2005 BBF Season Preview
 In
2005, there is a healthy forty-five teams competing across
the British Baseball Federation Leagues, among these nine
clubs (multi-team organisations). Once again, the BBF and
managing agency BaseballSoftballUK are pleased to welcome
a number of new or returning members to the BBF Leagues: Burgess
Hill, who have run a youth club for many years, enter a senior
team to Division 1 South, whilst a boom in the midlands ball
scene has led to the creation of a Midlands division of Division
1, in which Birmingham Bulldogs, Milton Keynes Hitmen and
Solihull Storm will be new participants. Additionally, Cambridge
Monarchs and Herts Falcons have expanded to run second teams,
while Richmond entered a fourth league team in the Riverdogs.
A change in the National League South sees Windsor Bears
depart, with the club’s second team – the Division
1 South Royals – taking on the Bears moniker as well
as a number of the remaining roster. The Bears had been the
League’s most consistently strong team in the last two
years, National League South Title winners and National Champions
in 2003, NL South Title winners and National League Final
4 runner-up in 2004. However, the new-era Bears will play
in the third-tier of the league system and it will be interesting
to view how the merge affects their final positioning.
The structure of the BBF Leagues and tournaments is essentially
the same this season. The wood bat National League, the UK’s
top level, will run in South and North divisions, the best
from each meeting in playoffs and then the Final 4 National
Championships in September.
The second tier of play is the aluminium bat Premier Division
South, which plays towards the Premier Division Final 4, while
an expanded Division 1 allows third-tier teams to compete
for places in the Division 1 Final 4 between now and September.
BBF Opening Day
The British Baseball Federation Leagues launched the 2005
season with opening day on Sunday, April 10, as the 2004 National
Champions, the Croydon Pirates, played a double-header against
the Bracknell Blazers and the Richmond Flames in the National
League South.
This season opener starts the UK season which runs thru until
the Final 4 National Championships in September.
Croydon surprised everyone last year in just qualifying for
the Final 4. In 2003, the team had a below .500 regular season
average, and many expected the team to fall out of the 2004
Final 4 tournament just as quickly as they seemed to slip
into it. However, the Pirates shut out their first opponent,
the National League North winners Liverpool Trojans, 9-0.
In the second game, they battled from behind to defeat the
London Warriors 14-12, thus reaching the final game against
the Windsor Bears, which they won 12-10.
The National League is split into two regions of five and
six teams, in the South and North respectively. Whilst the
National League is a wood bat league, the regional divisions
beneath it use aluminium bats. In addition to the Pirates’
games on Sunday, the Division 1 South will be hosting other
games. The majority of teams across all the leagues begin
their season the weekend of Sunday 17 April.
|