On Saturday, Septmeber 16th, the South Wales Dragons Blind Baseball team were the host team at the first ever Blind Baseball tournament in Wales, as part of the UK Blind Baseball Association’s series of festivals.
The day started fairly slowly, owing to errant meterological information about the actual dryness of the day. It rained until nearly noon, thereby delaying game play, for safety reasons. But, once underway, the day flowed smoothly, with South Wales starting the competition against tournament veterans Liverpool Trojans.
The Dragon’s lineup was: Martin Griffiths at 3rd base, Kuuku Kweku in left field, Gareth Lewis in center field, Daisy Davies at short stop, and Nathan Davies in right field. In game 3, Anita Davies joined the batting lineup as a substitute for Martin. Making her debut was Abi Davies, a young player from Mid Wales, who performed brilliantly on what was her first experience of the game, and played a game at short stop. Daisy Davies was a pinch runner for Gareth Davies. Swansea-based South Wales Dragons players Kuuku Kweku, Nathan Davies, and Lydia Garrett played their first games in Sheffield, alongside Martin Griffiths, helping out the team from Manchester. Lydia Garrett again played as the sighted second base player (SSB).
The team made a number of outs, competently fielding the ball and throwing it to SSB Lydia. They kept a clean sheet during the day, allowing no runs in against them, resulting in an undefeated record! This meant that they came in 2nd place in the tournament – a great result for the first team outing!
Blind Baseball Cymru would like to thank all of the volunteers that came out to make this a successful event, including Phil, Jo, Cal and Alex from Cardiff Merlins, Emma, Sacha and Erin from the Cardiff Celts, first aider Hazel Chudley, new Blind Baseball volunteers Tracey Cheung and Amy Ching and Tamsin Wallbank. A special shout out to Vickie and Morgan Hart, without whom we would have all been absolutely drenched from the lack of shelter. Lastly, we are immeasurably grateful to the UK Blind Baseball Association for their stellar management of the sport, and allowing us to be included in this amazing festival.
Another great day for Wales, another great day for Blind Baseball and the UK Blind Baseball Association!
Blind Baseball Cymru 