Article submitted by Stephan MARI (BC Contois - Contes, FRA)

"The 4th Trophée International Lafarge (T.I.L), men's international fastpitch tournament, took place on July 24, 25, 26th at the field of 'la Tana" in Contes, 20km from Nice, France.

5 teams have contested the tournament : Roma Softball (Italy champions), Pasos Pardubice (Czech Republic), Die-Hards (Switzerland), BCF Paris (French vice-champions) and the host team, Contes' Cobras.

Most of the 15 games played during the competition were interesting and tight, level was high and scores were closed. The batters had to raise their level of hitting because of the experienced pitchers. Finally, Roma and Pardubice went to the final, and the Czech team conceded the victory to the powerful italian batters (12-5).

Final ranking was:


1st Roma
2nd Pardubice
3rd Paris
4th Die-Hards
5th Contes

This tournament was a good training for all the teams, especially for Roma and Paris who will play the european cups this summer.

All the players had fun playing this 4th T.I.L, now one of the finests men's fastpitch tournament in France, a good way to promote softball in this country!.

You can find all about the TIL2009 (results, standings, pics) on the Contes Cobras' web site: www.bcc-cobras.org"