Chichester Falcons Softball Club are heading toward the end of their season perched atop the Solent League table, a week after a successful BSF Nationals tournament and two youngsters returning from international duty in The Netherlands.

Amy Morris and Isla Dodson-Richi, both Bishop Luffa School students, were selected to play for Great Britain U15s in the European Softball Championships in mid-July. Held in Enschede, the tournament put GB up against Italy, Ukraine, The Netherlands and several other nations.

Isla put in an excellent performance for the week, playing at second base, notching up hits and making numerous catches and put-outs. Amy pitched in almost every game, making five strikeouts and laying down a very respectable offensive performance including a triple against Lithuania.

At the beginning of August, the Falcons headed to Farnham Park Softball Complex in Slough to compete in the BSF Nationals two-day tournament. Teams earn their place at this event based upon their respective league performance the previous year, so Chichester found themselves in the more competitive of the two groups, up against some stiff competition from all over the country.

Tournament captain Jason Mercer steered the Falcons all the way to the gold final, where they finally fell to Archway Academy to take the gold runners-up trophy back to the city.

Back on the south coast, the Solent League has reached fever pitch. Before the Falcons' most recent fixture, Southampton Spitfires and Itchen Knicks were on both level points and head-to-head standings with Chichester, with only the 'runs conceded' count separating the three teams. All three teams were playing on Wednesday last week; Knicks and Spitfires against each other while the Falcons hosted the Solent Sluggers at Oaklands Park.

Seizing their chance, Chichester ran out guns blazing against the Sluggers and finished the game early on a mercy ruling having gone 22-7 ahead. The winning run was a walk-off home run by right fielder Jenny Horton, to cap off a fine hitting performance by the whole team.

In Southampton, the Knicks edged past Spitfires, but the Falcons are on top having conceded eleven less runs across the season, with one game remaining and everything to play for!