Win gives United softball title

Press, 23 November 1987, Page 23

Win gives United softball title

United has the Lion Red premier men’s softball association all wrapped up a month before Christmas.

An overwhelming 9-0 win over an old rival, Burnside, at Western Park yesterday made United’s competition lead impregnable, although it still has six games to play. The ridiculously easy competition win means that United will once again represent Canterbury In the national league, the Lion Red Series.

United was on the top all the way against Burnside scoring all its runs in the first four innings, before the Canadian, Larry Daiilselde, on the pitching mound, shut things down. With some aggressive batting United amassed 12 safe hits, including a three-bagger and a. huge automatic home run from Its pitcher, Mac Tangaroa, recently promoted to No. 2 in the order. As well, Neil Stuart hit his second out-of-the-park home run of the week-end.

Nothing went right for Burnside; In the top of the fourth United’s Greg Bayly made it safely to first after putting down a bunt and accidentally kicking the ball out of the reach of the infielders — something the umpires missed. He was subsequently one of four United runners to score in the inning.

United took ton of the pitching of Burnside’s starting pitcher, Matt Sheehan, and had a 6-0 lead by the time he was replaced by Dahlselde in the fourth.

Tangaroa faced 24 Burnside batters, taking nine strike-outs and giving up only three hits (to Sheehan, Grant Thomson and Murray Lamini). Dahlselde took seven strike-outs.

After the games this coming week-end Tangaroa is heading back to his home town of Levin for a holiday so the United players are happy that the competition is already 4ecided?^‘ i ; In a tight game at Papanui Domain Suburbs prevailed 1-0 over Richmond, with some fine batting by its American short-stop, Chris Zink.

Zink collected all three of Suburbs’ safe hits, including a three-bagger which hit the fence in the top of the seventh. He subsequently came home for the winning run on a throwing error. While outbattlng Suburbs by six to three Richmond was unable to score, even in the bottom of the third when it had a man on second base with none down. Both Grant Wright and Peter McAllister batted .666 for Richmond. Papanui collected its second win in the space of three matches with a surprise 3-1 win over Merivale. Both teams tallied five safe hits.

Ken Deal and Tim Hickey both scored for Papanui in the bottom of the third inning on a two-base hit by Brett Williams which was misjudged by the outfielders. Three innings later Rennie Tai batted in Errol Byrne. Merivale’s only run came through Chris Camm in the top of the fourth. In Saturday’s games United required only four turns at bat to thump Merivale, 14-2, easily the biggest winning margin of the season. Merivale had won the first game of its doubleheader at Western Park, beating Suburbs, 4-1, while at Papanui Domain papanui was twice on the losing side, being beaten, 4-3, by Richmond in an eighth tiebreaker and 6-0 by Burnside. POINTS TABLE

Two Richmond players, the first baseman, Brent Zboyovsky, and the young outfielder, Brad Sherry, deserved especially hearty slaps on the back from their team-mates after this match. It was Sherry who stopped Papanui from winning in regulation innings with a wonderful catch in the bottom of the seventh: With a' runner, Colin Sutherland, poised on second base Papanui’s Tim Hickey seemed to have found the gap In the outfield with a powerful drive, but Sherry covered a lot of ground and then dived a long way to his left to snare the ball in his glove. So the scores were locked up at 2-2 when the match went Into the tiebreaker. Papanui probably should have retired Richmond in the top of the eighth without conceding a run. With two outs and two strikes on the batter, Zboyovsky, the automatic runner was still held up on second, base. But the big Canadian latched on to a Sutherland pitch and sent it sailing over the centre-out-field fence for an automatic home run, Ricky Reid scoring ahead of him. i Two runs proved too many for Papanui to catch up though it was able to bring home its runner, ■ Hamish Clark, on a hit by Tony Bishop. 11l luck again dogged Papanui which has lost six games by a one-run margin this season. Batters dominated with Richmond getting 10 hits to Papanui’s eight Both pitchers, Sutherland and Wally Mohi, took four strike-outs. Zboyovsky, Brian Wright Grant Wright (Richmond) Hickey and Sutherland all collected two hits. Papanui had maintained a 2-1 lead from the bottom of the fourth inning to the seventh, twice tagging Richmond runners at home plate in the top of the fifth. There was an unusual occurrence midway through the game when the plate umpire, Mr Graeme O’Brien, was struck painfully by a pitch which went under his throat guard. He had to be replaced by Mrs Sandra Morgan and later received hospital treatment But Mr O’Brien was back on the plate for yesterday’s double-header.

BumWe 8, PapeuM • ’ This wm the first drat-Mt of the seesoa for both the pitcher. Larry MNft end the BuruMe tMnnhsMh it might tave beea a Htttte nattered by the extent of its win. -.'l ; Burnside shaded Papanui by only eight hits to six. but was well rewarded for its steadier effort la the field. While Papanui made three crucial; errors, ; Bunside made only bee had th> shortstop, Derract/RfllMrtL was responsible for Mo:.Roubleplayers which anafted out scoring chances, Burafide started with three scoretera tontofii but tot on with the job to Me bottom of the fourth wheiir Murray Lanini, Mike McLennan and Graeme Anderson all came home, the last named to a hit by Simon Heeth. The fifth innings ’ was equally profitable tor Burnside when the side loaded the bases and scored another three runs. * Dahlselde took four strikeouts, exactly half Oto'tally of his Papanui Sutherland. -•: ' j. For Papanui, both Garry Bishop and Brett WHUams batted .686 with two hits out of three. '' Merivale 4, Mbartto I Merivale had this match firmly in hand after a grand batting rally with two down to the bottom of the third Michael Lake, Orris gun™ and Shane Vincent aU scored field had brought to the first two runs and he subsequently came home himself on e hit by Chris Chapman. Vincent chimed to again to the fifth with an effortless automatic home run over the centre-field fence. Suburbs’ only run had come In the top of the second when the Texan, Chris:Zink, crossed the home plate. The win was Very much deserved by Merivale which outbatted Suburbs by the decisive margin of eight hits to One. Vincent, Chapman and Lake all batted .868.: ■’? United 14, Merivale 2 This match was rather less memorable for Merivale which made things very tough for itself with an undistinguished fielding performance. The team made six costly errors and there were no "earned” runs. 1 The United batters still amassed 11 safe hits off the pitching of Grant McCarroll, scoring three runs to the bottom of the second innings, three more to the third fend a massive eight in the fourth. During that fourth inning 12 United batters came up to the plate and six hits were produced, the best of them a mighty blow by Neil Stuart which cleared use fence and brought in three runs. Nothing went Merivale’s way in the toning, at one stage Ray Marsh stealing home after being caught in a "hot box.”

Merivale did reasonably well with the bat, having five runners stranded on the bases in its first four innings. But it did not get an entry on the scoresheet until the top of the fifth when it already trailed by 14 runs. Merivale’s top batter, Grant McCarron, collected a two bagger, Chris Camm was walked and with two down both base-runners scored on a hit to the fence by Shane Vincent

For United, the two men at the bottom of the batting order, Stuart and Greg Bayly, made their bid for promotion with perfect 1000 averages from three turns at bat

P w L F A Pt United 14 14 0 78 12 28 Burnside 14 7 7 53 58 14 Merivale 14 7 7 37 47 14 Richmond 14 6 8 49 60 12 Suburbs 14 5 8 23 40 10 Papanul 14 3 11 20 43 6 Richmond 4, Pai *anul 3