From the very first game I realised what you need to do to succeed at this level of Softball. HIT THE BALL HARD! The quality of defence at this tournament is such that you will get away with very little and be given even less. However should you bobble, miscue or boot anything in the field you will be raped and pillaged of runs ruthlessly. We played the Chromies first and it was clear that they had travelled to score runs with consistent hard hits. They cruised to a bloated win after 7 innings. Had we not mustered 11 runs in the latter innings of that first game perhaps we would have cowered in a corner of the complex and allowed the whole week to pass us by. As a team we showed enough spirit and determination to resist crumbling and restore some semblance of high level softball for the opposition to tackle.

If I am honest there were probably another couple of gears not used during the tournament. We fought well against a tough team from Slovenia, Longbridge, on three occasions but each time only won by 1 or 2 runs. It could and should have been more. Sure they had fantastic fielding and some big bats, but you can’t defend a base hit and I think at times in those games we lost sight of this and tried to do too much. Against the Austrians we got away with not hitting once but in the return leg we got just desserts for not producing at the plate and ended up splitting the series 1-1. Golovec, the second Slovenian team, didn’t have the threats of Longbridge but still our first game was closer than it should have been and they were never far from causing us trouble. We beat them in the last of our Round Robin games on the final day which created momentum leading to the playoffs although I think another good hitting performance was needed before the critical games.

We struggled in our first game against Dodder, barely hitting until the latter innings. Meanwhile Dodder, veterans of the competition at this stage, showed us what you need to do at this level. As mentioned above: HIT THE BALL HARD. They fizzed the ball around the park and beat us by 6 runs. We won the return fixture but only by 1 run. Clearly our bats were not where they should be.

In our second game against the Chromies we got out to an unusual early, yet deserved lead. - In contradiction to this, one GB softball reporter suggested foolish bravado was the style of BatPaks lead when he wrote we had the ‘temerity’ to score runs and that a ‘generous’ Chromies team padded our tally with errors. Alas our inconsistent bats, Chromies persistence with the hard hit ball and if you will excuse the temerity, our own generosity saw the opposition run out clear winners.

Off the pitch

In between all the softball we stayed at the Ljubljana Resort, where swimming, BBQ’ing and sunning ourselves were the main activities. In our mobile home Jessica was Queen Bee and had all around her right where she wanted them. We enjoyed some late night ramblings on proposals and Sandra rated the players on score-ability (I’m sure I had this conversation with her and others in Belfast, I just wonder where I finished this time around.) With Panda in tow the pair went down the list of players and laminated only a few I’m sure.

Incredible thunder storms put a halt to play on the penultimate day and the relief of weary bodies when the call came through was obvious. Beer, pool, food, kinesio tape – in that order. It’s really not surprising the list of injuries and ailments that ran through the squad considering we play once maybe twice a week at home and even at blitzes don’t put our bodies through the sort of rigours they were called upon to handle during the week in Slovenia. By Saturday we had played 9 games, with a potential 4 more to follow. Aches and pains were all around and if it weren’t for Elaine, the resident Physio – she’s the one without the t-shirt! - We wouldn’t have got very far. Strained limbs, sore throwing arms, a collection of sliding wounds straight out of the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan, one or two teary eyes, a line drive to the forehead were just some of the complaints and I had a dickey throat at one stage. Only that none of us were in handcuffs it almost resembled Tallaght hospital on a Friday night.

Our team night out was enjoyed by all at the Sokol restaurant. Slovenia is a meat eating country and the menu proved it. Stag, Deer, Swine, Beef and Horse were all on the menu. I tried some of JBs horse tenderloin and didn’t think it was too different from beef. It had a distinct taste but it was a steak nonetheless. I hear the bill calculations lasted well into the night but the beer was on hand to ease the pain. From an Irish tourist point of view it’s not a very expensive place to eat out or to grocery shop in. Beer is nicely inexpensive and you even get money back when you return the bottles. Any Slovenians we met were very pleasant and always helpful. The organisers and local teams made considerable effort to make us all feel welcome and catered for at the grounds.

Playoffs

To get to the final we would have to beat Longbridge and Dodder. It was a tall order but after our early morning win we felt in the right mood to pull it off. In the first game against Longbridge some timely hitting and some key defence left us in front going into the top of the last. With a potential at bat still in our pockets we got the 3 outs needed and made it to the semis. It was a pleasure to play Longbridge who with spirit and sportsmanship play a hard and dangerous game. Had they mustered a few more big hits we may have been goosed. Dodder waited in the wings and we were up for it. We had a long break in between and they had just lost to the Chromies in the other semi. Looking back I am sure we smelt blood. They seemed more tired than in previous games and they were down a couple of players with injuries. We had them, I’m sure of it, but in a very low scoring game our bats once again went missing and Dodders experience in these tournaments paid off. Down 4-1 with only one at bat left we needed something. We didn’t get it from the first 2 batters but nobody makes last out, right? Well somebody did but not until JB led from the front and not only hit 2 runs in but ran in the tying run himself, tearing all muscles left functioning in his lower limbs at the same time. (Had we won I’m not sure he would have featured at all in the final and himself together with John McCarthy from Dodder made an excellent advert for a retirement village. Some serious oiling needed there lads)

So our tournament came down to Dodder needing to score 1 run with 3 outs and top of the order coming up. I don’t think many teams would waste that kind of chance and without much fuss they brought in the winning run and it was curtains for BatPak and a bronze finish at the end.

I had toyed with the idea of making it out to the party after the award ceremony. Alas beer, pizza and bed were too tempting. I was in bed at eleven and snoring at five past.

If you want to improve your game, learn more about it and compete against the best this is a tournament to go to. We had 5 umpires for our playoff games – who missed very little, crisp white chalk for all others, a small crowd cheering on, beer on tap!! And flat pitches to play on. It was a brilliant experience which I hope to do again next year. My most memorable part though was doing it with the BatPak squad, a fantastic bunch of players who can be proud they competed with the best and held their head high.

Kuala Lumpar! Slovenian for thank you