Albion chasing title

Press, 2 March 1984, Page 10

Albion chasing title

Canterbury’s representative, Robert Brown Albion, will be out to regain the title it lost to Island Bay (Wellington) last year when the Pan Am national women’s inter-club softball championships begin in Auckland on Wednesday.

The battle for honours will undoubtedly be fought out between Albion, Island Bay, and Metro (Auckland) with both Saints (Hutt Valley) and Lions (Hawke’s Bay) capable of causing upsets.

Melville (Waikato) and Rajahs (Otago) are unlikely to pose any threats to the top teams while Manukau (Counties) is totally unpredictable, being capable of downing a leading side and then losing to one not in contention.

Island Bay will again be spearheaded by the young New Zealand representative, Gina Weber, who seems to get faster each season while the Canadian, Kelly Barnes, will be on the mound for Metro.

Albion is again under the guidance of the playercoach, Cheryl Kemp, and

the biggest problem she has to face going into the tournament is her side’s batting ability.

The Christchurch competition does not provide anywhere near the speed pitching the team will face in Auckland and Albion has not been batting with any great consistency except for its top-order batters, Natalie Hazelwood, Christine Tew, and Kemp. If the tournament is lost it will be in the batter’s box, not in the field, as the side is extremely strong defensively.

The side does, however, contain an incredible depth with three past and present New Zealand players in Hazelwood, Penny Salton, and Kemp. It also has a further five representatives in the Canterbury team — Tew, Janene Gould, Lynda O’Cain, Vicki Paskell, and Sharron Constable, while Leonie Woods is the No. 1 pitcher for the Canterbury under 21 team. The other member of the top nine is the rapidly improving Nicki Hudson who is capable of the big hit under pressure.