Tag Archives: Maidenhead Rebels

Mixed Opening Week for the Maidenhead Teams

All three Maidenhead teams began their 2018 league program with mixed outcomes. The Maidenhead Rebels hosted the Windsor Knights at North Maidenhead Cricket Club.

The Rebels did very well to survive their first season in the top flight and played the Knights on opening night last year too. Then they lost 23-3, this time they managed to score more runs, but last seasons league runners up powered to a 31-10 victory. There were positives to take from this result and Rebels season won’t be defined on games against last season’s top 4 teams. The Royals travelled to TV Typhoons on the same night. Fresh off their impressive outing at WMSL First Ball, a lot is expected of the Royals this season. A 3^rd place finish last year is the minimum requirement this term, but with the improvements in the squad there is optimism this team can go all the way. This expectation was not damped as they won 24-4. Next up for the Royals and Rebels is their first meeting in the club derby.

The Maidenhead Rascals started their season at home the BA Flyers. The teams finished 4^th and 5^th respectfully last season. Like the Royals, the Rascals came out on top 24-4 behind a very strong batting performance. Division 2 is sizing up to be very competitive this season and this was a very good start from a team that contains all the current group of development players. The Rascals next game is tough away trip to RGF Blue Sox 2, one of the Divisions favourites and joint runners-up from last year.

MSC Review of the Year Part 11. A look back at Hit and Run 3

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We have come to the penultimate post for the year and we’ve come to the final games for the club of 2015. This year saw the third Maidenhead Softball Club Hit and Run tournament. this annual tournament is aimed at teams and clubs with new and youth softball players, with MSC themselves fielding 8 under 18s in their squad. The tournament comprises 8 teams, playing in two groups of 4. The teams this year came from as far as Solent and Redhill, as well as local teams from the Windsor and Maidenhead League.

While running later in the year than the past, the weather was again friendly and perfect for some late summer softball. After 6 hours of round-robin action, the competition split into Plate and Main Cup competition. Last year’s winners, BA Flyers were matches against Bracknell Scorchers, while last year’s Plate Winners, Vampire Batters were looking to go one better this year, faced Richings Park Hawks.

Two hard fought semi-finals resulted in Vampire Batters meeting BA Flyers in the Cup Final. In the Plate Competition, the London based Piranhas, faced Slough based Lonza, while Maidenhead Rebels faced Solent based Redbridge Raiders for a place in the Plate final. With three of the four teams making their first appearance at Hit and Run, a new team would be guaranteed a final slot, this year that was Piranhas, would ended up facing the Maidenhead Rebels team. Unfortunately for the Rebels, for the second time in three years, they fell at the last with Piranhas taking their first plate award.

The main final, ebbed and flowed and eventually went the way of the Vampire Batters 20-11 for their first Cup win. The whole day was another huge success for the Maidenhead head club, with over 100 people visiting the tournament, enjoying the weather, the facilities and the competition. Planning is now well under way for Hit and Run 4.

Missed Parts 1 to 10?

What is Softball?

Co-ed slowpitch softball is a social and enjoyable game that’s easy to learn and play, even for people who are not “athletes” or don’t have much experience of team sports.

Softball is a lot like baseball in terms of the rules, but because the ball is pitched slowly to each batter (as the name implies!), it’s easy to hit the ball and succeed at the sport’s central skill. The fact that men and women play together in the same team and on an equal level gives the sport a social buzz, and most softball games are followed by sessions at the local pub!

Come and Get Involved

Maidenhead Softball Club runs weekly sessions every Friday at Newlands Girls School in Maidenhead. Sessions from 6pm until 7:30pm and are open to anyone 11 and up.

All sessions are free, no experience needed and all equipment to get you going is supplied.

For all under-18’s attending, a parent must be in attendance at the beginning of the first session to sign permission paperwork.

For more information, email maidenheadsoftballclub@outlook.com or visit www.maidenheadsoftballclub.co.uk

MSC Review of the Year Part 8. Rebels at the 2016 Diamond Series

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As I look back in on the Rebel’s year the one trend I’m searching for is progression. Did they squad get better? Was there a mark improvement in the way they played and the results they achieved. When looking in isolation at the Diamond Series, and this is a series I use as a gauge, I can safely say, there was progression in the right direction.

To develop a club, sometimes you have to make hard choices about teams. 2015 was the year we put a lot more into the Royals at the Diamond Series and entered a development team in the Diamond Series. The difference in the way the squads were selected made it no surprise the two never met through the summer, but at the same time the squads were never divided so one team would fail, the Rebels squad had a lot of very talented players, it was whether they could gel together.

Diamond 1 back in May was the first real test and after the first Saturday, there were some doubts about if this was going to work as they finished bottom of their group. Granted the team was drawn into a group with Raiders Rewind and Retro, United Nations and Oxford Oddsoxs, but they did pull off a fantastic victory over the United Nations to give them something to cheer about. The Rebels Spoon challenge unfortunately didn’t materialize on the Sunday and ended in the first game, and with two more defeats, they unfortunately came bottom of the pile.

Diamond 2 was no kinder on the draw for the Rebels, United Nations were again in their group, plus London Flames who were one of the favorites for the series and the Mob who were runners-up in D1. As with D1, the Rebels again came bottom having won just one game again. Sunday started the same way, with an opening game defeat, but they day was not a complete blow out and the Rebels won a second game to at least place. Small steps are what we look for and 1 win at D1 was followed by 2 at D2, if they could manage to make it 3 wins at D3 they could have a shot at a final.

Diamond 3 and while they were being overshadowed by their sister team, the Royals going for the series, they went in knowing they could win games. Over the season you have to say the Rebels were unlucky with the draw. In the final group, London Flames again, Death Stars and Creamers all had cup competition pedigree, the Zoo were in their group along with RG Blue Sox. The Rebels were consistent over the year, coming in the bottom two of their group, having won one game on the Saturday. Sunday saw the Rebels catch a break, they got a bye in the quarter final stage to give them their first Semi-final appearance against Nottingham Tigers. Following their past trends, the Rebels won the second game and now had a Spoon final to look forward too. The final was rematch with RG Blue Sox, the team they had beaten on the Saturday. Was it possible that not only would they Rebels win a 3rd game but also a final? You have better believe it, the Diamond series ended with a Rebels victory and their highest finish of the year, a not to be laughed at 19th out of 24 for this very much developing team.

Progression is the key word and that is what we saw, 1 win, 2 wins, 3 wins and a Spoon victory. Something to build on and with the Rebels being the primary club team in the C-Grade section of the Diamond Series for 2016, more expectation.

That is all for 2016, for now we can feel proud that this squad, a squad that contained 6 players under 18, many playing the tournament scene for the first time. Well done Rebels a fantastic achievement.

Missed Parts 1 to 7?

What is Softball?

Co-ed slowpitch softball is a social and enjoyable game that’s easy to learn and play, even for people who are not “athletes” or don’t have much experience of team sports.

Come and Get Involved

Maidenhead Softball Club runs weekly sessions every Friday at Newlands Girls School in Maidenhead. Sessions from 6pm until 7:30pm and are open to anyone 11 and up.

All sessions are free, no experience needed and all equipment to get you going is supplied.

For all under-18’s attending, a parent must be in attendance at the beginning of the first session to sign permission paperwork.

For more information, email maidenheadsoftballclub@outlook.com or visit www.maidenheadsoftballclub.co.uk

MSC Review of the Year Part 7. Rebels win their 1st BA Tournament Cup Final

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One of the marque tournaments of the season is the annual trip down the M4 to Heston to play in the British Airways Tournament. MSC has an indifferent record, over the years, we’ve won a few plates, but never quite made it to the final.

2015 was different.

The Rebels completed a perfect weekend by going 10-0 and picking up their first and the clubs first C-Grade Cup. An achievement that made it two wins in two weeks, after the success at Diamond 2 the previous week.

As we look back from cold December, 10-0 and a Cup win sounds like an easy weekend. Who goes 10-0 these days? Well, there is a lot more to the score line and the more we look back the more this stands out as one of the highlights of the year.

Saturday had most things, including the now expected afternoon monsoon that brings the games to halt for 10 minutes. The day started in reasonable shape, a win on Beachcombers partially settled the team, although Beachcombers did help the Rebels out a lot in that fixture. The next two games looked to be the toughest all day. Death Stars, who the Royals edged in the Diamond 2 semi-final the previous week, and Bristol Creamers, who have inflicted a number of beatings on the Rebels and Royals in the past. The Death Stars were not the same team as 6 days previous and like the Beachcombers aided the Rebels to a surprise victory. The Creamers didn’t disappoint and this game could have gone either way, but gaining in confidence, the Rebels too an early lead and through excellent defence won by 1 single run. Extremely close games were now the pattern that now was to be repeated a few times now. The last game of the day against the Raiders. Looking at the schedule a 2-2 first day was something the Rebels would have taken, 3-1 was also acceptable, but the team had other ideas and went for 4-0. The Raiders put up a fierce fight, the Rebels for the first time all day had to come from behind, but the confidence from the previous wins was now evident and taking it right down to the wire the Rebels came out on top to lead the group on 4-0.

Sunday saw the Rebels beat RP Hawks and Blitz C both by 1 run in a very slow start to the day. It was starting to look like the Rebels were using all the luck up in these close game and with the hosts up next, was the run going to come to a sudden end?

The early morning funk was dispelled with a convincing win over BA, and at 7-0 a cup a first Cup finals was within reach for the Rebels. Standing in their way of were the Vampire Batters. This game, was the start of a sequence that could see the Rebels play 3 games back to back. If they were now going to win the event, it was going to be the hard way. The Vampires Batters are a team that enjoy playing MSC teams, but on this occasion the Rebels came out on top and guaranteed a Final place and all but guaranteed finishing top of the pool. With only the Redbacks able to stop the Rebels going unbeaten in the group phase, and with a final place in the bag, you’d have thought that would be a distinct possibility. But the Rebels continued their run and topped the final group standings to set up a final against the RP Hawks. The Final, as the group game, was a tight affair through 5 innings, at this point the Rebels pulled away to secure the Cup 25-7.

An amazing weekend, a real highlight on the MSC Year and set the watermark for all future Rebel performances. As an added bonus, it means the team should appear on the cover page of next year’s BA Tournament pack.

Missed Parts 1 to 6?

What is Softball?

Co-ed slowpitch softball is a social and enjoyable game that’s easy to learn and play, even for people who are not “athletes” or don’t have much experience of team sports.

Come and Get Involved

Maidenhead Softball Club runs weekly sessions every Friday at Newlands Girls School in Maidenhead. Sessions from 6pm until 7:30pm and are open to anyone 11 and up.

All sessions are free, no experience needed and all equipment to get you going is supplied.

For all under-18’s attending, a parent must be in attendance at the beginning of the first session to sign permission paperwork.

For more information, email maidenheadsoftballclub@outlook.com or visit www.maidenheadsoftballclub.co.uk

Club Review of the Year Part 3. MSC Development Team at the Raiders Tournament

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A major part of what MSC is about is the development on new players, whether these be under-18s or encouraging adults to get active and take up Softball as their sport of choice. As part of that program we are always looking for opportunities to allow these players to put in practice what they learn at the various training sessions MSC runs. One such event is the annual Raiders Tournament put on by the London Raiders. The The London Raiders is a predominantly LGBT softball club based in London and put on a social tournament each year. The level this event is aimed at is very much the level MSC looks for to help provide it’s development players opportunities to learn.

2015 was the first year MSC entered this event, so it was new ground for us with the experimental team we entered. The day, in the end, turned out to be very good for the Rebels team. Starting the day off with a placing game against Raiders Orange, the Rebels took control early, won the game and put themselves into the winners bracket for the rest of the day. The games in this tournament format would come thick and fast, after winning their first game the Rebels would face Disco Inferno, Tecumsehs and Raiders Silver in groups stages before placing into a final.

The first group game was against Disco Inferno, a team not unfamiliar to MSC having played them in a past tournament. The Rebels came through this game before taking on Tecumsehs in the pre-lunch game. Tecumsehs proved to be a tough opponent and inflicted the Rebels first defeat of the day in a 2 run game. First game after lunch saw the Rebels beat their second Raiders team of the day to put themselves into the main final and a rematch against Tecumsehs. This time the games wasn’t as close, and the Rebels day ended just falling short of a debut win in the competition.

The whole day was to give opportunities for new players to gain experience of the 10 players involved, Kim, Priya, Dom, Lauren and Natalie started a tournament for the first time. Evan and Giannah were the more experienced players on the roster having played just over 2 and 1 season respectively.

The whole day was a huge success, the team played outstandingly and a runners-up spot was an outstanding achievement and prepared all of the players for the future tournaments they would play with the full Rebels team.

Missed Parts 1 and 2?

Would you like to play in next year’s Raiders Tournament?

What is Softball?

Co-ed slowpitch softball is a social and enjoyable game that’s easy to learn and play, even for people who are not “athletes” or don’t have much experience of team sports.

Come and Try for Free

Maidenhead Softball Club runs weekly sessions every Friday at Newlands Girls School in Maidenhead. Sessions from 6pm until 7:30pm and are open to anyone 11 and up.

All sessions are free, no experience needed and all equipment to get you going is supplied.

For all under-18’s attending, a parent must be in attendance at the beginning of the first session to sign permission paperwork.

For more information, email maidenheadsoftballclub@outlook.com or visit www.maidenheadsoftballclub.co.uk

Rebels edge another thriller at Rattlesnakes

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The Rebels survived a late surge by the Rattlesnakes to edge a tight game 20-17. It was an amazing game, that going into the 5th inning looked like the Rebels could win on the run-ahead rule. But a spirited fight back from the 9 man Rattlesnakes kept them in the game and they had the chance to win it right at the death.

The Rebels, who were forced into 6 changes from the team beaten against Marlow the previous week, fielded a pretty strong team. Missing both Captain and Vice-captain through injury, it still looked a tall order to overcome a Rattlesnakes team who sat second in the league and were looking to close the gap at the top. The task didn’t look any easier when the Rattlesnakes jump into a 6-2 lead after the first inning. A couple of towering hits from their 2nd and 4th girl batters seemed to be setting the tone for the night. The Rebels then rallied, a 5 run 2nd inning and 3 more in the 3rd put them 10-6 up going into the 4th. The game then looked won as a huge 9 run 4th inning put them close to victory, batting around the order and with the Rattlesnakes suffering a few injuries, it really only looked a matter of time before the game was done. However, the Rebels don’t do anything the easy way. The Rattlesnakes pulled the 9 runs back in the 5th and with the Rebels failing to score in both 5th and 6th inning the lead was cut to 19-16. A single run in the 7th gave the Rebels a 4 run margin, but with two outs, and having cancelled that run out the Rattlesnakes had bases loaded and their best male hitter at the plate. He went for the right hit, but unfortunately got under the pitch a little too much giving Rebel shortstop for the night, Steve Gilbert, time to get out and take the catch at the second attempt.

Another Thursday thriller went the way of the Rebels and improves their record to 3-3 with them sitting pretty in 4th spot in the league. Next up for the Rebels a home game against the Bracknell Scorchers.

MVPs

Kayleigh Chamberlain (Rebels), Billy Bryce (Rattlesnakes), Tracey Ellis (Rattlesnakes)

Awards Round-up: Rebels MVPs 2013

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In the previous post we reviewed the Most Improved Players for 2013. In this post, we’ll review the players who the Rebels voted their most valuable players of 2013.

There were some very good performances from the Rebels players this year. Gary Green stepped in to pitch when we lost Jason Pullin to injury before the season started. Gary showed on more than one occasion why he is an extremely good pitcher and solid player. Gemma Jones built on her MIP award in 2012 with a very good year, a .500 batting average with 13 RBIs was a very productive return at the top of the order. So the bar was very high. In the end the Rebels players voted for Chris “Fletch” Fletcher and Ellie Wheeler.

This was Fletch’s first season with the club, he joined to play a midweek sport to supplement his cricket. As it turns out, Softball trumps cricket in the enjoyment stakes for him. His cricket background was a real advantage from day one, he showed he was very capable of picking up the required techniques and rules. His numbers were very impressive, batting .583 with 21 RBIs and 3 home runs. He was second overall in the club for Put Outs (38) and Assists (24), only Gary Green topped these numbers. When it mattered in games he made the plays. Fletch can be very proud of his season, especially as he went on to represent the club at the League All-Star game and won the MVP for that game too. He and the club can look forward to a great 2014.

Ellie also was new to the club this year. A product of our partnership with Sir William Borlase Grammar School Ellie has natural sporting ability. She played both for the Royals and Rebels this year and won an army of fans where ever she played, including some GB scouts. Her numbers were equally as impressive as Fletchs, even more so when you factor in she only played 7 games for the Rebels. She batted .576, highest female in the club, scored 11 runs and hit 16 RBIs. Like Fletch Ellie went on to represent the club at the League All-Star game and also picked up an MVP award, what made this even more special was the fact she was called up to the Division 1 squad to replace an injury withdrawal. It will be a busy winter for Ellie, apart from her hockey commitments, she will be attending the BSUK Academy. This will certainly help her development and the club too.

Congratulations to the Fletch and Ellie, and to all the Rebels players who put in such a fantastic effort this season.

League Season Review: Maidenhead Rebels

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The 2013 season was a very good one for the Rebels.

Their 5th place finish with an 8-8 record was the first time since 2010 they ended the season without a losing record. This becomes even more impressive when you consider over the course of the season the squad included 7 under 16 players and 3 players who had never played softball before this season, plus they lost their starting pitcher before a game was played.

A lot was said about last seasons performances, it’s still a mystery to the coaching staff why that team only won one game and more so when the core of the 2013 squad was made up of the same players. So going into the season opener away at Ascot Blue Jays, one of the stronger teams in the division, there was a little anxiety around whether the team was prepared enough. In the end this turned out to be one of the games of the season that went right down to the wire. The 15-12 victory was the perfect start to the season and hopes raised that this was going to be a good season.

May, in the end, turned out to be a poor month for the Rebels. Following the joy at Ascot, came the despair of Bracknell. The 17-7 defeat was a heavy enough blow, but the game also saw the team and club loose another pitcher. Adrienne Elly suffered a season ending leg injury that cost the club her services not only for the rest of season, but as later found out, all of the 2014 season too. May ended with the Rebels finally playing at home. However they came up against a very strong RP Falcons team who took the points with a 17-11 victory.

June started with another away day. This time to the newly opened Farnham Park facility. It was a tremendous honour to be the first visiting team to play a league game on these fantastic dirt diamonds. However, the performance on the day and the Rebels went down to one of the heaviest defeats of the season, losing 30-15 to the Chalfont Firebirds. So going into the first double header of the year against the bottom placed Marlow Mariners, the Rebels were looking to improve their 1-3 record. The Rebels made hard work of a series split, winning 13-12 in game one, but losing 8-6 in game too, Marlow’s only success of the year, left the Rebels with a .500 record 2-4.

That second win of the year had already ensure the Rebels had bettered their 2012 win record, but still the team had the potential for much more. The next seven weeks proved to be the best of the year. First up in the sequence was the always fun trip to BA to take on the Flyers. The long trip across the country was worth the traffic as the Rebels took a hard fought game 13-9. This set up the opportunity for back to back wins when the RP Hawks came to town. This was the pivotal game of the season, for the first time the Rebels fielded 4 under 16s. Their combined output of 10 runs and 11 RBI’s helped the Rebels to a 30-10 victory. The perfect preparation before meeting the then pace setting Rattlesnakes.

The magic of the previous week was missing against the Rattlesnakes and while game 1 was close, Rebels going down 11-5, the second game turned into a rout as the Rebels suffered their heaviest defeat of the year losing 24-1. Going into the bye week, the Rebels sat in mid-table with a 4-6 record. The bye week also saw the annual inter-club game. With the Royals taking both games last season, the Rebels were out for revenge. In the two game friendly, the Rebels shocked their higher place relatives and won both games. The start of a winning sequence that would run through till August.

July ended with two home games. The much anticipated return games against Ascot then Bracknell. Neither disappointed. In an equally close affair to their first game, the Rebels came from behind to beat Ascot 11-8, followed by another come from behind win to get revenge on Bracknell 7-6. These two results set up the possibility of a 4th place finish as the Rebels entered August with a 6-6 record.

August started with the Rebels gaining revenge on the RP Falcons, 20-7, to complete a sequence, that included the inter-club game, of 5 wins on bounce and improve the Rebels record to a winning one of 7-6.

Unfortunately that didn’t last, the champions elect Chalfont Firebirds came to town and showed why they were the team to beat this season. The 29-9 victory set them up for a dramatic last two games to decide the league title. The Rebels had RP Hawks and BA Flyers left to try and regain that winning record.

The RP Hawks game turned into another away day horror for the Rebels, out batted on the night, the 20-5 score line left them needing to win their last home game against BA to salvage an 8-8 record.

The last game came and like the first ended with a Rebel win, 14-11, in a very good season closer.

It was a roller-coaster season, 8 wins and 8 defeats. Some great displays, some less so. The bottom line is that out of this season emerged a foundation for next. The under 16s showed what talent they bring, next year they will all be a year older and had more training time. The new players have season under their belt and improved no end. The Rebels are primarily a development team and this year they fulfilled that role and more. Next season the aim is to have a winning record.

Rebels All-Star Representatives.

Ellie Wheeler, Gary Green, Chris Fletcher.

Top 3 Games

1 16th May 2013. Ascot Blue Jays 12, Rebels 15.

2 18th July 2013. Rebels 11, Ascot Blue Jays 8.

3 25th July 2012 Rebels 7, Bracknell Scorchers 6.

Errors cost Rebels in fight for fourth

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The Rebels went down to a heavy 29-9 defeat to the Chalfont Firebirds in their fight for 4^th place. A series of errors in two innings cost the Rebels 16 runs and handed the initiative for the Division 2 title back to the Firebirds.

The game started evenly as, what looked on paper, to evenly matched teams set about each other. The Rebels taking a 2-1 lead after one and the Firebirds levelling it at 5-5 after two. For the Rebels, that was as good as it got. The Firebirds edged ahead 7-5 after 3 innings before the first of the two nightmare innings came to haunt the Rebels. 4 errors lead to 6 Firebird runs to one Rebel run left them leading 13-6. The Rebels thought that we back in the game by holding the Firebirds in the 5^th and getting two runs back, but the 6^th inning saw the Firebirds score 10 runs on 6 Rebel errors to seal the game. For good measure the 6 more Firebirds runs in the 7^th completed an emphatic win and a season double over the Rebels.

The story of the game for the Rebels was a familiar one, for the majority of the game the defence holds the opposition, but too many errors together cost them too many runs, and while this defeat ended a sequence of 3 league wins in a row, in those wins the Rebels batting had been below par. That weakness in the batting was exposed by a team who took full advantage of any error the Rebels made to pile on runs.

To highlight the good defence, the Rebels infield accounted for 17 of the 21 outs in the game, Gemma Jones leading the way with 6 put outs. Batting was led by Chris Fletcher, Captain Gary Green and Ellie Wheeler, all going 2 for 3 on the night.

The result meant the Firebirds remain second in the table, two points behind the Rattlesnakes, but with a game in hand. The Rebels moved level on points with Bracknell with their losers point, but have an inferior run difference. Both teams are only a point ahead of Ascot who have a game in hand on both.