Three Teams With Equal Points Edge For Senior Softball Lead

Chronicle (Levin), 22 December 1949, Page 8

Three Teams With Equal Points Edge For Senior Softball Lead

"Strike One")

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With Kimberley's defeat of Wanderers on Saturday the final game of the round in the senior meh's competition to he ' played on Janua-ry 1 .promises to he full of interest. Th'e three l'eaders in the competition, Kimberley, Raukawa and Piratee, have 10 points each. Wanderers are next in line with 8 and Athletic taikthe rear with € points. This is the first time in Horowhenua sof'tball history that so many teaifis have been 'ed'ging for the lead.

Although this c'iose competition is strang'e when compared with previous seasons, it was expected tMs year. So -far the teams have put all their efforts into playing | the game, with the result that things are running more smooth- . ly. The arguments and appeals i that were noticeable last year are | now 'oonspicuous by their absence. I This is probably due to the fact j that both the players -and the um- | pires have a .fcetter understanding ■ of the rules of ' the game. Raukawa's Shaky Game. At Otairi on Saturday Athletic | gave Raukawa their biggest scare ! of the season. Playing only seven men, the Levin team . fought all the way to just miss the honours I with the scoreboard reading I 25—24. Athletic could have turned the* scales of fortune had their captain brought on one of the junior players to fiil the gap. This mlght have remedied some of the fielding faults that were caused by too few infielders trying to do too much. However, their attempt at victory was a ga.lant one and their opnonents were among the first to * congratulate them on their grand fight. Raukawa were inclined to take the game tao easily, with the result that Athletic's runs started to pile up in grand fashion. It took severe words from their captain, T. Gray, before many of the players began to realise the seriousness o"f the team's position. For Athletic, J. Ryan came into the limelight to hit two home runs. Fietcher and P. Ryan bat■ted well, while Morgan made one tremendous hit that defied all .boundary rules to eventually land out on the road. Desgrand and Greatbatch are both off batting form and Frazsr slipped b».dly from his excellent fielding performance of last week.

Easy Win For Pirates. On Saturday morning Ajax met Pirates, the latter winning comfortably with a margin of eight runs. Pi-rates again had a run of luck and piled up 7 runs in the third innings. Nevertheless, if Ajax had played as well in this game as they did against Wanderers later in the -day, the scoreboard would ' probably have toid a different story. Pirates did not make much impression as a. team. However, they are past masters at profiting from their opponents' misiakes and on Saturday Ajax made far too many of them — mainly from overthrows around the bases. For Ajax Wildbore played an •outstanding game at second base, being responsible for seven or eight catches and several peg outs. He was also noticeable with his backing up. > The actual score in' the V/anderers-Ajax match was not a fair indieation of the run of play. Wanderers were very lucky to get 12 runs to their opponents' 5. It seems that both Athletic and Ajax are liaving a run of poor luck and, given nine regular members each, both these clubs would soon be sharing the honours. The pitching of Rose in the first two innings was not impresslve. This player has the ability but it has not yet come out this season.

Skilton, coming on foi* the third innings, had it all over Ajax with fast and accurate pitching. However, the spirit soon left him and his throwing became most erratic. Surprising Margin. The margin of 6 runs by which Kimberley beat Wanderers came as quite a surprise. Perhaps it was due to the fact that Kimberley are inclined to make a close study of their opponents' play and then -plan their attack accord-'l ingly, a thing that other teams do' not do. Crei^t for the strategy employed must be given 'to the skipper, J. Tyler. One of the main reasons for the defeat of Wanderers was the pitching of Skilton, which lost its sting during the latter innings of the game, and the poor hitting of the side in general. It has been evident in recent games how much this side has relied on its pitcher, who has kept the oppasition in check, and the fielding mistakes of opponents to gain runs. The base throwing and running between bases cannot be faulted, but with the exception of Atkinson the batting" is not strong. For Kimberley, Wylie is improving in both fielding and batting, while Judd gave his usual grand outfielding display. This side's fielding and crafty batting won the day for them. Raukawa Women Triumph. Wanderers Women went under to Raukawa very easily. At no stage during the game did the former look like making a break to turn the. scales in their favour. For fairly e'xperienced players, Wanderers fumbled badly, overthrew repeatedly and failed toi back up, until it seemed that the! two runs they did manage to get must have been pieces of extraordinarily good luck. Pt was not until Mrs. Skilton came on as pitcher in the second innings that the hard-hitting Raukawa players found their scope somewhat limited. However, the game did have its bright spots. With the excellent base running of Rose Hakaraia and the hard hitting of M. Winterburn, J. and B. Hakaraia and T. and M. Ransfield it is certain that this team would be quite in their element against any city senior A team. Season To Reopen Earlier. The softball season will re-open on January 7, two weeks earlier than on previous oecasions. This will be of benefit to players with an eye on the kn'ock-out tournament to be held on January 23. It would be to the advantage of all local teams to enter this tournament. Entries can be accepted now. It is practically certain that local teams wifi be matched against visiting teams for the first games, which will be played in the morning. The first prize in a raffle which is being conducted under the auspices of the 'Softball Association may be seen on display in the window of Messrs. J. w. Lynch, Ltd. Any local players who are not leaving the district over the holiday period are advised to meet at Cambridge P-ark with the possibility of organising a game. The association will take no responsibility with regard to gear or the arrangement of games.