Kaiapoi Shares Lead In Men’s Softball

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31809, 14 October 1968, Page 19

Kaiapoi Shares Lead In Men’s Softball

A home run in the eighth innings by R. Johnson enable Kaiapoi to beat the defending champion, Papanui A, on Saturday, and share the lead with Richmond and Deep Freeze after two rounds of the Canterbury men’s softball championship.

Richmond emerged as a strong candidate to regain its title with a convincing win over Western Suburbs while Deep Freeze, a team that has often been weakened by transfers to the Antarctic, beat United, 3-1. The promoted Papanui B team gave Avon some anxious moments before the latter recovered from a four-run deficit to win narrowly, 5-4, after three runs had been scored in the sixth innings. Results: Kaiapoi 1, Papanui A 0. Avon 5, Papanui B 4. Deep Freeze 3, United 1. Richmond 8, Western Suburbs 1. Points: Kaiapoi 2, Richmond 2, Deep Freeze 2, Papanui A 1, Avon 1. Papanui B 0. United 0, Western Suburbs 0. Kaiapoi 1, Papanui A 0 The title-holder, Papanui A, had its chance to win a tense match when the bases were loaded in the seventh innings but M. Reid was no-t able to handle the pitching of the New Zealand trialist, R. Bennett, and was struck out to end the innings. Johnson, with two strikes against him and two batters dismissed, hit strongly to centre field in the eighth innings. The ball eluded K. Cooper and ran past him, enabling Johnson to complete a home run on errors and give Kaiapoi a win. Papanui did not reach its full batting potential and was inclined to make expensive errors in the field. Bennett kept the batters quiet, conceding only two safe hits and taking five strike-outs. Reid’s figures for Papanui were even more impressive, with 10 strike-outs and two safe hits. Although lacking Bennett’s experience, Reid was most consistent and was assisted by the fine judgment of his catcher, B. Waine.

Avon 5, Papanui B 4 A late batting rally enabled Avon to recover from a four-

run deficit to beat the youthful, but highly-promising, Papanui B team. The Avon batters had difficulty handling the pitching of T. Prescott and were able to snatch a win only by scoring three runs in the last innings. A home run by R. McKenzie, which also scored R. Marshall, assisted Avon in the third Innings. The scores remained at 4-2 in Papanui B’s favour for two innings as each team tried to consolidate its position. It was not until D. Edward hit safely to reach third base that Prescott began to falter, and Avon gained its final, decisive advantage. Richmond 8, Western Suburbs 1 K. Smith gave Richmond an early advantage when he struck out six batters in Western Suburbs’ first four Innings. The pitching was then entrusted to D. Bradbury, who kept Western Suburbs in check until the final innings, when O. Stuart hit a home run to score his team’s only run. Richmond left little doubt as to the result when strong batting by D. W. Lew, P. J. Joyce, M. Nalepa, and S. Smith resulted in five runs in the fifth innings. Stuart hit Western Suburbs* two safe hits and was the only batter to face Smith and Bradbury with confidence. Deep Freeze 3, United 1 Deep Freeze continued its improvement to beat United at English Park. United played quite well but was not able to contain Deep Freeze in the first innings, when two valuable runs were scored. The major problem that Deep Freeze has faced in recent years—the transfer of players to duty in the Antarctic —may again give the team problems, although officials are confident of continued success.