Softball Bundesliga

The softball Bundesliga , founded in 1999, is the highest German division in fastpitch softball , in which the German women's softball champion is determined every year .

mode

Regular season

The league consists of two groups, the 1st Bundesliga North and the 1st Bundesliga South, in which eight teams usually play against each other in a round trip. The games are played as double headers , so that the teams meet a total of four times. The two best-placed teams in each group of the regular season then play in the play-offs for the championship, the teams that have finished the regular season in places 3 to 6 play in the German Cup for entry into the European cup competition. The teams in places 7 and 8 play in a relegation tournament with the teams from the regional associations to stay in the Bundesliga.

Play-offs

In the play-off round, the first in the north or south group plays against the second in the other group. The teams placed worse in the regular season have home rights for the first double header, the better placed teams have home rights for game 3 and a possible game 4 on the same day and for a possibly decisive fifth game. The two winners of each best-of-five series qualify for the final, the two losers continue to play in the German Cup. The final is also held as a best-of-five series, here too the placement in the regular season decides on home rights. If the teams are evenly placed, the south has home rights in even calendar years, and the north in odd years. The winner is the German champion and is therefore entitled to participate in the European Cup of National Champions of the ESF, the loser continues to play in the German Cup.

Germany Cup

The German Cup will be played in several rounds parallel to the play-offs for the German championship. The rounds will be played in the best-of-three mode for those with better positions after the first and second round. Should teams meet that were evenly placed after the first and second half of the season, the south has home right here in even years, and the north in odd years. Look-up rights in game 1 of the series are held by the team that is worse placed and the team that is better placed in game 2 and possibly game 3. In the final of the German Cup, the loser of the DM final has a look-up right.

In the first round, the third of the north or south group plays against the sixth of the other group; Likewise, the fourth and fifth placed play crosswise. In the second round, the winner of series 1 plays against the loser of series 3 or the winner of series 2 against the winner of series 4. In the third round, the losers from the play-off semi-finals join and play against the respective series winner. In the semi-finals of the German Cup (4th round), the winners of these series then play the team that meets the loser of the DM final in the Youth Cup. The winner from this 5th round is the German Cup winner and is entitled to participate in the European Cup Winners' Cup of the ESF.

history

2007 season

→ Main article: Softball Bundesliga 2007

In the 2007 season, the final tournament for the German championship took place on September 22nd and 23rd in Ratingen . The defending champions of the Mannheim Tornados were able to qualify as the only team in the Bundesliga South, while the Hamburg Knights , the Brauweiler Raging Abbots and the Neunkirchen Nightmares from the Bundesliga North took part.

While Neunkirchen lost all of its group games, the remaining teams won two games each with a defeat, so that after the group games there was a three-way tie. Since Brauweiler surrendered the least runs in the table of the three best teams with eight runs, the Raging Abbots were directly qualified as group winners for the final, in which they met the Mannheimers, who won the clinch game 2-0 against Hamburg. Mannheim was then able to win the final 4: 1 and thus achieved the title of German softball champion in 2007.

2008 season

→ Main article: Softball Bundesliga 2008

In the 2008 season the Mannheim Tornados , the Haar Disciples , the Hamburg Knights and the Neunkirchen Nightmares qualified for the final tournament on September 20 and 21, 2008 in Mannheim. The Haar Disciples had to settle for 4th place after three defeats, while the Neunkirchen Nightmares defeated the Mannheim Tornados in the semifinals and thus made it to the final against the Hamburg Knights, who were unbeaten in the group phase. The Hamburg Knights won this final 6-0 and thus won the German softball championship in 2008.

2009 season

→ Main article: Softball Bundesliga 2009

The final of the final weekend of the 2009 season was played between the Neunkirchen Nightmares and the Mannheim Tornados , which the Mannheimers won 5: 1 and thus became German softball champions for the ninth time.

2011 season

In the 2011 season the final tournament for the German championship took place on September 24th and 25th in Ratingen. The defending champions Wesseling Vermins and Neunkirchen Nightmares qualified from the Bundesliga North , while the Mannheim Tornados and the Haar Disciples took part in the Bundesliga South . In the new edition of the final from 2009, the Mannheimer Tornados and the Neunkirchen Nightmares faced each other in the final. The whirlwinds from Mannheim were able to prevail with 9: 5 despite a 0: 5 deficit after the first inning and thus secured the 10th championship title in the club's history. The Mannheim Tornados remained undefeated in all 31 games of the 2011 season. At the award ceremony, the tornado player Karin Lorenz was honored, who contested her 20th German softball championship this weekend.

Web links

• Official Softball Bundesliga website

Remarks

1. ↑ DBV results page of the Softball DM 2007: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from December 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
2. ↑ Official homepage of the German softball championship 2008: Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . As of September 22, 2008.