33rd Zeister Slot Tournament

23 May 2016

May 14-16 was the Whitsunday weekend in the Netherlands, and that’s traditionally when the three-day Zeister Slot Tournament, the oldest men’s fastpitch competition in Europe, is hosted by HSVPhoenix in the town of Zeist.

Seven teams took part in the tournament, which has been played for the past 33 years: the Dutch National Team, the newly-established German National Team, the U-19 National Team from the Czech Republic and four club teams, including Horsholm Hurricanes (DEN), Chicaboos (BEL), Meteors (GBR), and Caribenos de la Laguna (ESP).

The teams presented the usual blend of old and new, experience and talent. As always, the atmosphere at the tournament was competitive but friendly.

Round-robin

The event began with a full round-robin, with all seven teams playing each other. The weather was a bit of a let-down -- only 12°C and quite windy -- but it didn’t stop the players giving it their best.

After the two days of round-robin games, the Czech U-19 Team, who used the tournament as a part of their preparations for this year’s Junior Men’s World Championships in Midland, Michigan, USA, remained undefeated, followed by the Dutch National Team.

Play-offs

On Monday, the play-off games were scheduled.

In the first quarter-final, Germany took a quick 4-1 lead against the Netherlands. But after a long struggle, the Netherlands secured their spot in the semi-finals by a score of 20-12. The Hurricanes beat the Chicaboos 8-0 and the Caribenos played a close game against the Meteors, prevailing by 6-4.

The Caribenos were clearly the stronger team in their semi-final against the Netherlands.

The other semi-final was a thriller between the Hurricanes and the Czech U-19s. The game was tied after seven innings, but the Hurricanes managed to score the necessary run in the tie-breaker and made it to the final.

In the final, the Caribenos’ offense prospered against Danish pitching, and the Spanish team won by 7-1.