Smurfers give Walkers the blues to win the indoor title

The Milton Keynes indoor season ended with a fantastic finale as the Base Smurfers edged out the White Walkers to take the trophy.

The night was one to remember with over £150 being raised for Sport Relief over the course of the evening, as a good crowd from the other teams joined us for the big game. The training had a special element with Trevor Burgess used as a human target for batting practice. He still has all his teeth so more training required!

The final was dubbed “a contest between good and evil” by Chris Borah as the White Walkers were first to take to the field, led by Carl Billson - the stresses and strains of captaincy causing him to age badly since the start of the season…

Richie Murray got things started with a typical cheeky and annoying bunt but Walkers’ pitcher Trevor Morley kept the score down to five – with Chloe Love making some excellent plays at homeplate throughout the game. The Walkers were cheered on by teammate Eddy Verbeek sporting some fantastic 'Winter is Coming' official teamwear.

In the second inning Paul Severn’s cricket shot homerun brought the scores level. After the the game those who had wagered on him for the first homerun were invited to collect their sweepstake winnings. The silence was deafening as no one came forward.

The Smurfers then scored another five runs in the second inning which was matched by the Walkers and the tension started to rise with the score at 10-10. Smurfer Leah Holmes made the fielding play of the game catching a line drive which almost caused her Smurf hat to fly off. On the final pitch of the top of the third, Nick Perkins who had been hitting superbly all evening hit a grandslam homerun just out the grasp of the Walkers’ fielder at the Wall of Westeros. Yes, I had to get that reference off Wikipedia.

The Walkers fought hard in the final inning, scoring three runs from the final play, with all runners and several fielders involved in an undignified pile-up at homeplate. But it was not enough as good triumphed over evil, with the Smurfers edging it 20-18.

So it was presentation time and various prizes were awarded from the evening’s events. Leah Holmes was presented a Glover Cup trophy to acknowledge all she has done for the MK league and the Smurfers got their blue hands on the Indoor League trophy, although for a while, it looked like the celebrations would get out of hand...

After the final, we headed to the Galleon for food and a pub quiz. The quiz was keenly contested and now everyone knows softball was first played in Chicago in 1887. A useful fact to know! After a tiebreak, Boris’s team won the title, but we won’t share his teamname on a family website 😊

Thanks to everyone who took part in the evening and throughout the indoor season. See you outdoors!