Strategy pays off for under-15 softball reps

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

AFTER two heavy losses on Thursday — 9-0 to Wellington and 12-1 to Auckland — Tairawhiti bounced back for impressive wins yesterday against Manawatu (5-1) and Waikato (5-4).

Last night they lost 12-5 to Hawke’s Bay, but the game was fought tooth and nail for the first five innings, assistant coach Ray Noble said.

Co-coaches Corey Reihana and Cyrus Richter had told their team to be aggressive in their approach — try to get players on bases, try to “steal” bases, Noble said.

“They haven’t backed away from that strategy and it’s paid dividends,” he said.

After two days’ play, the team were placed in the second four teams of the 16-team tournament. Their final placing would be determined by their two games today and one game tomorrow.

“The best we can do is finish fifth, and the worst is eighth.”

Noble said the boys had played well, even in the games they had lost.

Jesse Hohepa-O’Keefe and Treyson Hikitapu-Wilson had both pitched well in a losing cause on Thursday and were the pick of the side in the two victories yesterday.

Te Korewha Reihana had shown he was one of the best batters of the tournament. He hit three home runs, including the home run that won the game against Waikato.

“In the last inning, we were two runs down with two runners on base, and he hit a home run, adding three runs to our score,” Noble said.

“Corey Boocock hit one home run and batted in quite a few runners.

“Our captain, Corban Richter, was as safe as houses on first base and was consistent with the bat.

“He definitely led by example.”

Against the team’s arch-rivals from Hawke’s Bay, Jake Noble, Reihana and Boocock did the best of the batters, and Hohepa-O’Keefe pitched consistently well when he got on.

“He had been pitching all day so we had to limit his time out there,” Noble said.

“We played hard enough to win; we just didn’t play smart enough. But the coaches’ preparation has paid off with the performances so far.

“I think a fifth-place finish, if the boys achieve it, would be the best placing a Gisborne softball team have had at a national age-group tournament.”