Travelling to Hertfordshire for the annual ‘Fall Student Cup’ was the pinnacle of the most successful year in the history of the Southampton Mustangs, including winning streaks and celebrity connections along the way! Beginning in April, the Mustangs played host to several university baseball teams, losing in a thrilling final to the Nottingham Thieves. This spurred the team on as they began a thrilling season in the British Baseball Federation league. Mustangs II, mainly made up of new boys (rookies) to the sport, started strongly but faded in their second year as an established team. For the firsts however, this season represented the culmination of several years’ development. After splitting the first three double-headed games, the team embarked on a hot streak to rack up an impressive 21-5 winning record. The only blip on this streak was ironically one of the highlights of the season, as the Mustangs travelled up to league-leading Essex Arrows. In a carnival atmosphere, the guest of honour was Jerry Springer, who came along to meet both teams, and help out by umpiring, fortunately not being called on to break up any fights!

Despite losing both games, it was a brilliant experience for all who travelled up with the club, and the team performed well enough to qualify for the National Championships. This meant another long journey, but this time the team travelled many miles north to Harrogate. Apart from established, National League Teams, the championships represented the highest level of baseball in the UK, so to even be selected to play there was a huge achievement for the Mustangs.

Despite losing their first game to Harrogate, things were to improve. In the elimination game, Southampton rallied to knock out Liverpool, before meeting Essex in the semi-finals. This time, early hitting led to the Mustangs racking up 19 runs to gain revenge for their early season defeats, and advance to the final. Here, unfortunately, superior pitching saw the hosts claim victory, but to achieve second place and become unofficial Southern champions was a fantastic result.