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Tournaments

In 2003 BSUK and Manchester Baseball Club held a senior northern tournament co-hosted at Allen Field (2 diamonds) and Halton Baseball Field (1 diamond) on the 13th and 14th September. Menwith Hill were the first winners of the Northern Tournament on a glorious sunny day in Manchester, beating Liverpool 2-1 in a tight final. The final schedule with day 1 and day 2 results is available here, the original draw is available here.

Nelson Setzer (Menwith Hill), Roger Young (MBC), Tom Gillespie (BSUK)

As well as hosting and running the tournament MBC entered a senior team (the juniors were at the final 4 down south). The MBC team was managed by Roger Young (in between his duties as tournament director) from the Express, and the team was made up of combined Express and A's players. MBC lost 2 games on Day 1 to Menwith (11-0) and Liverpool (15-10), but on Day 2 two convincing wins over Stratheclyde (17-4) and Bolton (14-2) saw MBC lift the B event trophy. The final was pitched by the Express' Matt Cooper in his final competitive match for MBC.

MBC tournament team 2003

Back: Roger Young, Matt Cooper, Ramon Urdaneta, Qadeer Hussain, Jim Gunn
Front: Martyn Gough, Yobert Pino, Yoichi, Dave Gould, Luis Arrevillagas

Also on the Saturday night of the tournament there was a preliminary Northern league meeting to discuss the future of Northern baseball, more details (incl. minutes) here.

In 2002 MBC attended the London tournament on the 6/7th July, again hosted and organised by the Croyden Pirates. The MBC team was managed by Hervé Boutin and Roger Young from the Express, and the team was made up of combined Express, A's, MBC past players and selected friends.

MBC tournament team 2002

Back: Jo (scorer), Steve SAWYER, Peter MARR, Keith, Colin LYM, Hervé BOUTIN, Roger YOUNG, Aymeric STEPHAN
Front: Alexandre GAUGAIN, Richard PENTNEY, Peter HAMMER, Steve BIRCHALL, Matt COOPER, Emmanuel PRIOUX

Day 1

MBC faired much better this year, winning both games on the opening day, beating first Bournemouth Sharks (12-3) and then Milton Keynes Bucks (6-2). Winning pitchers were Aymeric Stephan and Peter Hammer.

Day 2

MBC qualified for the A event on the second day, and continued to play well, drawing with Shropshire (3-3) in the morning, and would have remained undefeated if they hadn't blown a 4-0 lead to lose to GB Jnr I (4-9) after the team started to tire and also run out of pitchers. Starting pitchers were Peter Hammer and Keith.

Highlights

Most notable moments were a Triple-play in the first match by Emmanuel Prioux / Roger Young / Hervé Boutin, a 3 run homer by Roger Young against Bournemouth and a game tying 2 run homer by Steve Birchall against Shropshire.

Final

The A final saw Menwith Hill (US base) beat the Norway national team 13-11.

There are some photos in the gallery, plus some MBC player stats, and the Day 1 tournament draw.

The MBC attended the London tournament for the first time in 2001. This is hosted and organised by the Croyden Pirates. Manchester played Bournemouth and Menwith Hill on day one, losing both, then beat GB jnrs II Sunday morning before losing to Alconbury jnrs Sunday afternoon in the final match of the B event. We had a great time and with a larger squad (more than 9 would be good next time) could have done quite a bit better.

The are some photos in the gallery

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