Fastpitch Ireland are saddened to learn that Massimo Lepri, Softball Ireland Treasurer and Irish Fastpitch League Player has passed away surrounded by his family after a long and valiant battle with illness.
Massimo will be sorely missed by all of us who have had the pleasure to know him.
The thoughts of the Fastpitch Irealnd are with Massimo’s wife Louise and son Sean at this time.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
| Box Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Total |
| C Team | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
| A Team | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
The ‘C Team’ have been crowned the inaugural Coed Irish Fast Pitch League National Champions following a thrilling final in Corkagh Park, the home of Irish Baseball. The final was the COVID Postponed 2019/2020 Season Final.
The final score tells a different story to how the game played out with eventual runners ups, the A-Team, only down by one after 4 innings.
The game changed in the 5th and 6th with two home runs and a grand slam opening real daylight between the two teams and leaving the A-Team chasing 10 runs going into the bottom of 7, a gap too big to chase down for them.
So there it was, 23 months after the opening of the 2019/2022 season the ‘C Team’ was crowned the inaugural National Champions.
Irish Fast Pitch League Coed National League Finals – Line Ups
| The A-Team | The C Team | |
| Aidan Halpin | Alan Fox | |
| Jason Wall | Brendan Scott | |
| Jens Hillebrand | Cindy Mc Grellis | |
| Kristin Gareau | Morgan Mc Grellis | |
| Nereida Domenech | Kerry Keegan | |
| Isabel Fallon | Priscilla Potel | |
| Carlos Rojas | Jimmy Pita | |
| Wayne Cullen | Trevor Peacock | |
| Jason Milne | Derek Harnett | |
| Declan Fallon |
On the eve of the 2019/20 Irish Fastpitch League Final, the starting lineups for the final to be played in Corkagh Park at 12 noon on Sunday September 26, 2021 have been announced. Details on the final are available HERE.
| Team A – Red | Team C – Black | |
| Aidan Halpin | Alan Fox | |
| Jason Wall | Brendan Scott | |
| Jens Hillebrand | Cindy Mc Grellis | |
| Kristin Gareau | Morgan Mc Grellis | |
| Nereida Domenech | Kerry Keegan | |
| Isabel Fallon | Priscilla Potel | |
| Carlos Rojas | Jimmy Pita | |
| Wayne Cullen | Trevor Peacock | |
| Jason Milne | Derek Harnett |
Due to field maintenance in Ashbourne, the League Final Day will be moved to the Little League Baseball field in Corkagh Park: (https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3096812,-6.4215536,500m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e4)
We would like to thank Baseball Ireland for their continued support of the Fastpitch League and programme.
Team A: Jens, John E, Jonathan H, Tabitha G, Jason W, Kristin G, Erin M, Nereida D, Roisin OC, Cillian M, Fang Fang, Aidan H, Jay S, Mike L, Laura OC
Team C: Sebastian S, Cindy McG, Kerry K, Maeve Og, Eithne W, Andrew C, Gustavo U, Norma M, Michael L, Alan F, Andrea K, Morgan McG, Brendon S
The league final will take place this Sunday from 12-2pm between Teams A & C, who were first and second in the league before Covid delayed the playoffs. Please fill out the link below for Sunday’s availability, so we can assign new or other players as necessary. Be sure to come out and support everyone playing on Sunday.
Can players in advance of Sunday (existing and new) please complete the linked form to confirm your attendance/non-attendance – https://forms.office.com/r/tc22Lu6cVZ
We look forward to welcoming those of you available to attend tonight’s practice session in the StrikeZone from 19:00-21:00. We felt this would be a good opportunity for teams to reunite (remember what team they were on!) and discuss strategy for the final this coming Sunday. It is not necessary to come for the whole time this evening, so if you aren’t free until later, still stop by! If you are a new player who would like to join a team, please come out and join us. We’ll be available to answer any questions and provide any training support that teams would like.
Enter the industrial estate via the entrance on St. Margarets then follow around to the left. Next to Ashtown Packaging and behind John F Dunne Engineering in case you miss the right turn. Eircode D11 CR70.
“Guess who’s back, Back again, Fastpitch is back, Tell your friends!”
Following the COVID-19 enforced pause in the Fastpitch Ireland League we are delighted to announce that the league will be relaunching in September 2021!
At this point, we are asking you to save the following dates in your diary with further details to follow.
– September 5, 2021 – Open practice Session
– September 12, 2021 – 2019/2020 Season League final games
We will then launch our 2021/2022 season in October 2021 during which we intend to continue running the co-ed league and launching our single sex league also.
Please feel free to share details of the open session and then the exciting details of our new league which will include competitions for naming teams and details about league sponsorship.
Please save September 5, 2021 and September 12, 2021 in your diaries with more details to follow!
Following on from the Intro to Softball Day held on May 29th for girls. Fastpitch Ireland have planned out some additional *free* softball training days through the month of July for returning players or players who wish to attend for the first time (no experience necessary) as follows:
Session Dates & Times
Fastpitch Ireland are conscious of different activity schedules for players (and parents), and we hope everybody can make as many sessions as possible. We will also be looking to hold further weekend only sessions in September/October 2021.
To allow us get an understanding of the numbers attending each session, we would ask that you complete the sign-up link below:
Sign-up link – https://forms.office.com/r/AENZjS4snX
If you have any friends or family who would like to try softball but did not make the intro session, that is not probllem, they are more than welcome to attend any of the above sessions and we wuld as they complete the link above.
Looking forward to seeing the girls back on the softball field!
Fastpitch (Softball) Ireland in association with Baseball Ireland are delighted to announce an Introduction to Softball Session for girls aged between 12 and 16. The session will be held on Saturday, May 29, 2021, from 12 Noon in the International Baseball Centre which is located behind the Community Centre in Ashbourne.
The session will be hosted by the Irish Women’s National Team Head Coach Melanie Cunningham together with other National Team Coaches focussing on introducing players to Softball and teaching some basic skills.
Speaking on the planned day, Melanie Cunningham said ” The aim of the session is to show an alternative pathway for girls to continue in sport and to hopefully introduce new girls to our sport. We are excited to introduce girls to this fun Olympic sport and we are hoping that we get a great turnout on the day, everybody is welcome!”
Fastpitch Ireland will provide players with all equipment required on the day. The session will be run in accordance with COVID-19 Sporting Conditions.
If you have any questions about the session, please do not hesitate to contact Melanie Cunningham or Colum Lavery.
Further to the confirmation of the Government that sports clubs in the Republic of Ireland may return to training in groups of up to 15 from May 10, 2021. Softball Ireland confirmed that having considered the recommendation of the Medical Committee, the Softball Ireland Board have confirmed that softball training may return in Republic of Ireland from May 10, 2021 subject to the following conditions:
(I) The Government continue to permit sports teams to partake in training sessions; and
(II) All teams in the Republic of Ireland to continue to train in accordance with Government advice and restrictions; and
(III) All training sessions are held in accordance with the updated Softball Ireland Return to Play Protocol set out on the Softball Ireland website; and
(IV) Players are only permitted to attend and train with teams (clubs) they are registered with.
Fastpitch Ireland will be in touch with members shortly on the relaunch of training and the FPI League.
Softball Ireland updated the COVID-19 Hub in advance of the 2021 season. The COVID-19 Hub is accessible from the ‘Resources’ tab above or by clicking here.
The latest updates to the COVID-19 Hub include:
The COVID-19 Hub will be updated regularly throughout the season, including document updates and FAQs. If there is anything you would like to see on the hub, please get in touch with us.
For all COVID-19 enquiries, Softball Ireland continue to have a dedicated email: covid@softball.ie.
The COVID-19 Resource Hub has now been updated for the 2021 season. The COVID-19 Hub is accessible from the ‘Resources’ tab above or by clicking here.
The latest updates to the COVID-19 Hub include:
The COVID-19 Hub will be updated regularly throughout the season, including document updates and FAQs. If there is anything you would like to see on the hub, please get in touch with us.
Due to government restrictions, please note that teams in the Republic of Ireland continue to be restricted from training or playing games and the insurance policy remains suspended.
For all COVID-19 enquiries, Softball Ireland continue to have a dedicated email: covid@softball.ie.
Further to the recommendation of the Softball Ireland Medical Committee, the Softball Ireland Board on March 15, 2021 agreed to withdraw all Softball Ireland National Teams and Club Teams from International Competition up to and including August 2021. The decision of the Board is athlete welfare driven to ensure those representing Ireland may do so in the safest way possible
The rationale for the recommendation of the Softball Ireland Medical Committee and the decision of our Board is as follows:
1. Ireland continues to be in a Level 5 (highest level) lock down which restricts movement and does not permit sport to be played bar for a very l imited number of sports. Softball (and Baseball) does not meet the criteria of elite sport in Ireland. At this point, we do not foresee Softball recommencing in Ireland before May 2021 earliest and therefore do not believe our athletes can be adequately conditioned or prepared to participate in an international tournament.
2. The continued spiking of COVID -19 across Europe together with the inconsistent vaccination roll out (including Ireland) has concerned our Medical Committee who formed the opinion that the risk of inf ection and the subsequent 14 day quarantining of infected player/staff continued to be too high a risk for amateur athletes. The concerns of the Medical Committee have been reconfirmed by the recent snap lockdowns in Italy and other European Countries coupled with the positive tests of an Irish athlete returning from the recent European Indoor Championships in Poland.
3. The on-going uncertainty around travel restrictions for athletes entering and exiting Italy, irrespective of nationality and the financial risk s associated with this.
4. In addition to the medical and logistical risks identified by the Medical Committee, the Irish government has also introduced a €2,000 travel fine ( per person) for non-essential International travel. We have been advised that travelling to compete in Softball European Championships does not meet the requirements to be deemed essential travel.
The decision to withdraw from international competition in 2021 was not a decision taken lightly by the Softball Ireland Board. However after discussions with the Medical Committee, HSE, coaches and athletes, the Softball Ireland Board has taken the position that our decisions would be taken with an abundance of caution and medically led by our Medical Committee.
Softball Ireland can confirm that the following teams have been withdrawn from 2021 events:
• Ireland National Team withdrawn from the Women’s European Championships 2021
• Ireland National Team withdrawn from the Co- ed Slowpitch European Championships 2021
• Dodder Softball Club withdrawn from the Co- Ed Slowpitch Super Cup 2021