Author: cascott

Slowpitch Pitching

Pitching can be frustrating and tough to get the hang of, it’s also one of the most important parts of the game.

This short video is one of our favourites, which should give you some tips to help perfect your pitching arch!

Remember:

The ball must be delivered with a perceptible arc of at least 1.83m (6 ft.) and not more than
3.65m (12 ft.), from the ground.

The ball must also pass through the strike zone. The strike zone is that space over any part of home plate that is between the batter’s back shoulder and his knees when he assumes his natural batting stance.

Back to Basics – Throwing

Even experienced players can often improve their throwing by stripping their technique right back to the basics.

Here as some great videos on throwing techniques which could come in handy at pre-season/early season training, or during warm-ups before games.

M8 Tournament & Open Day

Have you always wanted to try softball but never quite got round to it? Maybe you played as a child and fancy dusting off an old glove? Or you’ve never heard of softball but fancy a new challenge?

Edinburgh Softball League is excited to announce the M8 tournament and open day on Saturday 19th August. There will be a series of games between Edinburgh and Glasgow teams (the M8 tournament) and coaching available for new and old players of all ages and abilities.

Come give it a try! Saturday 19th August, 10am – 3pm, Marine Drive EH4 5EJ.

Edinburgh Softball League is a mixed-sex slowpitch softball league based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s a fun and friendly league, with 2 divisions offering something for everyone – from home run hitters to first timers.

On Any Given Week Night…Weeks 3 & 4 Review

Weeks 3 and 4 are in the book with the Edinburgh Softball League continuing to throw up surprises and amaze with the level of competition on show.  Only 3 teams enter week 5 with unbeaten records which highlights once again the competitiveness of the league as a whole. No result can be taken for granted with any team capable of knocking off a rival. As the old saying goes ‘any team can win or lose on any given Sunday!' (This would be true if we played games on a Sunday but you get the point).

Premier Division

The top division has an old familiar look about it with the Rally Caps sitting atop the pile with a perfect 3 – 0 record. Week 3 saw them score a comfortable victory over the Doh’Nuts 31-2 and then follow this up with a 29-16 win over the Dodgers to remain perfect for the season. Playing catch up is the Rally Caps old foes the Souls with a 3-1 record. The defending champs suffered a tight 1 run loss to the Storks 18-17 but followed this up with a resounding 33-9 victory over the Inglorious Batters. This was the only game involving the Batters the past fortnight due to their bye week as they begin the season 0-3. After their win over the Souls, the Storks were hoping to cement a position at the top of the league against the Broken Batz. Entering the game at 1-2 due to a week 3 14-29 loss to the hands of the Dodgers, the Batz turned the tables on the previously unbeaten Storks to register a 26-21 victory.

Division 1

Two teams sit at the top of the Division 1 tree with the Capitals maintaining their strong start to the season by reaching 4-0 matched by this seasons surprise package the Haar Hitters. The Capitals came out on top against the Vandals 20-8 and bettered the Demons 11-8 in a tight defensive game. The Haar Hitters kept pace atop the division with a 17-9 victory against the Bolts and being on the right side of a 1 run game 11-10 against the Forgers. It is looking like the week 6 match up against these two teams could decide who enters the split on top. The fight for the top 4 and bottom 4 is also heating up with 5 of the other 6 teams being within 1 win of each other. The Forgers managed to get to 2-1 before the tight week 4 loss with a 28-10 win against the Laxidaisicals who are still looking for their first win of the season after a 24-4 defeat at the hands of the Vandals. This saw the Vandals join the Forgers at 2-2 with the Bolts making up the trio. The Bolts achieved this with another 1 run victory over the Vultures 17-16. Still in the hunt for a top 4 spot are the Demons and Vultures at 1-3. The Demons managed to get in the win column for the season with a week 3 26-19 win against the Vultures.

The next few weeks are shaping up to be extremely important with the Premier League teams fighting for positions which could ultimately determine if they are battling for the title or if they will be scraping it out in the relegation positions. Division 1 is becoming equally intriguing with all the teams still jockeying for positions that will determine their spots for the second half of the season.

 

Sunshine on the ESL: A Review of Weeks 1 & 2

The first two weeks are in the bag for the returning Edinburgh Softball League. Played under unseasonal bright blue skies, one of the hardest things for fielders and batters to deal with has been the bright yellow thing that has dominated the sky over Edinburgh the past few weeks (reports that this is called the sun have yet to substantiated!)

Due unfortunately to a team being forced to drop out of the league, all 13 teams took to the field to stake their claim that a winter of preparation had paid off and that they could contend for one of the 3 titles on offer. The league format has been re-jigged slightly with the Inglorious Batters being promoted to the top league with the Capitals and Demons being relegated from last year. This has seen the top division being made up of 7 teams with the further 8 battling it out in the division below. As this is Scotland we could not let the opportunity pass for a bizarre split situation to occur which will see Division 1 split after the first round of head to head games into a top 4 and bottom 4. They will then battle it out for the trophies and medals on offer with the teams in each section.

Week 1 was kicked off by the newly promoted Inglorious Batters going down to the Dalmeny Dodgers 19 – 4. In Division 1, a tight battle saw the Forgers coming out on top of the Vandals in a 1 run ball game 9 – 8. Defending Champs the Souls got their title defence off to a winning start by defeating the Doh’Nuts 28 – 4 with The Vultures scoring an opening week victory over the Laxadaisicals 34 – 18. Wednesday night saw the Broken Batz fight it out against the Rally Caps. The game was settled in the Rally Caps favour by a score of 22 – 2. In Divisions 1, the Demons came up against the Haar Hitters but went down to a score of 20 – 4. In the final game of the week, the newly relegated Capitals took on the Bolts with the final score of 23 – 8 going in the Capitals favour.

A beautiful night to play softball

Week 2 gave the teams a chance to once again prove that the week 1 result was no fluke or give the vanquished a chance to attune for the defeat. The Marabou Storks got their campaign off to a winning start with a 25 – 3 win over the Inglorious Batters with the Haar Hitters showing they will be a force to reckon with this season by knocking off the Vultures 19 – 13 to go to 2 – 0 for the season. Tuesday night saw only one game going ahead with a titanic struggle being settled the way of the Vandals who overcame the Demons in a slugfest 41 – 34. Wednesday saw the Broken Batz get into the win column with a 25 – 10 win over the Doh’Nuts. In Division 1, the Capitals managed to advance to 2-0 with a hard fought victory over the Forgers 19 – 12 which could have gone either way. The last games of the week saw the Souls defeat the Dalmeny Dodgers 17 – 11 to go top of the league with 2 wins from their opening 2 games. Division 1 came to an end with the Bolts striking down the Laxadaisicals 25 – 6 to advance to 1-1 for the season.

The season has kick off in cracking fashion and long may the glorious weather continue. However this being Edinburgh we all know that it would foolish to pack away the water proofs just yet…….

2017 League Schedule Out Now

The 2017 Schedule is now online.

You can access a bespoke calendar for your team using the links in the menu above under fixtures. There are also links that should allow you to download your team’s calendar to your iPhone/iPad, Outlook or Google calendar.

Please note that D1 is only scheduled up to the cup ties in June. The division will then split and a new schedule will be available for the two new divisions.

Hope you’re looking forward to the season kicking off!