it was a big enough lead, but in an unlikely comeback attempt the Flyers got the bats going to whittle away their deficit to a tie.

Finally, the last game between the CPA Global Pirates and the Trinity Tyres Phoenix closed out the day with a largely competitive and exciting match. Phoenix started out the game well with a lead in their batting, however, their defensive side was not strong enough to hold back the runs from their opponents who were keen to gain a lead. It was overall another close game as the Pirates came away ahead 16 – 11.

Next weekend will see two teams of Jersey players compete in the annual Bristol DD Cup Tournament. The Thundercats and the Transformers, a mix of players from different teams as well as players abroad, will compete in the two-day tournament vying for the chance to compete against some tough UK competition. We'd like to wish our Jersey players abroad the best of luck next weekend and we hope to see you come back with some shiny silverware to show off!

It was a rather tense Sunday for Jersey softballers as they competed in their final games this past weekend. With the main event being the DMS Flyers versus the CPA Pirates game which saw a battle for first place between the top two teams of the indoor season this year. The Flyers kicked the game off with an advantage in their run difference meaning the Pirates had to fight for at least a 44-run win against a very tough team.

Pirates came out strong against their opponents though and fielded a strong defensive side to keep the runs against them low. There were some close calls and a few heated debates, and even though Pirates won their game 48 – 34 it wasn’t enough of a run difference to take the title away from the Flyers who remain the indoor champions for another year.

 The first game of the day saw another exciting game between two of the newer teams to Jersey softball, the Motormall Eagles and the Watergate Warriors. The Eagles won their previous game against the Warriors and were hoping to pull out another win against their closest adversaries. Warriors came out strong though and showed off their pre-season training by taking a 44 – 17 win and thus keeping them in the running for their tied position at fourth place with Phoenix.

The last game on Sunday saw a friendly game between two close teams the Jacksons Falcons and Trinity Tyres Phoenix. However, this weekend, Phoenix needed the win in order to break their tie at fourth place in the table with Warriors. Falcons came out with a strong side for their final game and were not going to give up a win easily for their sister team. Phoenix were unable to get the bats going that they needed and the final game of the day turned out a very low score 9 to negative 6 in favour of the Falcons, pushing Phoenix down the table to fifth place. 

 

Have a listen to former DMS Flyers captain, Chris Le Lion, chat with Ashlea Tracey on the BBC Radio Jersey Breakfast Show about the final games this weekend for our 2018 indoor season.

It also featured on BBC Radio Jersey's Sportscene with Jack Murley. 

We're expecting a 'nail biting' finish to the season and we wish the best of luck to all our teams this weekend!