Results

2009 saw the return of many of the Tecumseh regulars with a few new faces who happened across us, or us across them. We also all but lost Cap'n Shell to the vagaries of rollerderby. In February the team had decided that the style of play for the season would be competitive but with a view to consolidating the team and improving players. Hopefully, this would put us in better shape for the season after.

The 9-6 record was obviously an improvement on the previous year and one of which we can be proud. It's difficult to draw comparisons with the previous couple of seasons as the format of the divisions and the teams we were playing were quite different. On the whole, we were a better team, although we did lose a couple of games that we should have won. Those games were, however, outnumbered by those where we held our nerve, making the Tecumseh mid-game meltdown (almost) a thing of the past.

Throughout the season, the pitching and defence were stellar. On average, the team conceded less than 9 runs per game (and that includes taking the 24 run blow out against the Raiders into account). The only team with a better record was the Dazzlers.

The offence (non-verbal, the verbal offence is as good as ever...) also improved but remains collectively, perhaps the team's biggest weakness. Ranking ninth in runs scored, this often translated into additional pressure on the defence as we were unable to plate insurance runs that would have given us some breathing space in certain games. One of next season's challenges will be to maintain the improvement in baserunning while improving the quality of at-bats (both in terms of hitting and plate discipline). There was a marked improvement in batting in the second half of the season, particularly from the girls and if the team can build on what it achieved this year, we will be contenders, if not favourites, for the division title. Jen

Captain's report to follow

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I think it was Oscar Wilde who said that losing one division may be considered unfortunate, losing two is careless. Well, for the last two years the Tecumsehs have been rather consistently careless. We achieved four wins and one draw in the 2007 season, putting us on a slow drop to Div 5: unchartered territory.

It has been an oddly mixed season. The cloud of relegation from Div 3 at the end of 2006 at least seemed to offer the silver lining of some easier matches. But while our scoreline did improve on the previous year, life in the 4th was not easy. Even here other teams have weird quirks such as practising softball and trying to improve their skills. Maybe they take it all seriously. For the Tecumsehs we believe very much in recreational (or should that be wreckreational) softball, and there is always a pub at the end of the tunnel.

There is no merit in picking apart all the matches. We beat the two bottom teams (that’s bottom excluding us) and lost to the top 4 teams with only one ‘upset’: we drew at home against Div 4 champs Italian Suede. Our bogey team was the Kamikazes: a win, either home or away, would have secured our place in the 4th next year. However, it was not to be: we lost at Primrose Hill on the last pitch of the last out of the last innings, and as for the home leg... Well, it was a fraught affair, and remembered more for its contentious umpiring decisions (and the reactions they provoked) than the score.

So we take our sense of righteous injustice and our 100% unbeaten ‘last in the pub’ title away with us. With any luck Div 5 will be where we turn ourselves around. However, even if we don’t manage promotion, I hope at least we have fun. Wilde did also say that losing softball matches is the curse of the drinking class, and we have always prided ourselves on being an excellent class of drinkers. - Captain Shell

UPDATE - the Tecumsehs escaped the drop by way of a playoff, beating the Dazzlers on a mud bath of a pitch in April to secure their Div 4 berth for another season

It was a hard season for the Tecumsehs. Survival the year before seemed to offer false hope this season. Life in the 3rd was not easy, as we finished last in the division and were relegated to the 4th.