2023 British baseball season

2023 was the 94th season of competitive baseball in the United Kingdom.

This season saw the National Baseball League contract from 7 teams to 6, with BC Vetra and both Legends clubs (London and Lancashire) leaving, being replaced by the Herts Falcons (who last competed in 2021) and the East London Latin Boys.

Three previously independent leagues, the British Baseball League (Featuring teams from the North West of England), the East of England Baseball League (Representing teams from the East Midlands and East of England) and the North East Baseball League all affiliated themselves with the BBF, being added to the pyramid.

The BBF season had its opening day on 16 April, with the NBL season ending on 13 August. The Playoffs were held at the Farnham Park National Baseball & Softball Complex in Buckinghamshire, with the Single-Game Semi-Finals happening on 20 August, and the Final (reverting to a Best-of-3 series for the first time since 2018) being held across 26 and 27 August. The London Mets won the NBL Final, besting the Capitals 2-1 across the 3 game series.

National Baseball League

Capitals, Mets

Latin Boys

Falcons

Arrows

Bruinsclass=notpageimage| Location of the 2023 National Baseball League Teams

Teams

Team	Location
East London Latin Boys	Waltham Forest, London
Essex Arrows	Waltham Abbey, Essex
Herts Falcons	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
London Capitals	Haringey, London
London Mets	Haringey, London
Sheffield Bruins	Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Win%	GB	Qualification
1	London Mets	25	22	3	0.880	–	Qualify for Playoffs
2	Essex Arrows	25	20	5	0.800	2
3	London Capitals	22	13	9	0.591	7.5
4	Sheffield Bruins	19	7	12	0.368	12
5	Herts Falcons	23	4	19	0.174	17
6	East London Latin Boys	22	2	20	0.091	18.5

Source: BBF

Correct as of 13/08/23

Playoffs

Semi Finals 20 August			NBL National Championship 26-27 August

1	London Mets	11

4	Sheffield Bruins	0
			1	London Mets	3	5	14

			3	London Capitals	5	0	0
2	Essex Arrows	5

3	London Capitals	7

British Baseball Federation and Affiliated Leagues

Triple A Level

BBF AAA

Teams

Bears

Badgers

Metros

Pirates

Cardinals

Buccaneers

Redbacks

Knightsclass=notpageimage| Location of the 2023 BBF Triple A Teams

Teams	Location
Bournemouth Bears	Ferndown, Dorset
Bristol Badgers	Keynsham, Somerset
Croydon Pirates	Sutton, London
Herts Cardinals	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Kent Buccaneers	Hadlow, Kent
London Metros	Haringey, London
Essex Redbacks	Chelmsford, Essex
Richmond Knights	Richmond upon Thames, London

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Win%	GB	Qualification
1	Bournemouth Bears	25	19	6	0.760	–	Qualification to Playoffs
2	Richmond Knights	26	19	7	0.731	0.5
3	London Metros	25	17	8	0.680	2
4	Herts Cardinals	25	13	12	0.520	6
5	Bristol Badgers	28	12	16	0.429	8.5
6	Croydon Pirates	27	11	16	0.407	9
7	Essex Redbacks	27	10	17	0.370	10
8	Kent Buccaneers	25	3	22	0.120	16

Source: BBF

Playoffs

Semi Finals 10 September			AAA Championship 17 September

1	Bournemouth Bears	9

4	Herts Cardinals	5
			1	Bournemouth Bears	9

			2	London Metros	7
2	London Metros	9

3	Richmond Knights	6

BBL - Higher

Teams

Teams	Location
Liverpool Trojans Army	Sefton, Merseyside
Liverpool Trojans Navy	Sefton, Merseyside
Manchester As	Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester
Manchester Bees	Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester
Sheffield Kodiaks	Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Win%	GB	Qualification
1	Liverpool Trojans Navy	22	19	3	0.864	–	Advance to Final
2	Liverpool Trojans Army	22	17	5	0.773	2	Advance to Wild Card
3	Manchester A's	22	12	10	0.545	7	Advance to Wild Card
4	Sheffield Kodiaks	20	5	15	0.250	14
5	Manchester Bees	22	1	21	0.045	18

Source: BBF

Correct as of 20/08/23

Playoffs

Wild Card 2 September			BBL Higher Championship 2-3 September

			1	Liverpool Trojans Navy	10	9	6
2	Liverpool Trojans Army	8	2	Liverpool Trojans Army	13	6	5
3	Manchester A's	3

Double A Level

BBF AA

Central & East

Teams

Teams	Location
Cambridge Lancers	Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
Essex Archers	Waltham Abbey, Essex
Herts Hawks	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Milton Keynes Bucks	Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Norwich Iceni	Norwich, Norfolk

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Win%	GB	Qualification
1	Cambridge Lancers	19	15	4	0.789	–	Advance to Playoffs
2	Norwich Iceni	19	15	4	0.789	0
3	Milton Keynes Bucks	17	10	7	0.588	4
4	Essex Archers	20	7	13	0.350	8.5
5	Herts Hawks	21	1	20	0.048	15

South

Teams

Teams	Location
East London Latin Boys	Waltham Forest, London
Formosa Islanders	Old Oak Common, London
Herts Ducks	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
London Musketeers	Haringey, London
London Meteors	Haringey, London
London Sidewinders	Haringey, London

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	Win%	GB	Qualification
1	London Sidewinders	25	20	5	0	0.800	–	Advance to Playoffs
2	East London Latin Boys	25	19	6	0	0.760	1
3	London Musketeers	25	14	11	0	0.560	6
4	London Meteors	25	13	11	1	0.540	6.5
5	Formosa Islanders	23	5	17	1	0.239	12
6	Herts Ducks	23	1	22	0	0.043	17.5

South & South West

Teams

Teams	Location
Bracknell Inferno	Bracknell, Berkshire
Bristol Bats	Keynsham, Somerset
Guildford Mavericks	Guildford, Surrey
Oxford Kings	Oxford, Oxfordshire
Richmond Dragons	Richmond upon Thames, London

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	Win%	GB	Qualification
1	Richmond Dragons	20	15	5	0	0.750	–	Advance to Playoffs
2	Bracknell Inferno	19	12	7	0	0.632	2.5
3	Guildford Mavericks	18	8	10	0	0.444	6
4	Bristol Bats	17	7	9	1	0.441	6
5	Oxford Kings	18	3	14	1	0.194	10.5

South East

Teams

Teams	Location
Brighton Brewers	Brighton and Hove, East Sussex
Croydon Pirates	Sutton, London
Hurricanes Baseball	Hadlow, Kent
Kent Mariners	Rochester, Kent
Tonbridge Wildcats	Tonbridge, Kent

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Win%	GB	Qualification
1	Hurricanes Baseball	18	15	3	0.833	–	Advance to Playoffs
2	Brighton Brewers	19	15	4	0.789	0.5
3	Tonbridge Wildcats	19	7	12	0.368	8.5
4	Kent Mariners	15	5	10	0.333	8.5
5	Croydon Pirates	17	2	15	0.118	12.5

Playoffs

Semi Finals 10 September			AA Championship 17 September

S	London Sidewinders	17

C&E	Norwich Iceni	2
			S	London Sidewinders	8

			SE	Hurricanes	10
SE	Hurricanes	16

S&SW	Richmond Dragons	13

Single A Level

BBF Single A

Playoffs

Wild Card
9 September

Semi Finals
10 September

A Championship
17 September

SWWBL

Cardiff Merlins I

SCB

Herts Ravens

SCB

Herts Ravens

EEBL

Cambridge Royals

SWWBL

Cardiff Merlins I

SCA

London Mustangs

Tonbridge Bobcats

SCA

London Mustangs

Summer Cup

On the weekend of 22 and 23 July, the BBF hosted the inaugural Summer Cup, a 2-day Tournament run from Farnham Park. 24 teams from 22 clubs took part, with a variety of teams makeups, including representative teams from Baseball Scotland, Baseball Ireland, the South West and Wales Baseball League, and the East of England Baseball league, plus teams from non-BBF Clubs, such as the Long Eaton Storm, Stockton Grizzlies, and BC Vetra.

Initially, the 3 tiers (Gold, for AAA and NBL-level teams, Silver, for AA and high independent-level teams, and Bronze, for A and low independent-level teams) were split into groups of 4, each of which would play a round-robin, with positional playoffs. However, due to inclement weather over the weekend, this format was instead changed to a single-elimination knockout, with losing teams moving into a lower bracket to decide positions.

Teams

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Baseball Ireland	Bracknell Inferno	Croydon Pirates
Baseball Scotland	Bristol Bats	Fire Breathing Kittens
BC Vetra	Bournemouth Bears	Guilford BC
Croydon Pirates	Formosa Islanders	Kent Mariners
Essex BC	Long Eaton Storm	London Mets
Liverpool Trojans	Norwich Iceni	New Forest Thunder Knights
London Mets	Newcastle Nighthawks	South West & Wales League
Sheffield Bruins	University of Nottingham	Stockton Grizzlies

Gold Bracket

Main Bracket

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

London Mets	7

BC Vetra	1
		London Mets	3

		Croydon Pirates	1
Croydon Pirates	15

Baseball Ireland	0
				London Mets	3

				Essex BC	2
Liverpool Trojans	6

Baseball Scotland	7
		Baseball Scotland	3	Third Place Play-Off

		Essex BC	5
Essex BC	11			Baseball Scotland	13

Sheffield Bruins	1			Croydon Pirates	2

Consolation Bracket

Consolation Semi-Finals		5th Place Play-Off

BC Vetra	4

Baseball Ireland	3
		BC Vetra	2

		Liverpool Trojans	6
Liverpool Trojans	8

Sheffield Bruins	5	7th Place Playoff


		Baseball Ireland	15

		Sheffield Bruins	1

Silver Bracket

Main Bracket

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

Bournemouth Bears	3

Bracknell Inferno	6
		Bracknell Inferno	7

		Norwich Iceni	8
Norwich Iceni	12

U of Nottingham	2
				Norwich Iceni	3

				Long Eaton Storm	6
Newcastle Nighthawks	1

Long Eaton Storm	2
		Long Eaton Storm	12	Third Place Play-Off

		Bristol Bats	1
Bristol Bats	w/o			Bracknell Inferno	w/o

Formosa Islanders				Bristol Bats

Consolation Bracket

Consolation Semi-Finals		5th Place Play-Off

Bournemouth Bears	7

U of Nottingham	4
		Bournemouth Bears	2

		Newcastle Nighthawks	9
Newcastle Nighthawks	w/o

Formosa Islanders		7th Place Playoff


		U of Nottingham	w/o

		Formosa Islanders

Bronze Bracket

Main Bracket

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

Croydon Pirates	7

London Mets	8
		London Mets	13

		Stockton Grizzlies	6
New Forest Thunder Knights	3

Stockton Grizzlies	11
				London Mets	8

				SWWBL	7
Guildford BC	7

Fire Breathing Kittens	12
		Fire Breathing Kittens	8	Third place play-off

		SWWBL	13
Kent Mariners	6			Stockton Grizzlies	9

SWWBL	24			Fire Breathing Kittens	17

Consolation Bracket

Consolation Semi-Finals		5th Place Play-Off

Croydon Pirates

New Forest Thunder Knights	w/o
		New Forest Thunder Knights	12

		Kent Mariners	13
Guildford BC	6

Kent Mariners	7	7th Place Playoff


		Croydon Pirates

		Guildford BC	w/o

References

^ "Opening Day is the 16th April for BBF league". British Baseball Federation. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
"Three Regional Leagues Affiliate to Baseball's National Governing Body for 2023". British Baseball Federation. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
"METS AND CAPITALS MEET IN REMATCH TO DECIDE 2023 NBL CHAMPIONS". British Baseball Federation. Retrieved 27 August 2023.

Baseball in the United Kingdom

WBSC Europe

Governing bodies

British Baseball Federation

National teams

Men
Women

Clubs

Seasons

Venues

Hosted events

British Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Josh Chetwynd John Devey Roland Gladu Ross Kendrick R. G. Knowles Francis Ley John Moores Lefty Wilson

Plays in the Irish baseball system

Related sports: Rounders • Welsh baseball

Categories: