Cardiff City Under 18s v Archway School

After many weeks of training, the Cardiff City Under 18s team headed up to a friendly match in Stroud, against Archway school, on April 6, 2018.

It was a great day for a softball game, with an uncharacteristic dry day including a visit from a great big thing in the sky they’d heard of in legends: the sun.

The caravan of parents eventually met up at Archway school, and were welcomed by the host team, managed by Mark Saunders.

It was a hard start for Cardiff, with a quick 3-up, 3-down inflicted on them by the host team, who, as Holly reminded the team, were quite an experienced side. They shook it off and quickly got into the field. They competently delivered pitches, but the batters from Archway weren’t frightened, hitting big on several occasions. It was quite a fielding practice for the new team from Cardiff, but they weathered it well. Coach Holly was really pleased with the communication level amongst the team on their debut outing.

A few home runs later, Cardiff were up to bat again, and gave it their best shot. They kept their heads up, but didn’t manage to get on base until the third inning, where they finally beat the throw to first with a great hit by the second baseman. Next up was the pitcher, who sent a ball past the infielders, sending the previous runner to 3rd base. Some lessons are learned the hard way, and this was no exception, as the batter-runner carried on past 2nd base, and into a tag. Fortunately, the runner on 3 went home, avoiding a second tag, and giving the Cardiff team a run for their efforts.

The team brought a lot of positives from the game, including several strike-outs and some good plays. Archway manager Mark had some encouraging words for the players before they left, which did hapily, with the promise of ice lollies on the way home.

Thanks to all the parents who drove up and provided rides to other players, and a very special thank you to dad/umpire José Chavez.

Next up, a baseball game!