An umpire watches a close play at the plate last September in Paris at the ESF Cup Championships. The player sliding (orange shirt) is from a team from Ireland, in a semi-final game against the Czech Republic. (Photo by Janice McConnell)

SOFTBALL IRELAND BUSY AHEAD OF 2008 SEASON
2008-03-21

Another season of slowpitch softball in Ireland is scheduled to begin on April 20th. Lasting until September 15th, the 2008 season will have a different look to it when the various adult teams (ages 16 to 60!) hear the first umpire yell “play ball.”

After consultation with its members, Softball Ireland, the national governing body for the sport there, has changed from the traditional 12” ball for all batters to an 11” ball for female batters. (Male batters will continue to use the 12” ball.) The is the first change in ball size since slowpitch softball was first introduced to Ireland in the late 1980s and comes after a successful trial period in the 2007 season as part of the Brian Walshe Cup, a knockout competition held throughout the season.

Brian Connolly, a member of the Irish Executive Board, said, “The 11-inch ball will be used in all competitions and it is hoped that this will improve hitting for female players and help prepare the Irish National team for the ESF European Coed Slowpitch Championship to be held in Southampton, England in July.”

There was a team from Ireland at the II Slow Pitch World Cup in October 2005 at the ISF world headquarters in Plant City, Florida. Organized softball in Ireland started in 1982.

Softball Ireland also announced that there will be no encroachment line in use for 2008.