A gang of ten youngsters from the Falcons Little League Baseball programme headed to Farnham Park Baseball & Softball Complex in Slough last weekend, to play in the Youth National Baseball Championships.

Joining forces with players from Brighton Baseball Club to form U10 and U12 teams, the 'Sussex Firebirds' battled it out against teams from Croydon, Cambridge, Guildford, Hertfordshire and London.

The U10 games were 'coach pitch' - meaning the team coach would pitch to their own players from one knee, whilst the U12 group had live pitching from the players. This gave the opportunity to some Chichester players to pitch for the first time in a competitive environment.

Both teams excelled in the group stages, with the U10s winning all of their games and U12 winning one game and tying the other. This put both squads in the finals for their respective age groups, with U10 facing off against Herts and U12 against Cambridge.

The U12 Firebirds fought hard but couldn't match Cambridge's bats to fall 8-3 in their game, but the U10 team emerged victorious having taken the game to an extra inning to take the champions trophy.

U10 Firebirds: Archie Douglas, Beaulieu Stirling, Miles Piesse, Clark Piesse, Charlie Peers, Oliver Onions

U12 Firebirds: Harrison Astbury, Corey Clarke, Dylan Paige, Cian Booker

The Falcons organisation would like to thank the players families for their help and support at the event, together with Robin Banerjee from Brighton Baseball Club.