Bradbury helps United to softball win

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32734, 11 October 1971, Page 18

Bradbury helps United to softball win

The Canterbury representative' pitcher, D. W. Bradbury, played a large part in helping United, last season’s champion team, to a narrow, 1-0, win over Richmond at the Papanui Domain on Saturday, when the senior men’s inter-club softball championship began.

Bradbury allowed only one hit; to be taken off his pitching during the seven innings of the match, while striking out numerous Richmond batters. He also scored the winning run in the third innings, after gaining one of the few successful safe hits in the match. The young Richmond team was handicapped by the loss of its New Zealand trialist out-fielder, N. D. Mattison, who has transferred to Wellington, and by the temporary absence of its catcher, R. Storer (serving the final week of his suspension), and G. Storer and D. Chee, who were involved in winter sports matches elseIn fact, for Richmond to hold the powerful United side to one run was a most meritorious effort, in large part through the play and experience of the Eitcher-catcher combination of J. :. Smith and P. J. Joyce. Joyce has decided to make a come-back to club play after

! missing several seasons, and is sure to prove a valuable asset to the Richmond infield.

The winner of the 1970-71 champion-of-champions supplementary competition, Papanui, was able to beat the American servicemen’s team, Deep Freeze, 4-2, by scoring all its runs in a bottom-of-the-third innings rally. However, the batting honours were shared with seven safe hits each. Western Suburbs were more than a trifle fortunate to edge out a game Kaiapoi side, 5-4. Suburbs established a comfortable 4-1 lead in the second innings but then lost control of the. match to be struggling at the end. A fine game with the bat by the youthful S. Holder enabled it eventually to win. UNITED 1, RICHMOND 0 The matching of two of the best battery combinations in the province—Bradbury and M. Nelepa for United, and Smith and Joyce for Richmond—made this match an engrossing encounter. The experience and intelligent calling of Nelepa, who caught to Smith as a Richmond player some years ago, and Joyce, meant that there were few loose deliveries offered to batters. 'Bradbury, another former Richmond player, had something to prove against his old club and swept through its line-up with a vengeance, taking 13 strike-outs. He conceded a safe hit to D. Rea, while Smith allowed hits to Bradbury, Nelepa, and D. Birdling. It was the last-mentioned trio who combined to gain their team the winning run. Bradbury hit Into centre-field, Nelepa advanced advanced him with a sacrifice bunt, and Birdling hit into leftfield to allow Bradbury to race home.

PAPANUI 4, DEEP FREEZE 2 Three of last season’s Canterbury Beatty Cub team, B. Waine and G. A. Roberts (Papanui) and A. G. Mansfield (Deep Freeze) were the leading players In one of the late matches at the domain.

Waine hit 8 towering home run over centre-field during Papanui’s winning rally at the bottom of the third innings. He managed a triple-base nit later in the match. Roberts, the relief pitcher for United last season, showed that he is developing well with the responsibility of having to fill the position vacated by M. A. Reid, who is in Wellington this season. He struck out 12 of the heavily swinging Deep Freeze team.

Mansfield, a representative outfielder last season, who has had to become the full-time pitcher for Deep Freeze in the absence of its large 1970-71 pitching staff

of B. Walters, D. McMillan, J. Marcum, J. Smith, and J. B. Guerrero, threw well to limit the stronger Papanui batters to only seven hits. He was also his team’s top batter. Papanui’s four-run rally was attrabutable to hits by Waine, B. Chee and G. Phillips, a bunt by D. J. Patterson and a scariflce fly by I. R. Pollock.

Deep Freeze’s runs were scored by R. Hicks in the fourth innings, when both he and B. Richardson managed safe hits, and by D. Krauss in the following Innings, after a hit by J. Gordon.

For Papanui, B. Chee (two), G. Phillips (two), Waine (two), and Patterson hit safely. Mansfield (two), Krauss, E. Crown, Gordon, Hicks, and Richardson were the successful batters for the loser. WESTERN SUBURBS 5, KAIAPOI 4 Kaiapoi, a team which was considered in some softball circles to be fortunate to gain a place in the senior A grade this season, could easily have caused an upset Its pitcher, M. McConnell, and the former representative, R. Johnson, were the leading figures in helping Kaiapoi to fight back from an early disadvantageous position. McConnell matched his opponent, L. Fife, in conceding five hits to the Western Suburbs* pitcher’s four. Johnson was his side’s top batter. Johnson scored his side’s first run to give it a short-lived lead, while B. Grimes and C. Vesty in the third, and M. August, in the fifth, enabled Kaiapoi to tie the match. Two errors by the Westren Suburbs centre-fielder and New Zealand Colts’ player, M. P. McOscar, proved costly. B. Don and B. Grimes were the other successful Kaiapoi batters. A triple-base hit by A. J. Mullajly, a home run by L. Fife, and singles by J. Shaw and S. Holder produced Western Suburbs’ four runs in the second innings. However, it was not until the sixth innings, when Holder gained another hit to score Shaw, that it was able to regain any control. SENIOR B MATCHES Greater experience and the speed-ball pitching of A. J. W. Prescott enabled Papanui Aces to gain a comfortable win, 6-2, over Somerfield. Richmond, which beat Papanui B, 14-6, and United, which beat Services, 13-8, were the other successful teams.