Burnside struggles to win

Press, 15 February 1982, Page 26

Burnside struggles to win

For the first time in five weeks the top six teams in the senior womens softball competition met on Saturday and some exciting games resulted. The highlight was the clash between .General . Lee Burnside and Monowai. which Burnside finally won, 7-5, in the seventh innings. The strong Albion side had two extremely easy wins, against A.G.C. United and Western Suburbs, with Albion’s pitcher. Cheryl Kemp, finishing both games with most impressive statistics. In the two games she faced 39 batters, taking 27 strike outs and conceding only two safe hits. General Lee Burnside 7. Monowai 5 Monowai gave the strong Gen-

eral Lee Burnside something of a fright in the game as it was leading 5-4 in the seventh innings. In the bottom of the seventh innings Burnside were two up. two down and facing the prospect of defeat when the eversmiling Ra Hapi came into the batter's box. Hapi thumped the ball out to left field, where the .fielder let the ball come out of her glove. Hapi raced round the bases to score the equalizing run. The next batter, Sharron Mansfield, hit safely to centre field and made second on a pass ball. Young Christine Patterson then hit safely to score Mansfield. thus giving Burnside a rather fortunate win. For Burnside, both Robyn Storer and Christine Patterson finished the game with batting averages of .750 while Lyn Tasker, for Monowai. also had an average of .705. Albion B 6, Woolston 5 Albion B came from behind in its last turn at bat to win a tense, hard-fought game. Chris McDonnell and Karen Thompson opened the scoring in the first innings to take the lead, 2-1, after Ann Adams had scored for Woolston. This lead was maintained for two innings, then Brand and Millar scored for Woolston in its fourth turn at bat. Darch and Millar scored in the fifth, and sixth, respectively, for Woolston, giving it a 5-2 lead. Under pressure and desparate for runs, the Albion B side began to put bat to ball as Thompson,

Maureen Dunn and Karen Noble all crossed home plate to even the scores. Woolston was unable to break the tie in its last turn at bat. but the lead off Albion B batter. Ta Tangiiti, came up trumps and scored the winning run. Albion 10. A.G.C. United 0

It took the Albion batters only six innings to assure their, team of a convincing win over United. The Albion pitcher. Cheryl Kemp, completely dominated the game, giving the United batters no opportunity to make base. United’s Donna Gooch was the only batter to make base, when she hit safely to centre field. Albion's third base. Janenne Gould, had a tremendous game taking two put outs, two assists and batting 1000. Monowai 6. Papanui 4 It was errors that cost Papanui its game against Monowai. along with a total inability to advance runners round the bases. Papanui outbatted Monowai. 103.

For Monowai. Margaret Machirus scored two runs while Annie Wansbrough. Kathryn Eiffe and Lyn Tasker scored one each. Chris John scored twice for Papanui and Carolyn Manson and Irinie Caddick crossed home plate once. Kaiapoi 15, Burnside B 4 Kaiapoi never looked to be in any danger of losing its match after its first turn at bat. It went through its entire order, accumulating seven runs. Kaiapoi then systematically built on its runrate, scoring two runs in the

second innings, three runs in the third and fourth innings, respectively. Kaiapoi did not require its fifth’turn at bat. For Burnside B one run came in the first and fifth innings, while two runners scored in the fourth. Albion 15. Western Suburbs 0 Albion started slowly in the match but came alive with the bat in the sixth innings to go straight through its order and score seven runs. Linda O'Cain. Cheryl Kemp and Nat Hazelwood scored three runs each, with Hazelwood hitting a magnificent right field home run and finishing the game with a 1000 average. Vicki Paskell and Sharon Constable both scored two runs each. Sharron Gordon and Helen Tait were the only Western Suburbs batters to make base, but neither looked to be in strong scoring positions. A.G.C. United 11, Albion B 1 In its second game of the day United was too strong for Albion B. taking the game out. 11-1. in six innings. ■■ . ■ United asserted its dominance in the match in the fourth innings when it scored seven runs, going right through its batting order. Yvonne Grant was the sole Albion B scorer, with the run coming in the third innings.

POINTS TABLE P W L F A Pt Burnside 5 4 1 18 3 8 United 5 4 1 17 6 8 Papanui 6 2 4 9 20 4 Lyttelton 6 1 5 6 21 2