Glasskraft takes lead in softball

Press, 15 November 1976, Page 24

Glasskraft takes lead in softball

Glasskraft slipped into the lead in the Canterbury women’s softball championship when it beat the only other unbeaten team, Monowai, at the Polo Grounds on Saturday. The score was 7-3. Most of the matches were closely contested. Burnside

had only one run to spare against Western Suburbs. United recovered to hold Burnside B at bay, and Aorangi continued its run of successes with an easy victory over Monowai B. Results:— Glasskraft 7, Monowai 3. Burnside 8, Western Suburbs 7. United 9 Burnside B 3. Aorangi 11, Monowai B 1. Glasskraft v. Monowai Monowai made a most promising start when it batted first. Bev Makinson, with a safe hit, and Nancy Beale, because of a fielding error, reached bases and came home on an overthrow. Although Monowai had Margaret Machirus on base in the fourth, it did not add to its total until its fifth innings when Alison Coffey hit a triple and scored on a hit by Ann Wansbrough. Makinson again. Gwen Gray, and Valerie Keenan were others to gain safe hits late in the game. But Monowai entered its last Innings still trailing by four runs. Its hopes were raised when two players were on base, with only one out. but two force-outs at third stifled the revival. Errors enabled Penny King to open Glasskraft’s scoring in the second innings. With Sharon Constable on third base and two batters Out in the third, a single by Lynley Watts and triples by Vicky Morgan and King earned the side four runs and provided a useful lead. It went further ahead when Valerie Chambers scored from a hit by Danae Goosman in the fourth and Morgan reached home on errors to complete the scoring in the fifth. Chambers, for Glasskraft, faced 31 batters and gained three strlke-outs. She gave up nine hits. The Monowai pitcher, Makinson. faced 23 batters taking two strike-outs and conceding one walk and five hits. Burnside v. Western Suburbs Western Suburbs—scoreless in its first turn at bat, although Gaynor Clark hit well—lmproved in the second innings to score three runs. A hit by Annette Teague brought in Wendy Stewart in the third, and a doublebase hit paved the way for Lynette Sutherland’s run in the fifth. Good batting by Christine Timms. Clark, and Stewart provided two runs in the sixth. But even though Margaret Darkley drew a walk and Teague hit on. Western Suburbs was left one run in arrears in a scoreless final innings. Despite a triple by Ranui Hapl, Burnside did not open its account until the second innings when Bernadette Straker hit safely and capitalised on another hit by Kerry Rickard. Effective batting by Shirley Rainsbury, Kathleen Noonan, and Straker added two runs in the third and the side drew level with Western Suburbs when Rickard scored on an error in the fourth. It slipped to the front for the first time when erratic pitching, errors, and a hit by Noonan combined to bring in four runs, and Burnside was not required to bat a seventh time. United v. Burnside B United was held scoreless for two innings, but rectified mat-

ters in the third. Lynette Wilson scored on a fielder’s choice, and was followed in by Margaret Cormack and Barbara Clark. Wilson scored again in the fourth and then struck a fine home run With Karen Lawson on base in the fifth. Good hits by Heather Craig and Wilson added three runs in the seventh. A safe hit by Nan Mcllwraith brought home Jan Earnshaw in the first Burnside B innings, but its only other runs were those gained by Sue Curnow and Earnshaw in the fifth Aorangi v. Monowai B Monowai B failed to penetrate the Aorangi field until Margaret Wakefield took advantage of errors to score her team's only run of the game in the fifth and final innings. Meanwhile, Christine Clothier had opened Aorangi's scoring in the first when she stole home on a passed ball. Aorangi kept the pressure on Monowai B in the second, forcing errors for four runs. It repeated the effort in the third with the aid of strong batting by Kui Heagney and Gladys Kara. Michelle Hudson and Sharon Miller were prominent with the bat in the fourth innings, the two runs ensuring an early closure. Senior B results were:— Lyttelton 8 Burnham 6; Burnside 19, Teachers’ College 6; Aorangi 13, Kaiapol 9; Glasskraft 18, United 11.