The Monmouth Rockets joint schools softball club triumphed at the end of April when they won the Manchester Softball League’s Bronze Cup. Success didn’t seem likely at first with the Rockets getting off to an awful start. Sluggish after a three hour drive, both glove and bat let them down and they managed to scrape just one win from three against heavy hitting and very experienced local sides, although a win in the final match of the end of the day did give them hope.
That hope seemed to be dashed when the second day also started with a loss against a team they should have beaten,
but after that the rockets hit their stride and began to bat and field with more confidence. With Yaroslav, David and Luke taking catches and hitting big home runs the team finally had the edge it needed and the rockets did not lose again. Having scraped their way into the semi-final they came up against a Manchester team called the Bats who hit big, threw fast and had players who began their softball careers before most of the Rockets were born. The match was very tight and only superb fielding from the Rockets kept the Bats within reach. The final innings was crucial and the Rockets stepped up with some crunching hits under pressure that earned a flurry of runs and an unexpected 11-7 victory.

Given how close the semi-final was the Rockets approached the final against the Rebels with apprehension, but it turned out to be a much more one sided affair and, with the Rockets peaking at the right time, they ran away 12-0 winners. Special mention goes to Yaroslav (School House) for some monster hits with the bat and David (New House) for being a solid all round player in his fist event and for a 30 yard sprinting catch that will live long in the memory. Issie (HMSG) received MVP for the final but everyone stepped up and altogether both new and experienced players all did their part in winning the latest addition to the Rockets trophy cabinet. A special thanks also goes to Miss Barson for her invaluable help over the weekend.