Third softball title in row

Press, 13 December 1989, Page 51

Third softball title in row

The Canterbury women’s softball team again reigned supreme at the South Island Jubilee Cup tournament last week-end in Oamaru attesting to the strength within the province and the overall lack of depth in the sport currently in the South Island.

For the coach, Sharron Constable, it was the only opportunity to prepare the side for the Winfield nationals, which start on December 26 in Lower Hutt. Overall the performance was a satisfactory one, although one or two areas of concern exist.

While Canterbury walked away with the title for the third consecutive year, the side at the Nationals will need to lift its batting, as only two of the side returned averages over .400. The calibre of the pitching it will face in Lower Hutt will be considerably better than that faced over the week-end. This, combined with a total of 25 runners left on base, will need to be worked on in the weeks to come.

The most impressive batter of the side was the captain, Natalie Hazelwood,who concluded the

tournament with an average of .666 from four matches played. She was followed in the statistics stakes by Chris John on .454.

The . side played five games and at no stage was severely stretched, even in the final against Southland which it won, 93. In section play the team was never taken to the regulation seven innings, downing Otago 14-0, Mid-Canterbury 10-0 and West Coast 10-0. The section cross-over against the young South Canterbury side produced Canterbury’s tightest scoreline with Canterbury winning 4-1, although the side was never under threat.

The final against Southland gave Canterbury one or two heart stopping moments in the early stages, as Southland built a 2-0 lead after its first turn at bat. However Canterbury edged its way back and by the bottom of the third innings had the measure of Southland with, a 5-3 lead. From the fourth innings .onwards Southland failed to get runners on base while Canterbury kept applying the pressure.-