The 18-19 October 2008 saw the first ever British University baseball championships played at Nottingham's Grove Farm sports fields. University baseball competitions have been run on and off for the past 10 years in the UK, but this was the first official student-only tournament, run under the watchful eye of the newly formed British University Baseball Association (BUBA).  A full run down of the results can be found at the bottom of this news item.

The future of University Baseball

The British University Baseball Association have several more events planned for the coming year. A university league system will be in place to start in March 2009, with playoffs in June after the exams, the infamous “Drunken Cup” will take place at Easter, featuring both university and British Baseball Federation sides, and the University All-star team will once again be entering the London tournament in July. BUBA Director of Development Adam Brown is very keen for new university sides to be formed and strongly encourages any interested students to get in touch with him at exec@unibaseball.co.uk.

“BUBA can offer all sorts of help and advice to potential teams. We can offer coaching support, discounts on uniforms and equipment, and, most importantly, a league to join as soon as the team is ready. University Baseball is really taking off in a big way right now, and there is plenty of interest out there at the universities. All it takes is one person to get the ball rolling!”

For more information, check out www.unibaseball.co.uk

Championship Report

Five team took part in the event, the University of Durham Bishops, the UEA Blue Sox, the University of Southampton Mustangs, and joint favourites, the University of Oxford Kings and the University of Nottingham Thieves. The Thieves, hoping to make it three straight university competitions in a row, breezed through the first round of matches, qualifying for the semi-finals with two comfortable victories. There they were joined by the Kings, who looked in particularly ominous form, dismantling UEA in the opening game of the tournament, before star pitcher Thomas O'Ban threw a no-hitter against the University of Durham. A 5-5 tie in the final group game saw the Mustangs and the Blue Sox gain the point needed to pip Durham into the semi-finals.

The Thieves fancied themselves to beat longtime rivals Southampton in the first semi-final, but found themselves staring down the barrel after digging themselves a 4-0 hole in the first inning, punctuated by a 3 run shot from Mustangs outfielder Lin. A superb relief performance from Nottingham head coach Tatsuya Yogo, in his first outing off the DL, quietened the Mustang bats however, giving the Thieves the chance to claw their way back into the game, leaving it delicately poised 6-6 with two innings to go. But long balls from Adam Brown and Craig Sinclair soon broke the deadlock, leaving Nottingham the eventual 12-6 winners.

Grove Farm was rocked by a remarkable result over in the second semi-final where a much improved performance from the UEA offense saw them gain revenge for their first round drubbing by the Kings, as they tore into the Oxford pitching with 13 base-hits, seeing them hold off several Oxford comebacks to sneak through 14-11. Zach Garlitos picked up the win for the Blue Sox.

So onto the final, which saw the Thieves and the Blue Sox battle it out for a place in history. It all looked over bar the shouting as the Thieves strolled out to a 7-1 advantage after only two innings, but, perhaps distracted by the BBQ on the sidelines, complacency crept in,  and Nottingham mistakes allowed UEA to come back strong to take a 9-8 lead going into the final inning. Galled at the thought of throwing it all away, the Thieves cleared their heads and rallied with a 5 run inning, and shut down the UEA offense to record a famous victory by 14 runs to 9.

Oxford gained some consolation in the plate final by ousting the University of Durham 15-5, with home runs from Tom Williams, Dan Semelsberger, and a grandslam from Paul Boland leading the way.