How it all Began
During the Summer of 2012, a group of aspiring softball players attended the London Softball League (LSL) (formerly the GLSML) Development Nights in Regents Park, expertly coached by Phil Candice and Nick Barnett. During the 11 week course, they learned the ins and outs of slowpitch softball, as well as enjoying the alcoholic delights on offer at the Crown and Goose pub in Camden afterwards. As the weeks went by, bonds began to form and talk of forming a team emerged. By the end of the 11 week course, the Base Invaders had been born and the world took a step back.
History
The team has gone through some changes since its inception in 2013, however the core of the original team still remains with the ethos still very much in tact.
|
Under that expert guidance of the development coaches and Captain Tom, in our very first season, The Base Invaders (Based in Regent's Park), secured promotion to Division 5. This one year after the majority of the team had only just picked up a bat. The team also secured the Plate Championship in the Publishers League tournament.
However In 2014 is when things really began to take off for the team. After picking some new recruits, the Base Invaders built upon their success with not only their first tournament win, LSL First Ball Win (Blue Grade). The Base Invaders also won the Publishers Tournament. To cap the year off they won Division 5 with a season record 14-2. This included 2 wins over their Div 6 rivals the Canary Cubs |
|
In 2015 the team had already started to change somewhat in terms of players but new recruits helped strengthen the team. This helped the Base Invaders not only finish 3rd in the country in their division at Nationals but also helped them secure back to back divisional titles by claiming Division 4 with in the GLMSL with another record season of 13-1 and securing promotion to the majors. It also saw them finish 2nd at the LSL Last Ball Tournament, narrowly missing out to silverware to the mighty Fuzzy Ducks.
2016 saw the Base Invaders move home ground from Regents Park to south of the river's John Archer Way on Wandsworth Common. It also saw the team eventually plateau somewhat by finishing 3rd in Division 3, narrowly missing out on promotion by one win. They also finished 3rd at Nationals for the second year running, this time however in a higher division. Other accolades included finishing 2nd at LSL Last Ball yet again, this time missing out to BBG, a team they had mercied 18-1 earlier in the year, but who eventually went on to win the league.
2017 was a transition year for the Base Invaders, after losing some key players, the season started off slowly with some early loses to the Dazzlers, Mob and draw to the Chargers. However the team quickly regrouped and finished off strong with 6 wins from their last 8 games and finished with a strong 4th place and a 3rd place at LSL Last Ball.
2018 saw the Base Invaders hungry for success and with the acquisition of James “PEG” Wilkins, George “Jorge” Lucas & Elie “Crikey” Irwin, promotion looked to be on the cards and with an undefeated streak of 8 league games it felt like even a divisional title was up for grabs too. Newly promoted Mouse Rat and Pirates set the pace with the Base Invaders the entire season. However a couple of dropped games against Chargers and Comets Orange meant both the Base Invaders and Pirates would have to settle for second place. Coming down to the last game between the Pirates and Base Invaders in a winner take all game. In the lead up to the game a week long social media battle took place which hyped the game to fever pitch. In the end the Base Invaders took the social media battle, the game and promotion. Div 2 bound.
2019 The expectation was just to stay up as there was a fair amount of uncertainty of how tough the division would be. What we didn't expect to be leading the division almost from the start of the season and mercy teams in 6 different games including Mouse Rat twice. Things were on course to take our first title in 4 years. However 3 losses by 1 run proved to be our undoing in not taking the title outright. We needed 2 wins from our final 2 games to force a tie at the top. After going behind in both these light reduced games we came back to win them and claim another divisional title for the Base Invaders.
2016 saw the Base Invaders move home ground from Regents Park to south of the river's John Archer Way on Wandsworth Common. It also saw the team eventually plateau somewhat by finishing 3rd in Division 3, narrowly missing out on promotion by one win. They also finished 3rd at Nationals for the second year running, this time however in a higher division. Other accolades included finishing 2nd at LSL Last Ball yet again, this time missing out to BBG, a team they had mercied 18-1 earlier in the year, but who eventually went on to win the league.
2017 was a transition year for the Base Invaders, after losing some key players, the season started off slowly with some early loses to the Dazzlers, Mob and draw to the Chargers. However the team quickly regrouped and finished off strong with 6 wins from their last 8 games and finished with a strong 4th place and a 3rd place at LSL Last Ball.
2018 saw the Base Invaders hungry for success and with the acquisition of James “PEG” Wilkins, George “Jorge” Lucas & Elie “Crikey” Irwin, promotion looked to be on the cards and with an undefeated streak of 8 league games it felt like even a divisional title was up for grabs too. Newly promoted Mouse Rat and Pirates set the pace with the Base Invaders the entire season. However a couple of dropped games against Chargers and Comets Orange meant both the Base Invaders and Pirates would have to settle for second place. Coming down to the last game between the Pirates and Base Invaders in a winner take all game. In the lead up to the game a week long social media battle took place which hyped the game to fever pitch. In the end the Base Invaders took the social media battle, the game and promotion. Div 2 bound.
2019 The expectation was just to stay up as there was a fair amount of uncertainty of how tough the division would be. What we didn't expect to be leading the division almost from the start of the season and mercy teams in 6 different games including Mouse Rat twice. Things were on course to take our first title in 4 years. However 3 losses by 1 run proved to be our undoing in not taking the title outright. We needed 2 wins from our final 2 games to force a tie at the top. After going behind in both these light reduced games we came back to win them and claim another divisional title for the Base Invaders.
|
Honors
2013 - Publisher's League Tournament Plate
2014 - LSL First Ball Blue Grade Cup 2014 - Publisher's League Tournament Cup 2014 - LSL Div 5 Champions 2015 - Windsor First Ball Plate 2015 - LSL Div 4 Champions 2018 - LSL Last Ball White Grade Plate 2019 - LSL Div 2 Champions 2019 - LSL Last Ball Red Grade Plate |
Notable mention
2013 - LSL Div 6 Runners Up
2015 - Prague Heavy Hitters - 3rd 2015 - LSL Last Ball White Grade - Runners Up 2015 - BSF Nationals Silver Grade - 3rd 2016 - LSL Div 3 - 3rd 2016 - LSL Last Ball White Grade - Runners Up 2016 - BSF Nationals Gold Grade - 3rd 2018 - LSL Div 3 Runners Up |
For more information about the London Softball League Softball 101 Development Nights which begins in June, please click on the GLSML Logo above or visit www.londonsoftball.co.uk.
