On Friday 9th June 2023, we saw our Dolphinettes make more history for our club, playing in their first 3 league matches in the first Essex Softball Series 3 Tournament of 2023.
The games began at Coggeshall, Braintree’s first game was versus the home club. Captain, Mary Newham, was blessed with 8 players this evening, allowing for a different team selection for each of the three games.
Rearing to go, the dolphinettes lost the toss, but luckily were able to field. They put in a good performance, backing up the bowlers well, keeping the runs down. Agile behind the stumps was Claire Osborne, who throughout all three games allowed no byes. The Coggeshall side finished their innings with 238, with Braintree knowing they needed to fight hard to win their first league game. No wickets were lost, a solid 26 being put on within the first 2 pairs, Natasha Garner putting in a quick shift with 9 runs from her 4 balls faced. Jade Worster and Captain Newham came in to claim the winning runs, putting on a staggering 20 from their available 12 balls. Braintree winning by 8 runs finishing on 246.
Onto their next game, the dolphinettes faced a strong Terling side. Braintree won the toss and elected to field. Terling has maintained their strong position over the last year or so developing their softball team, which the dolphinettes knew would be tough opposing their attack. All bowlers were keeping a close eye in the field, in tandem
the batting, but with a lethal batting line up, Terling closed their innings with 240. Opening the batting for Braintree, Zoe Farran knew how to work the pull shot, working well to dispatch bad balls, but with the loss of a few wickets over the next few overs the total stayed low, finishing the game with a loss, and 204 runs.
Whilst this caused frustration, the storm began, looking for redemption. Braintree’s final game versus Dunmow was their one to win. Having played Dunmow last season they put in their strongest assailants, to beat the familiar faces. Losing the toss, they were put into bat first, Natasha Garner and Osborne putting on a strong first front, gaining 18 runs off their 12 balls. Next into bat pair Saskia Ives and Farran, added to the total without loss, adding on a solid 12 runs, to some good mid game bowling from Dunmow. Finally Newham and Worster, again coming in to close the innings, put on an impressive performance, adding 24 runs off their 12 balls, finalising the innings with 254. Dunmow came in hard pushing quick singles, putting up a good fight against the Dolphinettes fielding. They hit the gaps well in the first half of innings, but with a good run out from Garner, assisted by Ives, the total lessened. Dunmow was however no match for our ladies, posting 248 as their final total.
The ladies played at their best, leaving their hearts on the pitch to gain the final 3-point win. Two wins and a loss put theirs point total at 7, only two points behind top scorers, Terling Ladies. With great team-work and encouragement they go into next week's league games with their heads held high. Well done ladies!