Softball Ulster teams played their first games of the 2022 season starting on Sunday, 1 May, when the Belfast Angels hosted the Bangor Buccanneers at Hydebank Playing Fields. The Angels were playing their first competitive game since the 2019 season, having sat out the 2020 season and played only in friendly matches and blitzes in 2021. The Buccanneers won by a score of 33 – 18.
Also on Sunday, the Lisburn Hawks, playing their first-ever match in league play, played the Smokin’ Aces at their home grounds, Wallace Park. The Aces won 35 – 6.
On Monday, May 2, teams played the final two games of the season’s opening weekend. First, the Belfast Sliders played another new team, the Cyclones of Belfast Softball Club, at Hydebank Playing Fields, which will serve as the Sliders’ home grounds this season. The Sliders built a 15-run lead going into the Cyclones’ last turn at-bat, allowing them to weather a seven-run Cyclones rally and win 21-13.
Finally, last year’s league champions, the Belfast Cubs, played the Belfast Brawlers, which had won the league title every year from 2016 to 2020. With the score tied 17-17 after seven innings, the Brawlers were able to hold the Cubs scoreless in the top of the first extra inning and then score the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving them an 18-17 win.