James Turner
After missing out on qualifying for finals day last year, our U9 had unfinished business with the county-wide softball competition.
With numbers increasing Cowdrey entered two teams into the Kent Forty5 tournament. Unfortunately, both paired together, we entered the local heats over June and July against Offham, Kings Hill and Castle Hill. At the end of the heats, Cowdrey finished the group in first and second place meaning we would have representation on the Finals Day during September. News broke that our second team had just missed out on the best runner-up, nevertheless, a fantastic achievement.
In preparation for Finals Day, we entered the Tunbridge Wells annual softball festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend for the first time. A mixed squad was taken where we again enjoyed success against Bromley, Tunbridge Wells, Southborough and Linden Park. Four victories led us to the final where we came up against a strong Old Elthamians side and in a hard-fought match we finished just short and proudly took the runner-up spot.
All focus was then moved to the main event. Kent Finals day was held at Upchurch CC on Sunday 18th September. A squad of 10 enjoyed a fun-packed day along with the best 12 softball teams from around Kent as they battled it out to be crowned Kent’s premier U9 side.
In the group stages, we were grouped against Penshurst, Bromley and Catford Cyphers and with 3 victories we topped the group. We then came up against Old Elthamians in the semi-final who we had lost against in the final of the TWCC final a few weeks before. But a fantastic team performance saw us overcome Old Elthamians and march into the final against Bearsted CC.
Strong bowling, excellent catching and fielding had been a feature of the day and the final was no different. We restricted Bearsted to a more than chaseable target. Our batsmen set about chasing it down, knowing that not losing wickets would see the team crowned champions. Every batsman batted sensibly throughout the final and, after seeing out the last over, Cowdrey were crowned Kent U9 2022 champions! An unbelievable achievement by such a talented squad of players.