Canterbury has three wins, one defeat

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32461, 23 November 1970, Page 26

Canterbury has three wins, one defeat

The Canterbury representative softball team completed its four-match North Island tour with a record of three wins and one defeat, being beaten by Hawke’s Bay, 4-3, after decisively outbatting the Bay in the final game at Palmerston North yesterday.

Earlier in the day, it had beaten Manawatu, 3-2, for its second win over that team. In the first game, on Saturday afternoon, Canterbury defeated Manawatu, 5-4, and then improved on this performance in the evening with

a convindng, 5-1, win over Wanganui. Although managing to outbat Hawke’s Bay by seven hits to the two that D. Bradbury conceded to S. Glasspole, a weary Canterbury team was just edged out, 4-3, despite a mighty batting rally in me sixth innings. Glasspole proved the destroyer of Canterbury's chances with two booming hits in the first and fifth innings and gave Hawke’s Bay a 4-0 lead at the top of the fifth. Several Canterbuiy fielding errors had contributed to this position. Canterbury drew to within a run of its opponent’s score with its sixth turn at bat D. Phillips, with a two-bagger, B. Mansfield, a single, and the vice-captain, I. R. Pollock, who crashed out a long home run over left-centre field, brought home three runners. However, Canterbury failed to get the vital run which would have tied the match in its final innings, WANGANUI OUTCLASSED Canterbury produced its best performance in beating Wanganui, 5-1, succeeding in shutting out its opponent until the seventh innings. Wanganui managed to hold Canterbury until the top of the fourth innings, when B. Mansfield hit a home run with D. Phillips in front of him. Another home run, this time by the second-baseman, E. Crown, gave Canterbury a 3-0 lead at the end of the * n The S Wanganui fielding collapsed under pressure in Canterbury’s final, innings, when N. Mattison and Bradbury scored on a succession of errors. B. Brewer, a son of the former international, D. Brewer, gained Wanganui’s only run at the bottom of the

seventh innings when his long fly hit to right field was dropped. SECOND NARROW WIN Canterbury gained its second one-run win over the tenacious Manawatu, although outbatted by five hits to two. Down 0-1 at the bottom of the third, a home run by D. Phillips, with Mattison on base, gave Canterbury the lead. The New Zealand third baseman, C. I. Chee, increased the lead to 3-1 when he hit Crown home in the next innings. B. Rusihana scored his second run of the game off a hit by M. Clyma to pull Manawatu to 2-3, but M. A. Reid, who relieved K. Smith at this point, ensured Canterbury the game with tight pitching. Canterbury snatched a 5-4 win over Manawatu on Saturday when a clutch hit by K. Smith gave it the lead in the seventh innings. A home run by B. Chee and a hit by Phillips put Canterbury 3-0 ahead, but M'lnawatu fought back to tf. the game in the fifth SMITH GOT WIMhER Manawatu took W lead at the top of the seventh when B. Wiggans hit the relief pitcher, K. Smith, safely. However, G. Roberts got on safely and was hit home bv Smith to tie the game. Then Smith scored the winning run off the same play when the right-fielder overthrew to third base. D. Phillips was Canterbury’s leading batter in the four games, with a total of four hits from IQ turns. C. I. Chee, with three from 12, and B. Mansfield, three from six, were others who shone. In the other match played, Hawke’s Bay beat Manawatu, 2-0.