Richmond Has Good Win In Softball

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31501, 16 October 1967, Page 10

Richmond Has Good Win In Softball

Richmond put real interest in what promises to be a lively men’s senior softball season, when it beat Papanui, 2-1, in the second round of the competition on Saturday.

R. Hall drove a home run ball the length of the English Park ground to score a run that gave Richmond its victory.

Avon played far too well for the Suburbs infielders, and won convincingly, 10-3, in a game of lacklustre softball. Kaiapoi beat Deep Freeze, with the American team not up to the standard of recent years. Results:—

Richmond B 2, Papanui 1, Avon 10, Suburbs 3. Kaiapoi 5, Deep Freeze 2. Richmond A 12, United 0. Papanui v. Richmond B. Over well under the hour, the game provided a sparse audience with some softball for the conossieur. The batting was dominated by the pitchers, of whom K. Smith, for Richmond showed too much skill for most batters. Papanui made a confident start with C. Chee scoring after he had batted on base with a line drive. W. Anderton, the coach, moved him to second with a bunt play from G. Clarkson, then the youngest of the three Clarkson brothers, M. Clarkson, scored Chee on a sweetly-struck sacrifice fly ball to the outfield.

The youthful Richmond catcher was having difficulty in controlling the rise ball that Smith can throw with such effect, and the Canterbury pitcher was rather less effective for this. He still managed to strike out and baffle the Papanui batters with real artistry. Smith, who appears to strike the ball as hard as any one in the competition, hit a ball that fell safely in the fifth inning to give Richmond a chance of a run.

R. Hall nonchantly swept a loose delivery deep into the outfield for a home run to make it two to Richmond. Papanui tried to build another run in its last innings but the Richmond defence was too good. Kaiapoi v. Deep Freeze L. Seaward threw a fine personal victory over Deep Freeze with a pitcher’s game of firstrate quality. Faced by some rugged but not very effective swinging from the Americans, Seaward made 13 strike-outs, the best total by a pitcher this season. Kaiapoi played with 'thorough application and some quite well executed infield moves, and throwing to base, to hold a margin of three runs at the end of the game. Richmond A v. United Richmond crushed United

with a shock 12-0 win, the game was called off at the fifth inning. B. Mountford, the Richmond second baseman, hit three consecutive home runs, N. Nelepa went four times to bat for four safe hits, R. Hutton also hit a home run as Richmond hammered the pitching of K. Davis. S. Whittington, transferred from Avon to United, did not catch with the skill of last season and United was unable to gather hits from the pitching of D. Bradbury, who struck out nine United men.