Match produces 27 strike outs

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 24

Match produces 27 strike outs

Batters had contrasting fortunes in the two Dalgety Crown Travel premier men’s softball matches at Burnside High School on Saturday.

In the early game between Imperial Merivale and A.B.L. Suburbs all spectators, and despondent batters, seemed to hear were the same two words bellowed by the plate umpire, Mr Eric Hobson: “Strike out!”

Altogether 27 batters suffered that ignominious fate, Suburbs’ Mike Ash racking up 14 ”Ks” to David Bradbury’s equally impressive tally of 13.

Between them the sides only collected seven hits. Suburbs had a 5-2 advantage in the count, but it was Merivale who won the match, 1-0, in the tiebreak eighth innings. The second game, between Countdown Bumside and Tait Electronics United was much more profitable for the batters who together amassed 17 hits. Only nine strike-outs were recorded, all by Burnside's Roger Keith who also had a great game with the bat.

Burnside, which took the early initiative, prevailed, 6-3, and after suffering two interclub losses in five days United will be looking for much better form when it represents Canterbury in the Pan Am club nationals in North Shore later this week.

Suburbs created more scoring chances than Merivale and the players had only themselves to blame for not ending matters in the regulation seven Innings.

When the tiebreaker was applied in the eighth, two innings earlier than normally, Suburbs lost its automatic' runner on the bases, trapped between third base and home, while with a little bit of help got its runner home for the winning run. Batting in the bottom of the eighth Merivale had actually moved its automatic runner, Chris Chapman, round to third base with none down before Suburbs started to fight back. Chapman was still on third base with two down when the next batter, Dave Colenso, hit Suburbs’ second baseman, Brett Seaward. With an underarm throw he lobbed the ball to Scott Christopherson, on first base for what should have been the third out, but the American spilled the take, Chapman came home and the match was over. It was something of an injustice that Ash would be recorded as throwing a losing game when he took all those

strike-outs and gave up a mere two hits and no walks. Suburbs had seven men left on base to Merivale’s four, the losing team’s best chance coming in the top of the fifth when Christopherson was on third base and Nesbitt on second with one down, only for Bradbury to retire the next two batters. Christopherson was the best of the Suburbs batters, contributing two of the side’s five hits. Burnside 6, United 3

United’s coach, Leon Fife, chose to open with the very much part-time pitcher, Roy Ah Kuol, on the mound and for the three innings he was retained Burnside collected eight hits and four runs. In that period the beaming Burnside player-coach, Graeme Anderson, and one of his younger charges, Mike McLennan, took advantage of wind assistance and the slower-than-usual pitching speed to clout hits over the outfield fence for automatic home runs. On each occasion there was already a runner on base.

Even when Fife came on himself Burnside was able to extend its lead to 5-1 and United’s two-run rally in the bottom of Uie fourth, when Ah Kuol (two-bagger) and Maia Toa strung together good hits, was not sufficient to change the tide.

Keith, pitching for Burnside, kept the United batters fairly quiet, conceding five hits and a walk. With the bat he was in dynamic form, picking up three of Burnside’s 12 hits. The other main contributors for Burnside were Anderson, Marsh and Lanini with two hits each. Burnside was without its usual short-stop, Jamie Flynn, who was representing the New Zealand under-19 team

at the International quad- ! rangular series in Carterton, ■ but John Kottier, diverting t from his usual duties in the , outfield, did a pretty useful s job as fill-in. ' Kottier’s opposite number, ■ Paul McFarlane, a cut above s most infielders in Canterbury, [ played a big part in the two double plays achieved by 5 United. Even so Burnside had , 11 men stranded on the > bases, three of them in the i top of the seventh.

POINTS TABLE A Pt P W L F Suburbs 3 2 1 14 7 4 Bumside 1 1 0 6 3 2 United 3 1 2 12 14 2 Merivale 3 1 2 8 16 2 Merivale 1, Suburbs 0