WELLINGTON RETAINS N.Z. SOFTBALL TITLE

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28167, 4 January 1957, Page 3

WELLINGTON RETAINS N.Z. SOFTBALL TITLE

With one day left of the New Zealand men’s interprovincial softball tournament, Wellington, with one game to play, cannot be beaten and will retain the championship which it won last year. Hutt Valley and Auckland will require to play a game to decide the runner-up, as they both have had two losses. Canterbury, with three losses, is third. Canterbury again proved unpredictable yesterday, as it was beaten in the morning by Waikato, which has had six losses, and in the afternoon beat Auckland, which at that stage had been beaten only once.

Canterbury, in its game against Waikato, held the score to 1-1 at the end of the second innings, but a series of walks and errors allowed Waikato to load the bases and an overthrow to the home plate yielded three runs to give Waikato a 4-1 lead. Canterbury was scoreless .in its third innings, and long hitting by Waikato in its fourth innings put it further ahead, 6-1. Fielding Errors

Canterbury took advantage of fielding errors in its fourth innings to make up two runs, and then held Waikato three up-three down.

Canterbury’s fifth and sixth innings were scoreless. Waikato scored one run in its sixth, and Canterbury was five runs down in its final innings. Waikato, with fast pegging to first base, held Canterbury to one run to win the game 7-4.

Canterbury’s game against Auckland was different. Fast, accurate pitching kept Auckland’s first three innings scoreless and Canterbury, at its third innings, had a 4-0 lead, in spite of a change of pitcher by the Auckland side.

Auckland opened an offensive in its fourth innings, and scored two home runs—one on an error —to tie the game 4-4. Canterbury hit well in its fourth innings. but failed to score and Auckland, taking advantage of a poor throw to first base, scored and took a one-run lead. Three-base Hit

Canterbury fought back, and from a three-base hit by E. Hart in its fifth innings it tied up the game again, only to see Auckland make one run in its sixth and hold Canterbury scoreless at its bat. With Auckland failing in its final innings, Canterbury was trailing by one run at its bat and levelled the game with a hit by B. McGregor. Canterbury then

made the winning run on a dropped catch.

Results of yesterday’s games were: Southland 22, West Coast 11; Manawatu 10, King Country 9; Wellington 38, Otago 5; Hutt Valley 9, Rotorua 5; Waikato 7, Canterbury 5; Manawatu 8, Southland 2; Wellington 24, King Country 4; Hutt Valley 7, Otago 0: Canter-, bury 7. Auckland 6; Waikato 31. West Coast 7.