News from European Slowpitch Softball League (ESSL) – www.softballeurope.com
Bad News Bombers (BNB) crushed the first ESSL tournament by hitting 47 homeruns. This team was ready at every game and won the tournament by beating the last year’s championGuzzlers Europe with 22-2 in the championship game. Their stats are really impressive. They scored 162 runs, had 151 hits and their opponents were only able to score 8 runs against them. For most of the teams it was a learning curve and this explained clearly to the others on what they have to work on.
At this tournament the gap between the Guzzlers and BNB seemed to be too wide although the kept it close in the beginning of the finale game. With their 14 homeruns the Guzzlers also showed that they have power and they will definitely be ready at the next tournament in Slovenia.
What a surprise. The Dream Team from Ljubljana played Slowpitch with heart & commitment and finished at third place. This team really worked hard during the winter after the overall 5th place in 2014. However, the Los Coyotes seemed to be in winter hibernation. After losing 0-10 against the Guzzlers in the double elimination they ended up on fourth place.
The other teams from Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland played well, but at the end they ranked behind the stronger teams.
For the next tournament in Slovenia (June 6th/7th) some teams will definitely have to work on their hitting to reach the top. We will also see how well the team from Switzerland (Toros Softball) improved after their first trip on the European slowpitch stage.
Final Rankings ESSL Germany
1. Bad News Bombers (USA/GER)
2. Guzzlers Europe (USA/GER)
3. Dream Team (SLO)
4. Los Coyotes (DOM/AUT)
5. PGS (AUT)
6. Bulldogs (SLO)
7. Los Titanes (DOM/AUT)
8. Toros Softball (VEN/CH)
ESSL Germany Stats
Best Hitter: Raymond Ford, BNB, AVG .895
Best Pitcher: Drew Chesser, BNB, OBA .300
SOME FIGURES
1 field
8 teams
24 games
1313 plate appearances
535 runs
541 hits
72 homeruns
143 base on balls
39 strike outs