After this past weekend’s games the Redcoats completed their commitments in the MABS Youth Softball Minor League. The 14-0 victory of the Ghajnsielem Redcoats against the Grand Slammers was the 5th win from 8 games. It was also the 4th shut-out of the campaign. The Redcoats’ senior youths’ team managed to blank all of the other four teams competing in the league. With a record of 5 wins and 3 losses, the Ghajnsielem Redcoats finished in second place, two games behind the Mustangs who had a 7-1 record.
For the second season in succession the Redcoats were the only team to beat the Mustangs in the MABS Softball Minor League. The inconsistency in the performances cost the Redcoats the opportunity to challenge the Mustangs for the title. In their 3 losses the Redcoats were unrecognisable committing too many fielding errors.
With a record of 5 wins and 3 losses, the Ghajnsielem Redcoats finished in second place, two games behind the Mustangs.
The experiment of giving an opportunity to the younger players to play in the infield for the Redcoats Softball team proved to be a positive one. With the exception of the home games against the Mustangs and the Blue Jays, the inexperienced Redcoats Softball team played well staying in the game till the final at bats.
Now that the Softball Minor League is out of the way, the focus of the club shifts to the Youth Softball Championship Series. This will be a best-of-7 series between our 2 teams. The youth players will be reshuffled to form 2 balanced teams. The names of these 2 teams will be Redcoats 63rd and Redcoats 31st. These represent the first British regiment that occupied Fort Chambray in Ghajnsielem following the departure of the French garrison, and the first British regiment to use Fort Chambray as a convalescence camp, respectively. The 63rd (Suffolk) Regiment was stationed at Fort Chambray between 1800 and 1802, whereas the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment was sent to Fort Chambray in 1856 to recover from its participation in the Crimean War.
This Softball Championship Series will be fastpitch, where players as opposed to coaches will pitch to their opponents. The first such game will be played at the Sannat Ground on Sunday, December 1st. There is much excitement among the entire Redcoats youths squad as the final preparations are being made. The line-ups of the 2 teams will be announced over the coming days.
This will be an important test for the Club as it aims to promote fastpitch softball and encourage more girls to start playing the game. This will also be the first time ever that such a competition is held at the youths’ level in Malta. Best of luck to all the players especially the pitchers who have been working hard to reach the desired level.
