Much Depends On K. Smith's Pitching Form

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30980, 9 February 1966, Page 11

Much Depends On K. Smith's Pitching Form

L\NY chance that Canterbury has of holding the national men’s softball champion, Hutt Valley, to a respectable score at Hutt Valley on February 19 could depend on the form of the pitcher, K. Smith (Richmond). It is inevitable that Smith’s performance will be compared to that of W. Massey (Hutt Valley). The Hutt Valley pitcher has become almost a legend in New Zealand softball for no other pitcher has been comparable to him during his nine-year first-class career. Expected to be New Zealand’s spearhead at the World Series in Mexico City, Massey has at last found a rival now that some of his speed and guile has

left him. The potentially brillant 18-year-old Wellington pitcher, K. Herlihy, could assume Massey’s mantle within the next couple of years. He pitched The Rest to victory over a New Zealand IX led by Massey. At his best. Smith can mesmerise batters with his speed. But unfortunately there are times when Smith’s temperament gets the better of him and his accuracy becomes alarmingly inconsistent. He came through the schoolboy grades as a Canterbury representative and burst on to the national scene at the 1960-61 Beatty Cup tournament, at the early age of 17. His rise was meteoric and he improved with each season. His batting advanced with his pitching and he is at present one of the leading batters in Canterbury club softball. At first, Smith pitched in the shadow of A. Ballantyne, who played nearly 200 first-class matches after representing his province when only 16. Smith took over when Ballantyne retired and gained South Island honours. But for some inexplicable reason he has failed to improve to any great extent since then. In the recent Beatty Cup tournament at Wellington he took 21 strikeouts in 30 innings. But he also conceded 28 safe hits and eight walks. Even allowing for Canterbury’s poor fielding at times this does not compare very well with the figures returned by Otago's member of the New Zealand squad, G. Tattersfield. The former Southlander, Tattersfield, pitched in 46 innings, taking 43 strike-outs and conceding 28 hits—the same number as Smith but

in 16 more innings. Canterbury’s second pitcher, R. Lewis, pitched 39 innings for 25 strike-outs, 22 safe hits and 10 walks. Yet Smith has the ability to improve his figures appreciably. Last Saturday against Marlborough—a team that beat Canterbury twice at Wellington—he gave Canterbury an early advantage by striking out four of the first six batters. In seven innings the Marlborough batters could score only three safe hits. Smith is the type of player who has to be bullied along. His catcher, P. Joyce, virtually forced Smith to pitch

well against Marlborough by chiding him along between innings and on the diamond. Smith responded with fervour that put Marlborough at a disadvantage from the time that its first batter was struck-out. And this fine performance followed only a short time after Smith had pitched for his club, Richmond, in its vital match against Papanui. It is to be hoped that Smith can repeat his effort, not only against Hutt Valley, but also in the Jeffries Cup challenge against Southland at Invercargill on March 12 and against Otago in Christchurch on March 26.