Sunday 26th April 2026

The 30th anniversary of the Solent League's FirstBall tournament took place this weekend, with the Solent Sluggers coming away victorious after finishing the day undefeated.

Eleven Solent teams were joined by Just Locos from the Swindon league to play under beautiful weather conditions for a full day's tournament play. The four diamonds hosted 30 games from 9am through til 5:30pm. Over 650 runs were scored over the 8 and a half hours with each team playing five timed games.

The twelve teams were split into three groups of four, with each playing the other teams in a round robin format. The teams would then go into a final round group of three against the other teams that finished in the same position as them.

This meant lead to the Itchen Knicks finishing at the top of Group A, to be joined by the Locos and eventual winners Sluggers in the gold "Moonraker" group. The Sluggers won both final round games to come out on top, aptly collecting the trophy named after the highest sail on a mast - the theme for the trophy names this year.

The Falcons, Dodgers and Vikings played out the silver "Sky" final group, with the Dodgers and Vikings winning their games over the Falcons, it set up a de facto final showdown, with the Dodgers taking the win 11-8 with some magnificent defensive work from Mason Brockway as Shortstop.

The Krakens came away with the bronze "Royal" trophy, with a 13-12 walk-off win against the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes ending up in the third tier only due to the runs-against tie breaker in the first group stage after finishing 2-1.

In the spoon final group, three winless teams from the first stage met with the Southampton Spitfires coming away with the "Gallant" trophy after defeating the Redbridge Raiders 9-7.