The Vikings came away Silver Final winners at the Solent Softball League's annual Indoor Charity Tournament today after beating the Portsmouth Dodgers 19-18 in a close game after scoring the winning runs as time expired.

After coming up short, but playing well in all our round-robin games, it looked bleak as we entered the knock-out playoffs in the bottom half of the competition. A four-run Grand Slam as time expired from Adam Tempest gave us victory over the Solent Oddballs in the semi-final before a similar RBI single as time expired in the final off the batting of Doug Sutherland to win our first competitive trophy.

Indoor softball is slightly different to outdoor given the walls (and ceiling) involved. This fast paced version of the game was an excellent opportunity for our new players to get not only their Vikings careers off well, but their softball journey started off on a winning foot.

The tournament was played in high spirits and competitive nature. Overall, £686 was raised for the League's nominated charity - Helping Hands, who help homeless people of Portsmouth get their lives back on track.

I also believe some of us may have won something in the raffle!