Itchen Knicks - Solent League 2008

07-May-2008 : Shafters 11 -v- Itchen Knicks 36

Shf 0-3-1-1-3-3-x
Kni 7-5-1-4-5-14-x


14-May-2008 : Itchen Knicks 23 -v- Dodgers 11
Kni 5-1-4-4-1-7-1
Dod 2-0-0-2-4-3-0


18-May-2008 : Beachcombers x -v- Itchen Knicks x

Bea x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


25-May-2008 : Mets x -v- Itchen Knicks x

Met x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


1-June-2008 : Whales x -v- Itchen Knicks x

Whl x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


8-June-2008 : Sharks x -v- Itchen Knicks x

Shk x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


15-June-2008 : Hurricanes x -v- Itchen Knicks x

Hur x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


16-July-2008 : Itchen Knicks x -v- Sluggers x

Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Slu x-x-x-x-x-x-x


6-August-2008 : Dodgers x -v- Itchen Knicks x

Dod x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


20-August-2008 : Itchen Knicks x -v- Whales x

Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Whl x-x-x-x-x-x-x


31-August-2008 : Itchen Knicks x -v- Beachombers x

Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Bea x-x-x-x-x-x-x


7-September-2008 : Itchen Knicks x -v- Sharks x

Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Shk x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Itchen Knicks - Firstball 2008

According to Wikipedia, a hat-trick in sports is associated with succeeding at anything three times in three consecutive attempts.

Alternatively ... any remarkable feat, usually one consisting of three separate but related achievements

They're not wrong !!

Q. What do April 06, April 07 and April08 have in common ??

A. They all see the Knicks winning the Solent Softball League Firstball Trophy

Opening with a draw against the Mariners (3-3), then a loss to the Beachcombers (2-6), and a win against the Sluggers, the Knicks then did just enough against the Chichester Mets to finish second in their group ahead of the Mariners on run difference.

A mighty fine come from behind performance saw a sneaked Cup Semi-Final win over the Dodgers (8-7) - always somehow manage to beat them at the Firstball, but this was extra special with 2 runs at the top of the last inning and shutouts at the end when it was needed.

That, if the form book was to be believed, should have set up a rematch against the Beachcombers (who the Knicks beat in the 07 final), but the Hursley team had not read the script. As a result it was a match up of the old allies - Knicks and Hurricanes.

A great first inning was enough in the end, as the Knicks jumped out to a 9-run lead. Despite a few scares as the Hurricanes refused to go down in the bottom of the last, the Knicks held on to win once again.

Itchen Knicks - Looki-likies

Itchen Knicks - Solent League 2007

Off and running with the pre-season warm-ups.

January 14th - Knicks Trophy #1
Runners-Up in the annual Solent Indoor Tournament

April 14th - Knicks Trophy #2
Winners in the Hursley Mini (featuring Knicks, Dodgers, Hurricanes, Dazzlers)

Then checkout the Firstball blog - Knicks Trophy #3 (Winners - two years running)

You have to wonder how Brandon's mantlepiece can cope.

Season Proper...


09-May-2007 : Dodgers 20 -v- Itchen Knicks 19

Dod x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


30-May-2007 : Hurricanes 19 -v- Itchen Knicks 22

Hur x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


10-June-2007 : Itchen Knicks 13 -v- Beachcombers 15

Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Bea x-x-x-x-x-x-x


17-June-2007 : Itchen Knicks 30 -v- Sluggers 19

Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Slu x-x-x-x-x-x-x


18-July-2007 : Itchen Knicks 2 -v- Dodgers 8

Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Dod x-x-x-x-x-x-x


29-July-2007 : Beachcombers 11 -v- Itchen Knicks 10

Bea 3-4-1-1-0-2-0
Kni 4-0-0-2-0-4-0


29-July-2007 : Itchen Knicks 12 -v- Sluggers 4

Kni 5-0-1-3-2-0-1
Slu 2-1-1-0-0-0-0


08-Aug-2007 : Sharks 20 -v- Itchen Knicks 17

Shk x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


15-Aug-2007 : Hurricanes 3 -v- Itchen Knicks 12

Hur x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x


26-Aug-2007 : Sharks 16 -v- Itchen Knicks 12

Shk x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Kni x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Itchen Knicks - Firstball 2007

It's Firstball time again.

Let me re-cap ... April 2006, Knicks on fire, Dream-Sunday, Firstball Winners Oh-YEAH

I have three words for you ... "De" "Ja" and "Vu" ... or is that actually one word, or maybe even two words !? Let's settle for three syllables.

Whatever it is, Ooops they did it again.

All it takes is one Sunday, five games, five wins, one trophy ... add to that, only ever one result likely.

With a new look line up, strengthened over the off season (eat your heart out Roman Abramovich) the Knicks swept the board with wins over Dodgers, Sluggers and Hurricanes to finish group winners.

Follow that with an awesome come from behind win over the Oxford Spirits

Top that with an outstanding win in the final over the Brighton Beachcombers

Headline news .... Knicks retain Solent Firstball


Details and photos to follow.

Itchen Knicks - Road Trip 2007

In the words of the song, "We're on the road again" (though not sure if that was Canned Heat or Willie Nelson)

Plans are underway once more for the Knicks to head out on the road and visit their usual haunts - as Marc said, The Four Majors ... forget The Open, Masters etc - checkout BA, Bristol, Windsor and Wreck. You can almost smell the silverware.


Heathrow - June 23-24th
Ahhh the joys of a softball tourny with hotel accomadation - all the more important when it rains, rains, and then rains some more. Still, we had fun - if only in the bar on the Saturday night. Not sure "how many spots number 1-spot's got" but it was fair to say that Lyndz had most of them; combine that with bar games a-plenty, and a clairvoyant (?) trying to lure away half the Knicks girls, a fun evening was had by all - hope we didn't upset too many guests. Oh yes, the softball - an excellent weekend's work, great team spirit - more because-of than despite the weather - great performances, again specifically in the knock-out stages (a format of play that the Knicks excel at). All this saw the Knicks upgrade the Plate (2005 and 2006) to lift the Trophy instead, and return to Solent with silverware three years running.















BA MVPs too !!!

Bristol - July 7-8th
Often described as the toughest tournament on the roadtrip, the Knicks had a dream weekend. From start to finish, the performances were punctuated with great individual efforts and superb team spirit. Again the weather was not great, and we didn't have the benefit of BA-style accomodation, but the fun levels achieved were similar. Not sure if any team actually got close on the pitch, as the weekend was rounded off in style with a convincing, yet hugely sporting and good natured victory in the Final over Sheffield. Knicks bring home the Cup - if it were Crufts, we really are best in breed.


















Windsor - July 21-22nd
Well, what can be said - even if you don't know softball, you'll know this weekend, and the cancellation of the W&MD Tournament was just one of the impacts of the torrentual downpours experienced. Alot of sad faces around the team as we missed out on one of the favorite weekends - however, with quick thinking and all the team pulling together, a social night in Portsmouth was organised. Hey, if you can't play, then par-tay !!

Wreck - August 18-19th
Is it becoming a theme this year that rain features whenever we head out on the road ?? Back in Bristol to enter Wreck at C-Grade, the Knicks braved the weather to finish third in a tough group - performances which included the ..... anialation (I don't think that is too strong a word) of Solent rivals the Sharks - sweeeeet. The group phase results put us into the Cup draw (again !!! it's getting almost boring) and nicely set up an early knockout game against another Solent team - the Beachcombers. Now the 'combers are never ones to take losing lightly, so boy did we upset things by sending them to an early bath - still in the long run they probably thanked us, it's a long drive back to Brighton, and we ensured that they made it by teatime :o) So to the Cup semi and a match that left the Final a bit of an anti-climax. Tied, just, at the bottom of regulation 7-innings, Knicks and Splitters went into extra innings, where we so narrowly lost out an another oppotunity of silverware. Still, it was another great weekend of camaradery, and another new game.... "touch cup", ah what innocently happy times.

Itchen Knicks - Lastball 2006

Always a nice way to end the year - the Solent Lastball - this year in Southampton (home turf).

Itchen Knicks - unbeaten all weekend to finish top of the group (so far so good)

The trouble with that approach is that you end up playing the big boys in the knockout phase - doh ! Came up against the visiting Guernsey team (who went on to win the tournie) in the semis, and lost :o(

Still this just meant the oppotunity to kick-back and relax, and allowed some fun in a couple of friendlies - remember the left hand batting, the "who is gonna pitch", remember the shotgun positions - first come first served (now that's a way to make a captains job easier).

A great weekend all round - nice job Knicks - play hard party hard !!

p.s. I believe Hannah's shirt was never quite the same again

Itchen Knicks - Rosta (who's who)

So just who are the Itchen Knicks ?

Well here is your chance to meet the team and some of those kind individuals who have guest starred for us.

In no particular order (because I got bored trying to move them round):

The Girls

Brandon McClaughlin
(illustrious Leader)
Charlie Scrivens













Emma Puckett
Hannah Bennett













Lou Godwin

Lyndsay Oliver












Ava Nekola













Caiti Steele
(Founder)
Lisa Salas
(Aussie heroine)













The Boys

Andy Wood
Chris McClaughlin


Jim Kelly
Marc Duc

Neil Chubb
Paul Lambert












Pav Garnett
Simon Allen













Bryan Barry













The Guests

Paul Gosling
Gary Parker













Stuart Toner
James Rodgers













Tiff Wylde
Caz Edwards




Nigel Davies
Daryn Reeds













Colton McClaughlin

Leah Desmond
Belinda Alker
Liam O'Neill
Adam Pfeil
Tammy Pfeil
Kami Pfeil
Kelly Allers
Nicola Wooldridge

Itchen Knicks - Road Trip 2006

Tis true to say that the Knicks get about a bit. We are currently planning our travels for the year, and expect to take in the sights and sounds of a variety of locations. Listed below is the current schedule and results to date...

Guernsey - May Bank Holiday
Yes, we're international playmates now !



Who said that the Channel Islands in May would be fog bound !! Well it may have taken several days for us to get there but to be fair I think we all agreed it was worth it. We enjoyed the sunshine (a little too much in the case of the fair skinned ginga's), enjoyed the hospitality, and made off with a crate of Stella courtesy of Saturday's quiz night. Oh yes and there was the matter of softball - we came 5th if that really matters.


Heathrow - June 24-25th
Oh My God !! The Knicks, defending the 2005 Plate victory thought it would be fun to do a little better this year. Played all weekend and only be beaten by the Sheriffs during the qualifiers, we made the Cup final and tamed the big hitting Raiders in a fantastic game. Outstanding play, shut-outs delivered, and no injuries. Even managed to wrap things up in time to enjoy England-Ecuador in the bar afterwards. Omen ? we wore new white kit and won the cup in 2006.... hmmm
HAAAY..... HOOO !!
(Photos coming soon)


Windsor - July 15-16th



Hard to believe, but sometimes you can have a little too much sun, but the Knicks kept their cool to retain the Plate from 2005 [classy opening]. We lost just one game all weekend (no surprise as to which one) to finish 3&1 and narrowly miss the Cup playoffs by one run. However a 3&0 cleansweep in the Plate seedings put us into the Final against the Sharks, and a fine performance sealed a 24-13 victory (including a certain someone's first HomeRun). Many thanks to all the Knicks who contributed .... especially the hard core Saturday night Sambuca drinkers - you know who you are. Mealtimes in the Knicks house are now a nightmare - Cups and Plates, yes, but we've got no Spoons [cheesey finish - get in !].


Brighton - August



Only the Midball, but still worth a day out in Brighton ... played the Shafters and the Sharks and had a mighty fine time.


Bristol - August



"Everywhere you go, you take the weather with you" or so they say ... in that case who do we have to blame ... we had the shirts, we had the style, but someone had taken the Hawaiian weather with them, and they certainly didn't go to Bristol. That said, a top weekend. A big thanks to the girls, for their patience in waiting for the Saturday night take away ... it's chinese and so officially doesn't qualify as fast food, and besides we were enjoying all that Clifton had to offer (hmmm). As for the softball, I'm not sure where we finished (it is Wreck after all), I thought we were aiming for "Best Dressed" again, or at least "Best In Breed".

Itchen Knicks - Road Trip 2005

A quick re-cap on our 2005 exploits.

Heathrow - June
2005 Plate winners


Windsor - July
2005 Plate winners - sorry Daryn :o)


Bristol - July
2005 Cup Runners Up


Brighton - August

Bristol - August
surely the best dressed 2005


Solent Indoor - Off Season
Runners Up

Itchen Knicks - Solent League 2006

All you need to know about the 2006 Solent Softball Season.....

07-May-2006 : Hursley Hurricanes 6 -v- Itchen Knicks 19

Hur 0-0-0-2-1-0-3
Kni 4-9-0-1-0-1-4




14-May-2006 : Portsmouth Dodgers 26 -v- Itchen Knicks 24

Dod 5-1-7-2-0-8-3
Kni 6-4-2-8-2-0-2


14-May-2006 : Portsmouth Uni Shafters 9 -v- Itchen Knicks 38

Shf 4-2-1-0-0-2-6
Kni 5-1-6-7-1-9-9




19-July-2006 : Itchen Knicks 7 -v- Hursley Hurricanes 9

Kni 2-0-2-1-1-0-1
Hur 3-1-0-1-3-0-1

As we lost, here is a picture of Garibaldi, the one time Italian "leader" (I think he may actually have been a dictator) who gave his name to a very fine biscuit.

In the event of another loss, I will be digging out a pic of Mr Bourbon.... after that we better not lose too many more, as I am unsure how many leaders gave their names to tasty snacks.



23-July-2006 : Itchen Knicks 10 -v- Brighton Beachcombers 20

Kni 2-1-2-0-0-4-1
Bri 3-2-10-1-1-2-1

23-July-2006 : Brighton Beachcombers 5 -v- Itchen Knicks 18

Bri 1-0-1-1-1-1-0
Kni 3-0-5-3-2-3-2

















2-Aug-2006 : Itchen Knicks 18 -v- Portsmouth Dodgers 32

Kni 3-1-0-2-4-5-3
Dod 2-3-8-1-8-5-5



As promised, Louis I de Bourbon, the 16c founder of the House of Conde and son of Charles de Bourbon - nice biscuits mmmmm









6-Aug-2006 : Itchen Knicks 29 -v- Portsmouth Uni Shafters 18

Kni 7-13-0-0-2-1-6
Shf 2-0-2-1-2-6-5













6-Aug-2006 : Itchen Knicks 25 -v- Southsea Sharks 32

Kni 5-1-7-0-4-6-2
Shk 0-12-1-6-11-2-0


3-Sept-2006 : Itchen Knicks 20 -v- Sluggers 2

Kni 4-0-3-6-4-0-3
Slu 2-0-0-0-0-0-0

3-Sept-2006 : Southsea Sharks 20 -v- Itchen Knicks 28

Shk 0-3-3-1-5-3-5
Kni 4-1-12-6-3-1-1

[25-June-2006] : Sluggers 0 -v- Itchen Knicks 7

Slu 0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Kni 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (default)

Itchen Knicks - Firstball 2006

So then, lets talk Firstball then shall we ....... hmmm. As Lisa says, "I was happy enough for people to turn up to firstball let alone win it!"

Well win it we did.

Well done to all the team for a magnificent performance, beating the Dodgers in the final by ..... 1 or 2 runs .... who cares really !!

Oh, and did I mention the Sharks, and how we beat them in the semi's.

Bring it on !!!

Itchen Knicks Softball

Welcome to the Itchen Knicks Softball club's very own Blog

We represent the best in Co-Ed (that's girls and boys - mixed !) Softball in the Southampton area ... though it may be argued that we represent the only Co-Ed Softball going on in the Southampton area.

This Blog aims to spread the word, and track our progress over the year as we look to gather more silverware and hopefully improve on last years League Runners Up finish.

Want to know more - contact us at itchenknicks@hotmail.com

More news soon, along with some photographic evidence of the fun we have along the way.... though I have read the publishing rules, and we probably won't be able to include any of those pix of Pav that are being circulated (sorry 'bout that).