Month: May 2022

WLBU Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Premier Division 2019

Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Logo [References: 1]

Table

PosTeam

Table Compiled from Results Grid in Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Facebook Page. For Official Table please vist WLBU Facebook Page at [References: 2] Note: One Game between Diamonds and St. Joseph’s was a double forfeit.

Recap

Despite a strong end-of-season surge that saw Diamonds win seven games in a row to dominate the second half of the season, Newport picked up the last Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Premier Division title in 2019 before the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic struck, cancelling the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Newport had indeed lost their final game of the season, but finished on 24 points from 12 wins, with Llanrumney second on 22 points from 11 wins and Diamonds third on 20 points from 10 wins. [References: 2]

From those three teams there was a large gap back to Gower A, St. Joseph’s and Canton Cross, who each finished with 12 points from 6 wins and then Railway on 8 points from four wins and Fairwater Ladies who lost all 14 matches. [References: 2]

ABOUT WELSH BASEBALL

Welsh Baseball is a version of Rounders and Baseball played primarily in South Wales, and also in Liverpool, where it is known as English Baseball. It is like a cross between Baseball, Rounders and Cricket. During the latter half of the 19th Century, the famous A.G. Spalding of Major League Baseball fame organised a Baseball Tour of England and Ireland, and in the process played a number of games against English and Welsh Rounders teams, who adopted some of the rules (such as tagging a playerout with the ball and two-handed batting). It kept the poles rather than flat bases and left the diamond in an irregular shape with all four sides unequal in length. Welsh Baseball also has a bat more like a Cricket Bat than a Baseball Bat, and it tapers towards the handle. According to sources in referenced in the articles below, Irish immigrants to Liverpool and South Wales were numerous among the Working Classes playing the game in the 20th Century. It is still played in South Wales and Liverpool but is now mostly a Children’s and Teenagers Game. [References: 3]

REFERENCES

Logo References

[1] Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Facebook Page (2017) Profile Picture April 12 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/21387949710/photos/a.10154678147744711.1073741828.21387949710/10155257824239711/?type=3&theater [Accessed 30 November 2017]

Results and Table Grid References

[2] Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Facebook (2019) Post, July 19, 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10157463399844711&set=pb.100042887265665.-2207520000.. [Accessed 13 May 2022]

About and History References

[3] Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Facebook (2017) Around the Bases : Welsh Baseball union April / May 1988 [Internet] Available from: http://www.facebook.com/21387949710/photos/pcb.10155902328909711/10155902302069711/?type=3&theater [Accessed 30 November 2017][Actual Page Reference: https://www.facebook.com/Welsh-Ladies-baseball-Union-21387949710/photos/pcb.10155902328909711/10155902303314711 [Accessed 30 November 2017][Last Accessed 15 October 2021]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Kate Hartnett, Cardiff University.

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 13 May 2022

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2022

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Resereved.

MWLRL Malvern & Worcester Rounders League Summer Division 1 2015-2018

MWLRL Summer Division 1 2015

PosTeam

Final Table taken from MWRL League Republic website at: [References: 1]

MWLRL Summer Division 1 2016

PosTeam

Final Table taken from MWRL League Republic website at: [References: 2]

MWLRL Summer Division 1 2017

PosTeam

Final Table taken from MWRL League Republic website at: [References: 3]

MWLRL Summer Division 1 2018

PosTeam

Final Table taken from MWRL League Republic website at: [References: 4]

Report

There were two different winners of the Malvern & Western Ladies Rounders League Summer Division 1 from 2015 to 2018, with Smoothly Does It and Smart Ladies alternating as Champions. Smoothly Does it winning the League in 2015 and 2017, and Smart Ladies Champions in 2016 and 2018.

The Division had 9 teams in 2015, with Runaways relegated and replaced by the promoted Rubber Duckies and Tornadoes for 2016. After 2016 there was a reduction in the top division from 10 teams to 7, as Jaspers, Fireflies, Tornadoes, and Anchor Gold were all relegated and only Legless promoted. Legless gave Smart Ladies a run for their money in 2018 after Tornadoes were re-promoted back to division 1 in place of Olivers Army.

Besides Smart Ladies and Smoothly Does It, other teams to not be relegated from Division 1 during this period (2015 to 2018) were G&T and Marlbank Misfits. As can be seen by the team names the league is played in the same spirit as recreational coed Softball. [References: 1-4]

Rounders Bat and Ball
Rounders Bat and Ball. [5] Hand holding a rounders ball. Rounders is a bat and ball game between two team that involves hitting a hard leather cased ball with a wooden bat. [Internet] Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-holding-rounders-ball-bat-game-277897988 [Accessed 19 February 2022]

About the MWLRL Summer League

The Malvern & Worcester (Ladies) Rounders League is a Town & County level Rounders League in England, with the Summer Division 1 being the top level of four leagues in the Town & County, based in the Western England County of Worcestershire. British Rounders is a version of the bat-and-ball game of Rounders, first codified in the Original GAA Charter of 1884. It is also similar to the American Sports of Softball and Baseball.

References

[1] Malvern & Worcester Rounders League (2020) Malvern & Worcester Rounders League Summer Division 1 2015 [Internet] Available from: https://mwlrl.leaguerepublic.com/l/fg/1_993384686.html  [Accessed 10 September 2020]

[2] Malvern & Worcester Rounders League (2020) Malvern & Worcester Rounders League Summer Division 1 2016 [Internet] Available from: https://mwlrl.leaguerepublic.com/l/fg/1_571518229.html [Accessed 10 September 2020]

[3] Malvern & Worcester Rounders League (2020) Malvern & Worcester Rounders League Summer Division 1 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://mwlrl.leaguerepublic.com/l/fg/1_594883234.html  [Accessed 10 September 2020]

[4] Malvern & Worcester Rounders League (2020) Malvern & Worcester Rounders League Summer Division 1 2018 [Internet] Available from: https://mwlrl.leaguerepublic.com/l/1_900520447.html  [Accessed 10 September 2020]

Image References

[5] Hand holding a rounders ball. Rounders is a bat and ball game between two team that involves hitting a hard leather cased ball with a wooden bat. [Internet] Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-holding-rounders-ball-bat-game-277897988 [Accessed 19 February 2022]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Fiona Corrigan.

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | GAA World Archive

Last Updated: 5 May 2022

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2022

You may quote this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved. The Logos and Photos used in this article remain the property of the organisations and individuals which own the copyright and are used here for educational and information purposes only.