Saturday in the sun

Fiona and her Voodoo pen

Shower on Sunday

You're benched

Ben

Amy

Kristina batting

Photos of BA tournament

Mike contemplates just how good Selma's brownies really are

Baron Samedi 'what a mouthful!'

(Injured) Ichiro calmly looks on in the rain

Baron Samedi's Voodoo instruments- remember don't let the drum get wet!

Captain Seth working on the lineup

Mike is definitely 'The Man' for getting the team the gazebo. Great for getting out of the sun (and as it turns out, the rain!)

Sonic Boom re energises after a couple of hyperspeed runs earlier in the day

The lovely Miss Loco. Even the rain can't dampen her spirits

Tee Hee happy that the sun has come out

Sonic Boom and Miss Loco stuffing their faces

Mojo does his best Dr Evil impression

Selma showing us her baking skills are top notch

We Voodoos give the the Godzillas a run for their money, check out the park bench under the colour coordinated team gazebo.

Luis complete with his new 'lucky' green belt

Seth shows us how it's done.

Seth complete with slide mark on shirt from his heroic head first dive into 2B

Unstoppable Voodoos finish third in Grandslam 1

Baron Samedi wrote:

The unstoppable and almost unbeatable Voodoo softball machine batted andfielded their way to third place in the GrandSlam I tournament in Chiswick on the weekend of 2-3 June.

It was already scorching when the Voodoos assembled at Duke's Meadow at 8.30am on Saturday morning, but forward-thinking Mike had come prepared with a fantastic team gazebo, which was ceremonially hand-woven by witchdoctors using the sinews of the Voodoos' enemies and infused with their tears. It provided welcome shade all day and a place for the Voodoos to convene to plan their opponents' downfall. Dedicated and injured co-captain Seth plotted furiously there for the whole of Saturday.

The first game was against the Kamikazees. The Voodoos started strongly, scoring five runs in the first innings. Co-captain Lance and superstar Luis did several good hits and Lance pitched well. Second baseman and ball magnet Stu was possessed by spirits and shouted unearthly words of encouragement throughout. In the end it was a fairly easy game for the Voodoos, and they won by 12 runs to 2.

The next game was against the Cheetahs, a tough team with a penchant for violence. The Voodoos got off to a slow start, being shut out in the first innings, but fought back like injured tigers in the next innings, scoring an amazing eight runs. Wise woman Morag offered words of advice to team mates in between stepping up to smash the ball and Gavin hit like a softball demon. That eight-run innings sealed their victory, and the final score was 11 runsto 5 (or 6).

Next up to face the Voodoo machine was the Mob in the first of three back-to-back games. The sun was at its zenith and the Voodoos were approaching the height of their softball powers. The Voods were in controlfor the whole game, going three runs ahead and increasing the lead as the game wore on. The Mob scored two in the first innings but were unable to score any more runs thanks to staunch Voodoos defending. Left fielder Fiona did a good catch. Outfielders Mike and Luis plucked balls from the air like apples. First basewoman Tanya was unstoppable in hitting and fielding. Pitcher Jen stayed cool throughout and struck out several players. The gamefinished 8-2.

Meteors 3 were next on the Voodoo hitlist. The Voodoos won convincingly against Meteors 3 at LSF First Ball and were hoping for a repeat performance. Meteors were ahead by three runs for the first two innings, but the Voodoos had a fantastic third innings, batting round the order and scoring 11 runs. Ben pitched well and Selma stayed cool at the plate and did a great hit. They could have carried on for hours, but realised they needed to get out to avoid running out of time and the score reverting back to the last innings, which would have meant victory for the Meteors. So unselfish Kristina, who had scored two runs (as did Luis, Mike and Stu), sacrificed herself by getting the final out to ensure victory for the Voodoos.

Saturday's final game was against TV Tigers. The Tigers made offerings ofchocolate and fruit to the Voodoos, which were greatly appreciated. Gavin was a formidable shortstop, Mike scored three runs and Jen did well on first base. However, it seems that the offerings appeased the enraged Voodoo spirits, and the game finished with a draw, 11 runs apiece.

Lance, Seth, Jen and Stu were unable to come on Sunday, but Sergio and Amy were present and hungry for victory. However, the Voods only had the bare minimum squad of 10 players. Tired, weakened and sunburned, the team started their Sunday morning with one of the toughest games of the tournament against Raiders Gold. Ben stepped up to the challenge of the pitcher's mound and scored one of the three runs the team managed to get. Third basewoman Fiona got some good outs, as did left fielder Amy, but the game ended 12-3 to Raiders Gold.

But the Voodoo spirit was unshakeable. They had faith in themselves and inthe deities watching over them. And that faith was repaid with a terrific victory against Raiders Blue, who the Voodoos beat at LSF First Ball. TheVoodoos scored seven runs in the first innings. Morag batted well and made several crucial outs at second base. Miss Loco Kristina showed steely discipline at the plate. Luis got a home run and speedy Ben powered round the bases. Sergio scored three runs. The team was 10-5 ahead and scored afurther six runs in the final innings, which were discounted as time ran outand the score reverted back to the last innings.

The last round robin game of the day was against Common People, who the Voodoos had beaten at the GB Slowpitch Open tournament a few weeks previously. However, these particular Common People were not as common asthe previous ones, and they proved to be a tough team. The Voodoos scored three runs in the first innings but were unable to notch up any more. It was not their greatest game and the final score was 8-3 to the CPs. The final reckoning for the Voodoos was five wins, one draw and two losses,a result which was good enough to propel them into third place overall inComp C. They reached the Comp C Trophy semi-final against Common People. It was a second chance to defeat the Common People nemesis. No team has ever beaten the Voodoos twice and lived to tell the tale. Team spirit anddetermination was strong. However, this game was even tougher than the last one. The team played well - Kristina got on base every time she stepped upto bat. Fiona did a fantastic hit and Ben and Gavin hit solidly. In spite ofthis, the Voods' scoresheet remained blank, although Sergio was unlucky not to score after being obstructed at home plate. The Voods were 9-0 down but Fiona reminded the team that they had scored more than 9 runs in one game before and the team never gave up. Unfortunately in spite of this unerringself-belief they were unable to get back into the game and the final score was 9-0.

And so another successful tournament for the Voodoos came to an end. For the second time this season, they finished third (or maybe fourth) overall. If this is what the Voodoos can achieve in only their first season playing together, the world of softball must be trembling with fear to imagine the havoc they will wreak on their opponents in a year's time, in ten years' time, and in an eternity's time.

Miss Loco said:

Dearest Team, VOODOOS WERE UNDEFEATED IN THE GRAND SLAM ON SATURDAY!!! What an amazing day we had. Well done to everyone and hope you are not going to suffer too much tomorrow morning. Seth, Lance, Stu and Selma: We really missed you today, guys. Although all of us were totally knackered, we won one game and lost 3, but we still enjoyed ourselves. Resh, thanks for coming to see us!!!! I have taken lots of pictures of you guys, but I will get some sleep first and send them during the week. :-)

"I BELIEVE IN VOODOOS, I DO, I DO!!!!! Kristina xxx

Ichiro said:

Just to echo Kristina's "big-up" to the voodoos.

To remain undefeated on Saturday was a great achievement. I've played in a number of tournaments with different teams and I've never been part of a performance like that before, especially given that we had 3 gruelling games in a row during the sizzling afternoon. Kudos to all.

Sunday proved to be a bit hard going with Jen not able to make it due to illness and Miss Loco missing her loco ( :-] ) ahead of the 9am start. We did manage to pinch a player from SPAM and field a hastily arranged line up for the first game, but it was a bit too much to ask to pull out a win against Raiders Gold. However, we had a solid win over Raiders Blue (even with a six run inning wiped out due to the count back rule).

We ended up finishing an excellent 3rd in the round robin (out of 9 teams), but unfortunately, with just the 10 of us, we basically ran out of gas during the semi-final (myself especially, after limping around with a dodgy hamstring for the last 2 and a half games!).

Highlight of the weekend? Mike bringing the gazebo is beaten into second place by that 12 run inning against Meteors 3.

Thanks again to Seth for his organisation. It was commented that it did seem a bit weird on Sunday without either Seth or Lance there (our own personal yin and yang of Voodoos softball). Also thanks to Ben for his captaincy on Sunday, to Sergio for bolstering the male numbers, and, well, to everyone for being willing to switch things around and keep the spirits up.

This has been an excellent start in our first few tournaments together and we are only going to get better, so plenty to be encouraged about!

Look forward to seeing you all soon, Gavin

Tee Hee wrote:

Another excellent write-up Fiona!! Well done everyone on another excellent tournament. I know we all want to get even better though, so how about a practice either this Sunday or next? I would prefer the next but will go with the majority. 11o'clock in Regent's Park as usual followed by lunch at the EdinboroCastle. See you Friday also with Mrs Tee Hee.

Selma wrote:

Well done everyone....I am proud to be called Voodoo......Loved Fiona's take on the tournament...you're in the wrong job Fi......