Softball fortunes fluctuate

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33060, 30 October 1972, Page 12

Softball fortunes fluctuate

Two days of competition in the men’s senior A softball during the week-end resulted in no change at the top of the points table, but a minor upheaval lower down.

Richmond kept its winning record intact with a good win over Somerfield on Saturday and a lucky victory against Papanui yesterday.

The Richmond-Papanui match drew a large crowd in bright sunshine at Papanui Domain. After losing 0-1 to Deep Freeze the day before, Papanui, the reigning champion, needed a win to restore its confidence. It went close to doing so, but a lucky break by Richmond in the seventh innings foiled its chances.

Western Suburbs was defeated by United on Saturday in their second encounter of the season. Suburbs had earlier beaten United, 3-1, but on Saturday United proved the better team.

Suburbs coasted to an easy five innings victory against Papanui Aces yesterday. Aces, which drew the double-header, went close to beating Deep Freeze in their second game, but the Americans responded with good batting late in the match. The United pitcher, D. Bradbury, would rank as the best pitcher in the competition, and his ability was too much for Somerfield yesterday. However, although it had complete control of the game, United was only able to score two runs Somerfield found it hard to hit the ball yesterday, but this was not the case at its home park on Saurday. It ended its batting drought and scored its first win

of the season with a good victory over Papanui Aces. Aces did not have a good week-end with three losses and have generally not been up to senior A standard. Points table:—

W. Suburbs 11, Papanui Aces 0 The match was completely dominated by Suburbs, who started well with seven runs in the first innings and added four more in the fourth to end the game in the next innings. Aces made some simple errors in the field and these, coupled with a lack of concentration on some occasions, let Suburbs take control of the game. The Suburbs players to score in the first innings were M. Irie, N. Hobson, K„ Stove, J. Shaw, M. Barry, M. Don, and G. Timms. Shaw and Barry both scored home runs.

Aces’ pitcher, H. Moore, slowed down the Suburbs batting in the next two innings and no more runs were scored until the fourth. L. Fife (Suburbs) made his pitching debut for the season and gave the Aces batters a difficult time. Fife scored two strike-outs and Moore one. R. Mullally and Hobson scored for Suburbs in the fourth and they were followed home by Stove and Shaw, who both hit two-baggers. Suburbs scored five safe hits and made one error. Aces com* mitred four errors. Deep Freeze 15, Aces 8 A late burst by Deep Freeze In the sixth and seventh innings enabled it to overcome a strong challenge by the underdogs Papanui Aces.

D. Krauss got home for Deep Freeze in the first arid second innings, J. Gowler also got home in the second.

Aces responded in the third when W. Steele, A. Ruruku—who hit a fine two-bagger—and L. Clarkson got home. In the fourth innings Aces continued its attack when Ruruku hit a home run, as did B. Grimes. H. Moore and A. Bishop also scored in this innings, and Aces appeared to have control of the game. At the end of the fifth innings Deep Freeze was trailing 5-6. This must have given the team the necessary incentive, as it was able to score four runs in the sixth. Krauss, A. G. Mansfield, K Westfield and J. Schul* lery all' passed the plate. Aces’ final run came in the sixth when A. Ruruku hit his second home run of the match. S. Richardson led a Deep Freeze scoring spree in the top of the seventh with a good home run. Other runs in this innings were scored by J. Krawchuck, Mansfield, Westfall, R. Gordon and Gowler. H. Moore struck out once, but Deep Freeze pitcher, Mansfield was unable to do so. United 2, Somerfield 0 The top Canterbury pitcher, D. Bradbury, proved too much for the young Somerfield batters, who only hit the ball three times in the game and could not get on a base. Bradbury scored a total of 17 strike-outs and never allowed Somerfield to hit safely. Although United hit safely on 10 occasions, tight Somerfield fielding allowed it to score only two runs. A, Hall got home on a pass ball in the fourth innings and M. Nelapa hit a home run in the seventh. Somerfield’s pitcher scored two strike-outs. Those players to hit safely for United were B. Mountford three times, D. Dawe, D. Birdling, Hall, D. Bradbury, K. Thorne, N. Oorschot, and Nelapa.

Richmond 4, Papanui 1 In one of the closest games of the week-end competition, Richmond was able to sneak in three runs in the seventh to make a last innings rally by Papanui almost impossible. The game was hard fought,

with constant objections from both teams, consultations with the umpires, and one or two warnings. In the third Papanui loaded the bases following a clever bunt by G. Roberts. M. Reid was able to get home to score Papanui’s sole run. Richmond’s first run was also scored in the third, following a three-bagger by D. Chee, who also figured in the move which produced Richmond’s winning runs in the seventh.

Although at times the Papanui players ran cleverly from base to base and fielded accurately, they were never able to quite finish off moves that may have given them victory.

A highlight of the game was a very difficult catch taken by R. Winfrey, who had to run into the ball from several yards in the outfield.

Both pitchers, Roberts (Papanui) and K. Smith (Richmond) scored strike-outs, but because the game was so tight they were under constant pressure. Smith pitched some loose balls towards the end of the game and Roberts was later replaced by M. Reid. Roberts received an ankle inury as he endeavoured to scramble back to first base in the seventh. Saturday games resulted:— Somerfield 10, Aces 4 For the first time since it was promoted to senior A level, Somerfield displayed the true potential of its batters. Four home runs were scored by the young suburban' side, compared to One by Aces. Although well ahead, Somerfield had to display tight fielding to contain Aces late in the game. Somerfield’s pitcher, R. Hayes, was back after a week’s absence, and he gave up six hits. Aces’ pitcher, H. Moore, conceded nine hits. Somerfield players to get home were A. McNeil (3 times), B. Cameron (2), M. Fitzsimons (2), B. Williams, R. Hayes, and P. Tobeck. I. Saunders, D. Mansbridge, T. Bishop, and A. Rukuku scored for Aces. Richmond 12, Somerfield 6 Somerfield could have made It two in a row at Somerfield Domain had it not been for a Lapse in the fourth innings

when Richmond scored seven runs.

Richmond did not have an easv time trying to keep its winning record intact, as Somerfield started well with A. McNeil and B. Williams scoring. Williams passed the plate twice in the game, as did R. Hayes. The other Somerfield scorer was K Eastern.

The Richmond batting was again srong, with 16 hits being taken off Hayes’ pitching. G. Panagotidis, K and G. Smith all batted well for Richmond. K. Smith gained five strikeouts and gave eight hits. Deep Freeze 1, Papanui 0

Good fielding by Deep Freeze enabled it to hold on to its slender lead, gained in the third innings when D. Krauss got home on an overthrow error by Papanui. The exciting game was played in good spirit, with each side trying hard to overcome solid defence.

A double play by Deep Freeze, when Papanui looked dangerous in the seventh innings, was the highlight of the game. W. J. Boyd and J. Krawchuck featured in this impressive fielding, which sealed the match in Deep Freeze’s favour. Papanui striker, G. Roberts, was in good form, taking 11 strike outs. He gave three safe hits. A. G. Mansfield got one strike out for Deep Freeze. United 4, Western Suburbs 1 Superior batting bv United was the decisive factor in this game, which saw United avenge its defeat against Western Suburbs about a fortnight ago. B Mountford, who has batted consistently for United this season, got home twice in the game. Other United players to pass the plate were K. Thorne and D. Birdling. The onlv Western Suburbs run was scored by N. Hobson.

D. Bradbury’s pitching power was again evident and he scored 13 strike-outs for United. He gave two hits. Suburbs* pitcher. R. Fife, scored two strike-outs and conceded seven hits. Neither pitcher gave a walk. M. McOscar, Suburbs centrefield, was injured late in the game and had to be replaced by L. Fife, who made his first appearance this season.

p w L F A Pts Richmond 6 6 0 50 25 12 United 6 5 1 30 9 10 Western Sub. 6 4 2 45 23 8 Somerfield 6 1 5 17 38 2 Papanui 5 2 3 14 13 4 Deep Freeze 5 2 3 37 36 4 Papanui Aces 5 0 5 16 54 0