Softball Saturday

Disclaimer: The contributor acknowledges his lack of familiarity when it comes to softball (other than the stuff he read on wikipedia) and hence would like to apologize sincerely for any errors in terminologies and observations. Also, he only slept 2 hours the night before, so cut him some slack, pweeeaseeee!!!

NUS Field Thing (The one next to the Science Car Park), Saturday, 14^th August 2010 – After playing the Acers and C-Towners during the qualifying rounds, the Eekers faced the C-Towners again at the Inter-Block Games Softball Finals. After a long-fought battle that kept the spectators at the edge of their seats, the Eekers eventually triumphed over the C-Towners, earning themselves the glory of being the winner of the IBG Softball.

The qualifying matches started at around 8am. Despite being an early Saturday morning, the competitors were not showing any signs of school-induced fatigue. Even before the start of the first match between the Eekers and the C-Towners, all the blocks were busy warming up and, for those new to the sport, taking a crash course in playing softball.

Eekers vs C-Towners

The opening match of the IBG Softball did not disappoint. The Eekers scored an early homerun when it was their turn to bat. Coupled by a weak defence mounted by the C-Towners, the Eekers ended the top half of the first inning way below the time limit, as they had scored the maximum 7 points.

The bottom half saw a significant improvement in the C-Towners’ performance. Most notably, Block C’s star player, Abhi, batted spectacularly and a catch by a Block C catcher sent one of the Eekers’ Star player out.

During the 2^nd inning, the Eekers maintained a solid balance of offensive and defensive strategies, whereas the C-Towners defended aggressively. Eventually, the Eekers triumphed with the score 7-4.

Batting like a pro

Acers vs Beekers

The 2^nd qualifying match was a rather intense match, as both the Beekers and the Acers were equally skilful. Hence, at the end of the top half of the 1^st inning, the score remained at 0-0.

During the bottom half, the Acers displayed an aggressive approach to batting. Though marred by near misses like forgetting to touch the home base, the Acers brought an early end to the 1^st inning by reaching the maximum 7 points short of the 5-minute time limit.

During the 2^nd inning, the Beekers stepped up their batting performance to the point of breaking the Acers’ tight defense. Their efforts proved fruitful; the Beekers scored 2 consecutive hits.

Eventually, the Acers won the game through their consistent performance in batting and defending.

Final Score: 9-2

Pep Talk

C-Towners vs Deeblockers

The 3^rd Qualifying match started off as a rather close match. Both the Deeblockers and C-Towners were on par with one another in batting and catching. At the end of the top half, the C-Towners gained an edge over the Deeblockers, with the score 2-0.

However, during the bottom half, signs of miscommunication and confusion started to show amongst the Deeblockers’ catchers. The C-Towners took the opportunity to bat at their best. C-Towners Abhi and Joseph Lee batted spectacularly and helped their team collect 6 points during the top half of the 2^nd inning.

During the 2^nd inning, the Deeblockers’ mayhem continued. Possibly intimidated by the C-Towners’ batting performance, the Deeblockers’ batting line up was, to a certain extent, dismal. Mistakes like the batter on the 1^st base not moving to the 2^nd base cost the Deeblockers dearly.

It was only at the bottom half that the Deeblockers managed to step up their defence. However, the C-Towners batted spectacularly yet again and eventually won the game with an amazing score of 13-1.

Dee-Cup (very) Pro

Eekers vs. Acers

This match between the Eekers and Acers was highly anticipated, as both the blocks had displayed their prowess in the sport in earlier games. Hence, it came as no surprise that the game was an extremely close match filled with many nail-biting moments.

The level of excitement reached a whole new level during the 2^nd inning, where the Eekers squeezed in 2 points just before the end of the 5 minutes. Also, Eeker Taylor batted far out and scored a home run.

The Acers retaliated during the bottom half, where Acer Sharon attempted a home run under extremely risky circumstances. The Acers’ efforts pulled off and the 2^nd inning ended with the score 5-7.

The drama continued during the 3^rd inning, as both the Acers and Eekers were both very determined to outdo one another. In the end, the Acers won the game marginally with the Eekers only one point behind. Final score: 9-10.

Eyeing the ball

Beekers vs. Deeblockers

Having learnt much from their match against the C-Towners, the Deeblockers put on a great performance against the Beekers. Still, the their performance was not as outstanding as that of the Beekers. The Beekers batted and defended consistently and won the game eventually with the score 8-4.

FINALS: Eekers vs. C-Towners

Both blocks, having had a spectacular run during the qualifying rounds, performed excellently. Batting was great for both the blocks, even though block C’s performance did dip slightly due to the absence of one of their star-players. Defence-wise, both teams defended strongly and there was good communication between the players. The Eekers fought particularly hard and was eventually rewarded with the glory as being the winning team for the IBG Softball 2010 with the score 7-4.

For more photos, please visit the IBG Softball Photo Album