Portland Pirates

After last weeks game to forget.... the Pirates sailed out onto Regents Park to face off against last years (to be honest almost every year...) league champions Cap Gemini.

Previous games against Cap have resulted in losses, 7-23 and 12-24. Although again this was a defeat every Pirate showed their intent and it was an incredibly close game losing by just 2 runs. In fact it was a game that was there to win, and if we had been full strength or were a little luckier with the bounce of the ball..... just maybe. A huge cheer for everyone, and as JB would say this will send a message to the rest of the league correcting last week.

Although as always everyone played great, a real team result, I have to admit memorable moments for me were Cap Gemini's young upstart and representative of the GB team stepping up to bat and being caught out by Pau repeatedly. And having their coach and captain stepping in to bat because he was worried they could not hold on to the lead and win. Well done everyone!

Come on Pirates! Lets get to the final again, and take this years trophy out from under these Cap Gemini, invaders to our advertising league from another sector.

Calling all Pirates.......

We'll just put this one behind us and move onwards and upwards, and I promise no more holidays.

Next its time to overcome the might of Cap Gemini.

The Engine Group Derby......... another great game, The Pirates continue to rumble on through Division 1 undefeated, what more really needs to be said; the pre match banter, the buying of more booze than should ever be associated with sport, the tension building, no mention of innings 5..... But here are a few in-game and post game snippets, all the photos and videos can be found on Facebook.

Stephen - 1:05.6
Alan    - 1:06.5
Andy    - 1:08.5

As I am sure some of you have heard me mention, The Players Tournament (TPT) is a four day tournament held in the U.S each year for teams from advertising leagues around North America and Europe.

Each year the LASL select a ‘rookie’ team (people who are new to the game) who are trained up and taken to the tournament to compete with established teams.

Previous trips have been to locations such as San Diego, Phoenix and Palm Springs, this year we return to Tucson. Games are played on full sized baseball diamonds the tournament, sponsored by Miller Genuine Draft is a fantastic opportunity to play great softball, with experienced teams in it’s home country.

If you want to know anything about the trials or TPT just ask myself, Ange or Alan in the park. And if you want to sign up for the chance to have an awesome trip to the states or just a chance for some great training and a few more beers in the park, let me know and when this years forms are sent to me, I'll let you know. You can also find out more about TPT, or watch the videos from last year on the TPT website

Trial dates are set over 3 weeks in June, 3 Monday nights (14th, 21st and 28th) and finally 1 Friday night in July (on the 2nd).

Having overcome 'the panic' of a girl drought, we gathered on a scorching evening in Regents Park for 'The Pirate Derby', Portland versus Paddington. DDB's crew certainly didn't appear like pirates; smart uniforms and regimented pre game warm up training, whilst across the diamond as our motley crew gradually arrived we hit the beers and soaked up the rays.

With the eye of Moe providing a consitent Blue throughout, the game was a close one although we kept an edge and we took our knocks (especially Laura), but fought on to maintain our lead and finish a second game with a score of 19-14. Another good result versus the unknown DDB who had previously been division 2 champions.

Same time, same pitch next week for the 'Engine Group Derby' when we will be facing the challenge of our friends and colleagues throughout the building.....

This week the rabbles numbers were low, however we numbered 9 and the game could start in the knowledge that Laura was running from the office and whip of work.

Again we were slow to warm up versus the Glove Muppets who appeared serious and beerless. Confident we would soon be warmed by the flow of our preferred poisons, performance did indeed improve and we turned a gradually widening gap in the Muppets favour into a small lead in favour of the Pirates. Then finally the break through, a 6th innings smashing of 9 runs to break the will of the Muppets with a 19-7 lead going into the final innings. However the Muppets stood up and managed to narrow the gap well with another 7 runs but the victory was ours!

Well done again everyone, a fine start to the season with a draw and win versus a couple of the top teams.

The first game of the season came around pretty fast and the turn out of new players was fantastic with almost 20 pirates raiding Regents Park to spoil the expectations of Rainey Kelly.

The sun was shining but it was slow to warm us as we trailed behind Y&R throughout the game. Finally at the top of the 7th innings their stamina waivered and we rained in a 5 run gap to level the game, all that remained was to lock them out during their last innings at bat to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat. And we did. Well done everyone, it was great if a little chaotic leading such a large rabble.

Special mention should really go to all, with soo many newcomers you were all awesome. I hope everyone enjoyed it and makes their way out to future games.

The league news is finally in, and the full game schedule has been published.

To see it, in all its complex glory, just follow the 'Schedule' link at the top of this blog (a quick guide - all our games have been filled in red).

For those whose eyes glaze over at the sight of such a schedule, our first game is on Thursday the 20th May versus Rainey Kelly CR/Y&R on pitch 10.

Since next week is the last week before we start hitting the park, if anyone wants some more training time after work, a guide to the game or has any questions just let myself or Becs know and we will see what we can sort out for you.

With the start of the season getting ever closer I figure its time to get everyone into the park for some pre game warm ups, so if anyone fancies a little batting practice and a chance to try on your soon to be loved gloves, we will be heading up to the park after work this Thursday.

There may also be the chance of a mini game (depending on numbers), with some old friends from Blow Up Media and the Engine crew. Just send me an email so we have an idea of numbers.

A couple more dates for the diary, official league training evenings, to introduce all newcomers to the game, will take place next week on Wednesday the 28th and Thursday the 29th. Again let me know if you would like to attend.

Finally, it is the captains meeting tonight so we will soon know who we will be facing and when. More news to follow soon, and if you haven't yet signed up or confirmed your email subscription, do so soon to avoid missing any updates.

Another winter has passed, well almost.... After last years introduction to division one and some exceptional performances (fuelled by our usual pre game drinking), we made it all the way to the Final! It is time, yet again, to gather ourselves for more beer in the park, some softball, hopefully more sun and another great Engine Group Derby.

Now as always we have said goodbye to a few leavers over the months and hello to even more new starters, so spread the word, reminisce about good times and sign up for 2010.

To sign up for the team just click on any of the 'Sign Up' links, or Subscribe by email to receive all the news about the upcoming season. And to support our Engine wide drive towards a better digital understanding there are RSS, Facebook and Twitter feeds to follow.

If you have any questions or want to know more, just ask around. The season will start officially on May the 4th, so there are just a few short weeks left. There will be more news soon about official and unofficial pre season training / friendly games.