Top right: Maggie, Alex, Mike Z, John, Dani, Dean

Bottom right: Vicky, Susan, Selene, Cesar

Top right: John, Alex, Mike Z, Kai, Susan, Holger

Bottom right: Hermine, Selene, Yaz, Dani

The Beasts' traveling team, the Beastycorns, headed out for their fourth fastpitch tournament this year in Babenhausen on the weekend. In round robin the Beastycorns faced off with the Vultures, the Giants and the Pioneers. The first game against the Vultures was a close one. The team took a 4-3 lead in the second inning but fell short in the end 5-4. The second game against the Giants was by far the weakest game of the weekend. The team had a combined twelve plate appearances. This of course wasn't enough to beat the Giants. The verdict was a 12-4 loss. The last round robin game was the opposite of the second game. The Beastycorns shut the Pioneers, a beginners team, out 15-0. After the last round robin game it was clear that the Beastycorns could only end up in fifth place if they were to win their last four games. 

To end up in fifth place the team had to face the Cougars, the Warthogs, the Mustangs and once more the Pioneers. The first two games against the Cougars and Warthogs were yet again close once. The team beat the Cougars 5-2 and the Warthogs 3-1. Both victories came on only five(!) hits but a combined seven walks. On that note, the walks played a big part on the weekend for the Beastycorns. The team was able to draw 24 walks opposite only 12 strikeouts. 

After those two games, where the team faced the stronger pitchers, the last two games were a clear matter. The team beat the Mustangs 7-2 and the Pioneers 13-4. This lead to the overall fifth place. 

Altogether the team had a good weekend going 5-2. What held the team back in ending up in a better rank were the loses at the wrong time. Something the team will will work for next weekend when it will head up Brunssum for yet another tournament. 

Top: John, Mike Z, Alex, Gabor, Susan

Bottom: Cesar, Selene, Maggie, Dani, Vicky

The Beastycorns, our road team, went on yet another adventure in the Netherlands to compete for the "Last Minute Trophy". The team this time consisted of four Beasts and four Unicorns. As it was a last minute decision to enter the tournament, the Beastycorns had to borrow a women in every game, as two had to be on the field at all time.

The Beastycorns started of with three back to back games and were able to win them all. The first three wins came against the Jolly Dogers (9-4), the Roadrunners (11-3) and the Valkyries (8-3). After a two hour break the team went on to win their fourth straight against the Samacols 7-2. It was only the fifth game against the Dutch team Boskov that the Beastycorns weren't able to pull off. The team wasn't able to get one hit in the 7-0 loss against excellent pitching. After the first day the Beastycorns were tied with three other teams for first place and a 4-1 record. 

The second day started out excellent for the Beastycorns. Four more victories put the Beastycorns in first place with an 8-1 record. The first game of the day was the first shutout for the Beastycorns, a 5-0 win against the home team Giants. In the second game the Beastycorns were able to turn around a 3-4 deficit into 7-4 win in the last inning. The third win proved to be quite exciting. After two scoreless innings LSG led off with a solo homerun in the third. It was thanks to two three run homers by Williams and Zimmermann in the fourth that the Beastycorns were able to pull out yet another win (6-1). The last group game was a 16-0 win against the Deadsox. It was also Williams first outing as a pitcher. A move that was made to give Seiler a break after having pitched 8 straight.

The 8-1 record allowed the Beastycorns to play for the trophy in the final against the Jolly Dodgers. The Jolly Dodgers started off quite good with three base runners but were only able to get one run. The Beastycorns responded with a solo shot to tie the game up in the bottom of the first. The Dodgers were able to pull ahead again 3-1 in the top of the second. Yet the Beastycorns kept hitting the ball around quite well and scored five runs themselves. In the third the Beastycorns were able to add two run and shut the Jolly Dodgers down with excellent defense which led to a 8-3 win and the victory in the "Last Minute" Tournament. 

The victory was only possible due to hard playing by all the Beastycorns during the whole tournament. Everyone was able to gather a lot of hits and play solid defense. The Beastycorns now will enter next years tournament to defend the title.

Mike Z., John, Alex, Susan, Miguel, Dani, Dean, Lucas (missing)

After two wins in round robin and another win in the playoff round, the Beastycorns were able to compete for 7th place against the Spartan Baboons. The game was close until the end. Unfortunately, the Baboons kept the upper hand and won the game 6-5. Still, the Beastycorns finished with their best result yet. The team will be back next year to get into the top 6.

Upper left: Dani, Miguel, John, Mike Z., Alex, Susan, Holger

Bottom left: Sandy, Diego, Franklin, Selene, Yaz

Upper left: Mike M., Miguel, John, Alex, Dani, Holger

Bottom left: Santi, Sandy, Lucas, Susan, Selene

John, Holger, Sandy, Inga, Selene, Alex, Mike Z., Susan, Miguel, Dani