A Sundsvall player watches her teammate (#6) make an infield play. (Photo by Peter Blomquist)

SEASON BEGINS IN SWEDEN... INDOORS!
2009-03-13

For the 18th consecutive year, the Swedish softball season started with the SIM Cup, played indoors in Enköping, Sweden, this past weekend.

Eight female fast pitch teams played a total of 20 games over the two-day tournament, which started with round robin pool play on Saturday and culminated with playoffs on Sunday.

For the second consecutive year, the Skövde Saints finished on top at the SIM Cup, after narrowly beating Söder Black and Blue in the final by a score of 2-1. Söder had beaten Skövde in the group pool play, but the reigning champions held back Söder in the final. In the bottom of the final inning and with Skövde on top 2-1, Söder had runners on first and third base but thanks to a strong defensive play from Saints shortstop Ann-Sofie Rickardsson, Skövde was able to secure their second straight indoor championship.

The bronze medals were awarded to Sundsvall, who beat Enköping, 2-1.

Skövde’s Priya Mohlén earned SIM Cup Best Pitcher honors while teammate Amanda Karlsson was named the SIM Cup Best Batter. Ulrika Fräsen of Söder took home the SIM Cup Most Valuable Player award.

The outdoor softball season starts May 1st and ends with the best-of-five finals in late September.

The SIM Cup was just the latest example of the growing popularity of arena (indoor) softball, which had also been featured prominently earlier this year in the Netherlands.