Author: Colum Lavery

by Colum Lavery

Softball Ireland & Baseball Ireland Announce Merger

Baseball Softball Ireland Created

Softball Ireland are delighted to confirm that the Board of Softball Ireland have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding with Baseball Ireland as the two federations merge into one national governing body. This important merger is expected to be finalised before the end of the year.

Once the formalities of recognition are completed with our respective international governing bodies, the new Federation, “Baseball Softball Ireland”, will be in a position to apply for recognition by Sport Ireland.

On a practical day to day basis, Softball Ireland and Baseball Ireland will continue to run our respective leagues and tournaments, however the merged body will work to identify strategic areas to develop the sport, particularly in the development of youth programmes.

Should you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact Colum Lavery at president@softball.ie 

Softball Ireland would like to thank the positive contribution of both the Softball Ireland and Baseball Ireland boards in finalising the merger.

We look forward to working with our colleagues from Baseball Ireland to continue to grow our respective games in Ireland.

The Co-Ed Slow Pitch National Team representing Ireland.
by Colum Lavery

Ireland Progress to Medal Round with perfect record

Ireland Top Group B Unbeaten

Day 2 Dominated

Updated: 19:45 July 17, 2019

Ireland started Day 2 of the European Championships unbeaten and top of the table and that is how the finished after setting their stall out and dominating both Bulgaria and Italy.

In the first game of the day, after a slow start against Bulgaria, Ireland took control half way through and never looked back finishing strong by scoring 12 runs in the bottom of 6 to beat a good Bulgaria team 20-4 (runs ahead rule).

Ireland then faced Italy in the afternoon game. Ireland dominated the game from start to finish and saw off Italy 20-12 to finish top of Group B with four wins as the first round of the tournament comes to a close. This was the first win of any Irish national softball team over European powerhouse Italy.

Ireland finish the first round unbeaten and above defending champions Germany.

 

Moving Forward

Ireland now progress to the next round of the tournament and as B1, Ireland will play Great Britain, the winner of Group A tomorrow at 17:45 Irish Time. The benefit of going unbeaten through the first round is that Ireland bring forward a 2 win and 0 loss record by virtue of beating Germany and Belgium as we take on the top 3 teams from Group A.

At the end of the next round robin phase, the final will be contested by the top two teams and bronze by the teams ranked 3 and 4.

A phenomenal start to the tournament and Ireland now carry some real momentum into the medal round.

Softball Ireland hope to stream tomorrow’s evening’s game on our Facebook page and all the results and schedules may be found by clicking here.

The schedule for the next phase of games is outlined below – Ireland are B1 in Group C.

Home plate with a bat, balls and helmet.
by Colum Lavery

Co-ed Slowpitch Euro 2019 Preview

Months of hard-work is now turning into reality. In a couple of days Ireland’s competitive campaign will begin at the Coed Slowpitch European Championships 2019. There have been knocks, fractures, good days and bad days but nothing can break the spirit or determination of this team. There is a belief within this team. Ireland is in a round robin group with Germany, Bulgaria, Italy & Belgium. Germany are the recent champions having won gold in 2017. In 2017, Ireland lost by 1 run in the first match vs Germany, beat them by 5 in their second meeting only for Germany to take the final game by 8 runs. It shows how close to the mark Ireland was. Bulgaria would have been the underdogs in 2017 however, took some scalps along the way. This year, they will be more experienced than a lot of the new teams entering. Belgium and Italy are longtime FastPitch competitors but first time in the SlowPitch competition. However, they both play in the Super-Cup.

So what is the goal for this Irish team?‘Goal for the team is to play cohesively as a unit in defence and offence towards our goal of gold. Players and coaches have put in a lot of hard work to get to this point and we look forward to it paying off. Ireland Abu.’ Senan Dormer, Head Coach. The team is not short of inspiration as Team Captain, Salvador Rizo has embraced his role with his well known passion and flair. ‘I believe that we have an strong team to win the tournament and the hard work should be rewarded. We should be strong mentally as well as physical.  We will enjoy every game playing at our best, Éire Abú!’ Dedication is not in short supply in this team either…Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Hehir who got married in Italy and will travel straight to Hungry for their honeymoon on the diamond!  Off the field there will be laughs and the ever so democratic, ‘Kangaroo Court’, we will look forward to the warm-ups where we will compete and bond when doing team tasks. But when the team lines out and Amhrán na bhFiann starts to play, our eyes will fill with tears and our hearts with passion. We will be a team who plays hard, plays for each other and plays for Ireland.  We have a job to do. Thank you to our club mates and the wider softball community for their support and well wishes. Make sure to follow the Softball Ireland Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and website for updates on the team performance.  You can follow play by play action for the tournament by clicking here Norma McIntyre

An infield softball.
by Colum Lavery

IOST 2019 Update

Hi softball legends! 

Julie Trundle and I have been working hard on some fun ideas for the social side of this year’s IOST! 

We have some exciting plans that we’d like to share with you below:

On Friday night we will be holding a fun quiz night with games. This will start at 9pm in the Sports Bar and we guarantee you’ll meet people that you never have before! We’ll have games like cornhole, beer pong, giant Jenga and lots more! 

Throughout Saturday we will have some fun photo frames circulating so teams can take some excellent pics to share on social media! 

Saturday night is party time at the Stables! As it’s the 30th anniversary of IOST, we are going to party like it’s 1989! We would love you to dress up (don’t panic though – this is optional) and there will be prizes for the best dressed team, so get those costumes ready! We’ll have glow sticks and 80s tunes (from a brand new DJ) and even a beer pong tournament! There will also be a BBQ at the stables starting at  approx 8pm. This will help to keep everyone together! We’ll confirm timings on this closer to the time, but please let your teams know that we’ll be seeing them on Saturday to sell tickets for €10! 

Just one thing to be aware of for Saturday night – the Stables now have a policy of no high heels and no open toed shoes – this is to avoid broken toes after a few sociables have been enjoyed! Please make sure your team know this in advance so they can pack the correct footwear! 

All weekend, we will be awarding some special IOST survival kits to some lucky people – we’ll keep the contents a surprise for now!! 

And the best news? On Sunday we have arranged an ice cream truck to provide free 99s for everyone – yummy! We have requested lovely weather, so this will be very welcome! 

See you in Limerick! 

Elaine B and Julie T

Click here for details on accommodation booking

University of Limerick
by Colum Lavery

IOST Accommodation Booking Now Available

IOST 2019 will be held on August 3 & 4, 2019 in the University of Limerick.

The 2019 tournament will be held at the newly installed state of the art pitches and teams will have a choice of accommodation across the campus.

Entry for the IOST is now open and teams wishing to enter should complete the form at the following link – IOST ENTRY FORM

Accommodation

Teams will have a choice of two types of accommodation for IOST 2019.

The new pitches are located a couple minutes walk away from the Kilmurry accommodation which are non- ensuite.

Should you wish to stay in the accommodation used in 2018 please choose Cappavilla.

Accommodation for 2019 should be booked using the following link – https://campuslifeweb.ul.ie/LimerickBnB/

Kilmurry non ensuite code           Softballkv

Cappavilla ensuite code                 Softballcv

Entertainment

There will be a social programme on the Friday and Saturday night to make the tournament equally enjoyable on and off the diamond.

As ever if there are any questions please email president@softball.ie 

by Colum Lavery

Ireland v USA – 12 Days To Go

Ireland v USA – 12 Days To Go

Its just 12 Days to Ireland take on World Number 1 USA in Donnybrook Stadium in what should be a wonderful night to showcase our sport to the masses.

Come out and support the girls in green on the night or try Softball in our fan village!

Entry is Free!

#WeBleedGreen

Thank you to Eithne Walsh for the wonderful hype video

https://youtu.be/l1yTukBTSRc

by Colum Lavery

Ireland to Host USA in inaugural Atlantic Challenge Cup

Ireland to Host USA in inaugural Atlantic Challenge Cup

Softball Ireland are delighted to announce that the Irish Women’s National Team will host the World Number 1 USA Jr Women’s National Team in Dublin on June 24, 2019 at 7.00pm for the inaugural Atlantic Challenge Cup.

Ireland will play World Number 1 USA as part of final leg of their short European tour having played France and Japan in Paris prior to arriving in Dublin.

For Ireland, ranked 12th in Europe and 22nd in the World, the game forms an important part of Irelands preparations for the European Championships and Olympic Qualification tournament which will held in the Czech Republic and Poland from June 30 – July 6, 2019.

Speaking on the opportunity to play USA in Dublin, Head Coach Melanie Cunningham (Director of Fastpitch) said “We are excited for this opportunity. Playing such a strong opponent will be sure to focus the team prior to travelling to the European Championships. Like the hockey team in 2018, this summer is softballs chance to showcase what a high performance women’s programme can accomplish.”

Softball Ireland President added “We would like to thank USA Softball for agreeing to extend their tour to include Ireland. There is a special relationship between both our countries and in particular between our two Softball boards. This is a great opportunity for us to showcase Softball to the wider community in Ireland and we hope to see a lot of fans on the night wearing green and supporting the team.

Team Ireland will be hoping to replicate the success of 2018 during which the Under 19 Women’s Team won silver and Under 22 Women’s Team one bronze at their respective European Championships.

The Ireland v USA game will be streamed live globally and will be available in the USA on usasoftball.com.

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities will be available for interested partners.

Media Queries

Please contact  – Colum Lavery

E: president@softball.ie

T: +353867708576

https://youtu.be/JQPTyRkGM94

Major League Baseball Logo
by Colum Lavery

Irish Coach to attend MLB Coach Development Programme

Jonathan Spielberg to attend MLB Coaches Camp

Softball Ireland are delighted to announce that Jonathan Spielberg will attend the MLB Coaches Development Programme in London on May 25/26, 2019.

The MLB camp is part of the legacy programme being ran by MLB in advance of the RedSox v Yankees London Series in June.

Jonathan is currently an assistant coach on the Slowpitch National Co-ed team that will travel to Hungary for the European Championships in July and was Head Coach of the Mens National Team in 2018.

Speaking on the invitation, Softball Ireland President Colum Lavery said, ” We would like to thank BSUK for the invitation to send coaches to the programme, we are delighted that Jonathan is attending and are delighted we can fund it through a development grant.”

by Colum Lavery

Co-Ed European Championship Squad Announced

2019 Co-Ed Slowpitch European Championship Squad Announced

Dublin May 8, 2019

Co-ed Slowpitch National Team manager Senan Dormer has announced the final squad for the 2019 European Championships which will take place in Budapest, Hungary from the 15 July to 20 July 2019.

                              Women

                                  Men

Ruth Casey

Kegs

Barry Casey

Kegs

Ruth Concannon

Ori-ginals

Brian Franks*

Renegade Reapers

Caryn Elmes

Batpak

Frank Geoghan

Dodder

Andrea Kavanagh

TNT

Brian Hehir

Ori-ginals

Emma Kilbride

Batpak

Eric Kelly

Ori-ginals

Norma McIntyre

Batpak

Simon Lewis

TNT

Julie Trundle

Dublin Bay Packers

Gary O’Shea

Batpak/Thunderbolts
   

Ben Reilly

Batpak
   

Sal Rizo

Batpak

* Denotes New Cap

 Management Team

Senan Dormer – Head coach

Jonathan Spielberg – Assistant Coach

Declan Burke – Assistant Coach

Paddy Donnelly – Assistant Coach

Karen Brady – Strength & Conditioning Coach

by Colum Lavery

Brian Walshe Cup 2019 – Schedule

The Schedule for the 2019 Brian Walshe Cup has been confirmed and may be accessed here. The tournament starts at 9.30am on April 27, 2019.

As with previous tournaments, the tournament will be used as a fundraising event for the Slowpitch National Team which is participating at the 2019 European Championships in July 2019.

Captains will receive their Captains pack by email.

ALSAA
by Colum Lavery

Entries for BWC Close on April 18

Entries for the Brian Walshe Cup will close on Thursday April 18, 2019. Teams may register through the registration link below. As with previous tournaments, the tournament will be used as a fundraising event for the Slowpitch National Team which is participating at the 2019 European Championships in July 2019. Entry fee is €150 per team.

 Click Here to Register