Sunday, July 7, 2019 8:30   Venue: Castions delle Mura, Italy

REDCOATS LOSE THE PLACING FINAL AGAINST JOUDRS

The first taste of tournament softball for the Għajnsielem Redcoats was not as they would have wanted it to be. Despite the significant efforts at the preparatory stage, not everything went according to plan. One of the major setbacks was the accommodation. The players were not able to sleep comfortably for four nights and that took a toll on them. On Sunday morning they tried to muster enough energy to face and overcome a Joudrs team whose players seemed as fresh as can be, but they couldn’t. The Redcoats were physically and mentally drained heading into the placing final when they needed to be at their best to beat the Joudrs.

The Redcoats elected to start with Estelle Scicluna pitching, hoping to build a lead which Monique Attard would be able to protect. The start was promising as Estelle walked to lead off, and after Daphne struck out, Kimberley Scerri hit a triple down the right field line to score Estelle. Kimberley then scored on a past ball to give the Redcoats a 2-0 lead. The lead didn’t last that long as Joudrs scored two runs in the bottom of the 1st inning to tie the game. They scored another three runs in the bottom of the 2nd to make it 2-5. Although the Redcoats managed to score a run in the top of the 3rd inning, they did not look like they were going to put a rally together to overturn the deficit.

Having pitched the max three innings allowed by the tournament rules, Estelle gave way to Monique, Unfortunately, the young lefty pitcher did not receive any support from her defence, and Joudrs ran up the score to win the game 3-9. This brought to an end the first experience for the softball team of an international tournament. Many lessons were learned, and all of the players gained from the experience.

Whereas in the past the softball team always concluded their season with a trip abroad, this year they had to shift their focus on the preparations for the Sizzling Fastpitch Tournament which they were scheduled to host in mid-August. Knowing that they will be playing on home turf, and enjoying the comfort of their beds in between games, gave the players plenty of optimism as they looked forward to the four games against two top teams from the Netherlands.

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