by www.baseballeurope.com
On Sunday, October 24, the Malta Baseball & Softball Association (MABS) held its largest baseball festival ever. Held in aid of the charity Inspire, MABS with the support of KMS hosted THE MALTA BASEBALL FESTIVAL at the Marsa Sports Complex.
The highlight of the festival was the much-anticipated Celebrity Softball Game. This was the first time ever that such a softball game was held on the Maltese Islands. Well-established personalities such as Moira Delia, Xandru Grech, David Ellul, and many other stars from Malta’s TV and music scene showed off their skills on the field. Crowds gathered to see our Maltese stars compete for the championship. In the end Xfm’s Ozi’s team won with a two point lead ending in the fifth inning. The celebrities were not the only ones showing off their skills that day, as over the course of the day several softball games were played with guests from the general public taking part, showing just how much hidden talent we have in Malta & Gozo.
Children had the chance to try out their throwing and batting skills during the event thanks to the pitchers’ nets and batting cages that were set up. Young boys and girls had the opportunity to play some teeball, which is an introductory sport to both baseball and softball. Blastball was introduced during this festival, which is a fun and easy game for new-comers and younger children. Blastball, played with an electronic ‘honking’ base, a soft foam ball, a bat and tee, is special because no one wins or loses, which makes it a fun activity that kids want to come back to. Several whiffle ball, softball, and teeball games were also organized during the festival. XFM’s Jason Zammit kept the crowds entertained all afternoon, while the kids enjoyed other activities such as the bouncy castle, bungee runs, face painting, trampolines, and merry-go-round rides. Special edition baseballs were also sold during the event in aid of inspire.
The Organizing Committee feels that this charity event in aid of Inspire was a success and hopes that this would be the first of many charity events organised in the future. The Organizing Committee would like to thank all the volunteers who helped at The Malta Baseball Festival and would like to give a special thanks to their sponsors for this event being Kunsill Malti għall-iSport (KMS), Methode Electronics Malta Ltd, Alberta, Atlas Insurance, Castrol, Dark Dog, Express Trailers, Powerade, Sunshine Snacks, and T&H Distributors Ltd.