SOFTBALL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26638, 8 December 1947, Page 9

SOFTBALL

COMPETITION MATCHES Cardinals I came close to being defeated by the Hillside Dodgers in the first divsion softball matches, when a bad fielding slump in the seventh innings allowed 18 Hillside runs to come in. The Cardinals managed to take the game, however, by 22 runs to 21. In one of the season’s hardest-fought games, City United excelled themselves by beating the division leaders, Hillside Red Sox, 12—11. Extra time was necessary, as at the end of the last innings (he score stood at 11 all. United’s captain, J. R. Birtles, crossed the home plate with the winning run. Sargood’s Dynamos now stand unchallenged at. the head of the division by defeating the Hillside Dodgers 10—5. Matchett, of the Dodgers, hit a home run for his team, and W. Winslade hit a home run of 360 feet for Sargood’s. In a poor exhibition of softbali, the Bears Club defeated the 2nd N.Z.E.F. first team 30—11. The throwing and fielding of the Bears’ team was not up to their unsual standard. Monson was 2nd N.Z.E.F.’s highest scorer with three runs, and Gainett Nelson, of the Bears, was top batter of the game, with six hits and six runs.

Cardinals II thoroughly trounced the Hawks Club by 29 runs to 7 in the second division. This was the second time that these teams have met in the season, the first fixture resulting in a victory for the Hawks. McCair, of Cardinals 11, hit the only home run of the game. The 2nd N.Z.E.F. No. 2 team defeated the Hillside Demons by 36 runs to 24. Forter hit a home run for the Demons. A.T.C. Spitfires had a bye. Tlie interclub competition will be played next Saturday in the second division only owing to the holding of the final trials for the South Island team at Timaru.