THERE will be no men’s fastpitch softball league this summer.

After years of struggle to keep the game alive, it has finally died a death.

Only four teams took part on the Beau Sejour diamonds last season and with three of them pulling out there was no option but to disband the competition which has been running for more than 70 years.

‘It’s down to a lack of interest,’ said the Guernsey Softball Association president Curt Taylor.  ‘I’m confident we’ll get it back, but it won’t be for a while.’

The GSA are introducing a men’s slowpitch league in its place, which they are hoping will bring more people into the sport.

The lack of interest in fastpitch is not only restricted to Guernsey. It is understood that there is currently no fastpitch league in the UK either.

The problem stems from the fact that a team is ‘only as good’ as its pitcher, which is notoriously hard to find.