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Following a cracking win against the Blu Gnus, the Storm rocked up to pitch 3 with visions of another victory against the Didsbury Bats. The opponents certainly looked the part with their matching uniforms (the Storm’s are coming) and the fact that they actually had enough players to make up a team, though it must be said Colin Carmichael did a magnificent job being both left and right centre that first inning.

However the Storm would not be daunted by this and they took to the field in a blaze of mismatched t-shirts and quickly established what would become a tough defensive side to beat. If the smashing home run, quickly becoming the signature style of lead-off batter Steve Bartlett, worried the Bats, then goodness knows what they thought about the Storm’s next offering, as Susan McMorrow stepped up and delivered a second home run for the girls. This was soon pared down though, as only so much high-fiving can be done before your hands begin to hurt, and Storm settled into a steady game of base hitting and quick running.

The Bats proved to be formidable opponents, Nick Tavner making some great catches and Tracey Ashworth tackling a vicious ground ball. Both teams quickly realised that this tight game could easily be lost with one duff inning, creating an air of excitement only briefly surpassed when somebody realised there were gigantic pigs in the field next to us. One man always cool under pressure though was Storm’s enigmatic pitcher Tim, Roberts who sailed in fresh off the boat from Costa Rica to quietly lead the way to the team’s almost-win. This was reflected in some classic plays by the fielders (all wearing the correct gloves this week).

In particular the Mark Bulman-Susan McMorrow shortstop-first combination saved many a run by the Bats, whilst the left line was practically impenetrable with Carolyn Barratt at third (not bad for an old girl), and a flying leap from the agile Jen Bennett at left-field, snatching both the ball out of the air and the Bats’ hopes of a home run. As any great sporting film will testify, a close game inevitably goes into a tense period of overtime. We won’t dwell too much on what happened in that eighth inning except to say that we ran as hard as we could. It was a game well won by the Bats when the pressure was on, and Storm recovered quickly enough to get down to the pub for some chips and focus on their next big game: Derby Day. Jen Bennett 

Manchester Thunder Softball Club have kicked off the 2011 season with a real bang winning the Plate Final at the third Manchester Softball League firstball tournament at Parrs Wood in Didsbury.

A gripping final saw Thunder take an early lead against old foes the Bullfrogs, including an amazing home run from tournament captain Kellie Gilroy. Late in the game the frogs rallied and the score was tied going into the bottom of the final inning. Tara Gunn stepped up to the plate and got herself safely on base, Sagen Johnson followed and smashed a ball out into center left field for a home run that sealed the deal!

Club Thunder are starting their 6th season in the MSL and have five teams across all divisions. The season starts 19th April with Hurricanes facing Meerkats on the Parrs Wood Show Pitch - with new outfield fences - and Drizzle up against newcomers the Mossley Mayhem. On the 20th in the 2nd division Lightning play Clangers, while newly promoted Storm face Speeders and Thunder return to the First Division for their fixture against 2010 champions the Greensox.