HOROWHENUA SOFTBALL

Chronicle (Levin), 8 December 1949, Page 8

HOROWHENUA SOFTBALL

"Strike One")

First iep. Norainations AreAnnounced j

(By

In conformity with the policy; agreed on in the early part -oi the season, the Horowhenua soft-; bail( selectors have ■announced: their nominations early this year,' giying all players a. chance of; showing their abillty in the A •and B triais, the first of which are to be held at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at ■ Cambridge Park. Players- who are not availi able are asked to oontact the secretary or any of the .selectors as soon as possible. v Tne foiowing are the nominations : — Men's A grade: Skilton, Learmonth, Mars'hall, Rose, Atkinson (Wanderers) ; Fletcher, Ryan, Mqrgan, Desgrand, Greatbatch (Athletic) ; Gardiner, Pat Dooley, S. and V. Bonner (Pirates) ; Judd, Tyler, Thomnson (Klimberley) ; T. G;i'ay, T. Hakaraia, Hihipuha, C. Enoka, Taratoa, B. Hakaraia (Raukawa) ; Harris -and' Raimona (Achilles) . _ Ladies: R. Remini, P. and M. Warren, C. Williams (Punahau) ; M. Cri'ob, S. McMillan, L. Pollock (Wanderers Stars) ; M. Enoka, P. and E. Ransfield, It. Hakaraia (Raukawa) ; N. Harris, N. Hofiore, J. Bagrie (Wanderers Ladies). I have had instructions from the selectors that these nopiinees are in no way their final choice as far as representatives are concerned, and any player not showing form • in -coming games wil. soon be dropped in place oa ot'hers.

Several factors are to be taken,: into account this season, such as ability as a player, attendance at; practices and sportsmanship on| and off the field, all of which go| to make or brqak a softbail play-; er. There are plenty of oppor-j tunitie-s for other players to replace those mentioned and it is hoped that those not meptioned wi.l knuckle down har;der to try and prove their - worth to the selectors. Pirates Befeated. At Kimberley, the at-home players were suecessful in carrying off the honours in a very close game against Pirates, the final score being 19 — 17 in Kim-berley's favour. Tlhis was a good type o, softbail where the decision was in doubt till the very ■last batter For Kimberley all players com-. bined well, especially the rnair inside men, Tyler, Wyrill, Hitchen; and Wylie keeping a good control of the game. For Pirates, Gardiner was responsible for a goov . ex-hibition in the catc'hing position, while Husband and Pa! Dooley -are developing into* excellent outfielders. Athletic, with a couple of players substituted and playing one man short, were a little more than unlucky in not holding Wanderers to a closer margin than 20 — 15 Wanderers were guiliy of some very bad throwing round the bases, which allowed Athletic players to make bases, while their hitting did not seem to be.up to their usual standard. In regard to Athletic, the gap caused by the lack of a short-stop, caught e lot of the . fielders on the wrong foot when trying to .cover too muoh ground. Special mention must be made of Skiiton's g-rand homer dowh' the third base t.line that; left ' the third baseman staffding ,and was responsible for opening Wanderers' score. The strong wind v. , appeared to put Learmonth off lii^'ttsual good judgrnent out in the outfieM. He let one or two big hits pass nearby and a couple of home runs resulted to Athletic. There is something lacking badly in respect of Ajax when they have 12 registered players and only six can turn out on a Saturday, and they have to default their game. This is not the first occasion. Surely there are the one or two chaps who could be prevailed upon to help put this popular club. Something should be d.one immediately. Space does not allow me to make further comment .on other games, but I would like to give :a resume of the men's senior points to date. They are: Kimberley 8 points, Wanderers, Raukawa sand Pirate 6 points each, Athldtic .4 points, Achilles 2 points. Ajax and Punahau have yet to win a game. The game this week between Raukawa and Kimberley should be an excellent one. I will' give the women's points next week. ■ ^