Nine teams from six countries at the 11th Forever Fastpitch tournament in Zagreb
For the 11th year in a row, Softball club Princ organized a friendly international tournament called Forever Fastpitch. The tournament took place on the softball fields in Jarun Lake from Friday the 6th of April until Sunday the 8th of April.
The tournament was organized by volunteers and members of the club, from the youngest to the oldest ones. This year's tournament had a record number of nine teams from six different countries - Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, the Czech Republic and Sweden. In three days, 25 games were played on two softball fields. Spring and good weather means that the softball season has started. The Forever Fastpitch tournament was very well received by the teams and it was a good opportunity as spring preparation for the upcoming season. From the nine teams participating in the tournament, there were two junior national teams, one from Hungary, and the other one from Croatia. To them, this friendly tournament was significant for their preparations for the European Championships in July, 2018. By playing the whole tournament without a single defeat, Storms from the Czech Republic justifiably earned the title of the tournament. However, our princesses made that a bit difficult for them in the finals. During the finals against Princ (CRO), the Czech team was losing 2:1 in the first inning. In the tense final of the last inning, the Storms won with a walk off and two outs. With a defeat in the finals, the Princesses took second place and third place was won by the Italian team Ronchi Stars.
Final tournament ranking:
1. Storms (Czech Republic)
2. Princ (Croatia)
3. Ronchi Stars (Italy)
4. Lady Pirates (Croatia)
5. Sweden Academy (Sweden)
6. Hungary U22 National team
7. Akademiks (Bulgaria)
8. Atletics (Bulgaria)
9. Croatian U19 National team
In addition to nice weather and good softball, the tournament was a lot of fun and a lot of socializing between the young people from all different nationalities. There were lot of good moods and a lot of positive energy among the players.
Within the spirit of the tournament, the 11th Forever Fastpitch tournament was part of the April 6 World Campaign. #WhiteCard is recognized as a symbol of peace-through-sports expression, and since 2013 recognized as a symbol of the International Day of Sports for Development and Peace at April 6. All the teams raised their #WhiteCard.
Hoping for a successful season, we invite all teams to participate in our next tournament at the end of the season in October - Ball Game