by Paul Fitzpatrick

The All-Ireland Senior Softball Singles Championship reaches the semi-final stage this Saturday at the National Handball Centre, with all four last-four clashes in the Men’s and Ladies grades on the same bill.

Robbie McCarthy, who has ruled the senior softball court for over a decade, is chasing a remarkable 12th All-Ireland title in this code. The Westmeath star remains unbeaten in the championship since 2019 and showed little sign of loosening his grip in the early rounds.

He cruised past Tipperary’s Ned Reilly in the last 16, conceding just five points across two games, before encountering stiffer resistance from Kilkenny’s Shane Dunne in the quarter-final. Dunne asked serious questions of the titleholder, but McCarthy’s class shone through as he advanced 21-16, 21-15.

Awaiting him now is Meath’s Brian Carroll, a player in excellent form who, alongside Gary McConnell, captured the Senior Doubles crown last month. Carroll also won the Irish Softball Nationals in 2024 and brings considerable experience to the table. His quarter-final win against Wexford’s Keith Armstrong (21-6, 21-5) sets him up nicely but a huge performance will be needed against McCarthy, whom Carroll described in an interview after the Doubles final as “the greatest player I have seen”.

On the opposite side of the draw, Carroll’s doubles partner Gary McConnell is gunning for another Senior Singles final appearance. After winning the Irish Softball Nationals in Wexford earlier this summer, McConnell was bullish about his chances in the forthcoming championship and name-checked McCarthy in his post-match interview and that spikiness has added an interesting sub-plot to this championship.

The Kells right-hander, who added the 2025 Irish Softball Nationals to his list of honours earlier this season, came through the toughest of quarter-finals against Sligo’s Cormac Finn. After dropping the first game and falling 15-1 behind in the second, McConnell staged a dramatic recovery to win the tie in an 11-4 tiebreaker.

Having dominated the Doubles code, McConnell will be desperate to add a Senior Singles title to his CV but to do that, he must come through a fresh test in Kilkenny’s Kyle Jordan. A former stand-out talent at juvenile and minor levels, Jordan is appearing in his first Senior Singles semi-final.

He secured his place with a composed 21-13, 21-16 win over hard-hitting Tipperary man James Prentice. McConnell has more experience at the top level but Jordan’s class is not in question so a very interesting contest is promised.

In the Ladies Senior Singles, Limerick’s Martina McMahon continues to blaze a trail and is aiming to add another title to her extraordinary run, having already claimed the World Wallball Championship, the World 4-Wall Championship Doubles, the All-Ireland 4-Wall Senior Singles, the Irish Softball Nationals, and the Senior Softball Doubles in the past 12 months. McMahon enters the last-four stage as the strong favourite once more.

She takes on Westmeath’s Aoife McCarthy, a seasoned player across all codes; the pair actually teamed up to win that Open Doubles crown last November. McCarthy was in dominant form against Jodie Keeling of Wexford in the quarter-finals, easing through 21-1, 21-5.

The second semi-final sees two Kilkenny players go head-to-head. Amy Brennan produced one of the results of the round by defeating last year’s finalist Mollie Dagg of Kildare in straight games, 21-9, 21-16.

Clogh’s Brennan now meets fellow countywoman Aoife Holden, who has been quietly climbing the ranks. Holden dispatched Cork’s Aishling O’Keeffe in her quarter-final and has recently been competing on the Race4Eight tour in the USA. The exposure to that level of competition, albeit in a different court, will stand to her, but a repeat of the form she showed last time out could tip things Brennan’s way.

The programme begins at 11am on Saturday at Croke Park, with all matches streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel.

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