Victory at last for Marlow

This was the performance that Marlow had been threatening for several weeks. All the improvements that have been taking place in recent weeks were very much on display again at the North Maidenhead Cricket Club as the Mariners won their first game in the Windsor and Maidenhead District Mixed Softball League, beating the Maidenhead Rebels 8-6 in the second game of a double header.

The first game had been close and despite Marlow taking an early 7-0 lead, fate conspired against them as the Rebels scored a grand slam home run in the 4th inning to go 13-12 ahead and claim victory. The double header meant the game was brought to an early finish and so prevented any possible comeback by the Mariners.

The fact that Marlow had dominated the game meant this defeat was perhaps the hardest to accept. Fortunately there was no time to dwell on it and immediately the players moved on to game two. As with the first game, Marlow took an early lead but this time there was no throwing it away. With the light fading, the ballgame was called at the end of the fifth innings and the celebrations could begin.

During the course of the evening the Mariners put on an excellent display of softball. Batters were consistently hitting and despite their relative inexperience are managing to target their swings and aim where they hit the ball. Fielding was good throughout with the outfielders growing in confidence all the time, making sure that anything that comes their way is caught, or at the very least stopped and relayed quickly back to the infield. The infielders have developed an excellent partnership ensuring no batter can hit to the infield and stay in.

All this has been evident in previous games. What was crucial in these games was the lack of unforced errors. All too often, these errors have allowed the opposition to walk to the home plate, scoring runs unchallenged, but the lessons have now been learnt. Excellent pitching meant that very few of the Rebels got to walk and only once did the ball get thrown into the dead ball area.

With confidence high, all the players are keen to get back to the field as soon as possible and claim their second victory. The disappointment for Marlow is that they have no game next week so have to wait two weeks before they return to the field to take on Bracknell Scorchers at Westmorland Park.