Softball: Bay still unbeaten after day two

HELP BOSS: Hawke's Bay's White Sox pitcher Rita Hokianga asks tournament organiser Craig Waterhouse if he can organise a win for her side. PHOTO/DUNCAN BROWN

Tridan McClutchie and Donovan Mataira hit home runs as Hawke's Bay maintained their unbeaten run at the national under-19 boys softball tournament in Hastings yesterday.

Saints utility McClutchie smashed an automatic off the second pitch of the game in Hawke's Bay's 10-3 win against Tairawhiti at Akina Park.

This was the Paul Woon-coached Bay team's third victory yesterday and fifth at the 12-team tournament.

Fast Pitch outfielder Mataira, who is better known for his exploits with the Hastings Boys' High School 1st XV rugby team, hit an infield homer with two runners on base in the fifth inning of the Bay's 8-4 win against Auckland B, the hosts first outing for the day.

Woon's troops were always in front in this match and scored two runs in the first inning, three in the second and three in the fifth courtesy of Mataira.

In their second match of the day, Hawke's Bay needed a tie breaker inning to beat Upper South Island 2-1.

McClutchie scored on a pass ball in the top of the tie breaker before the Bay shut out the mainlanders in the bottom of the inning.

Upper South Island led 1-0 after the first inning and Hawke's Bay equalised in the third when Mataira got on base with a walk and was hit home by McClutchie.

Woon started his bench players against Tairawhiti and they struggled for the first couple of innings which allowed Tairawhiti to establish a 3-1 lead.

"Our neighbours Tairawhiti played with a lot of heart and our boys made a few errors before scoring three runs in the fourth, five in the fifth and one in the sixth which ended the game," Bay manager Lisa Ferguson explained.

Wellington pick up player Brayden Hampton started on the mound against Tairawhiti and was replaced by Ihaka Tangaroa in the fouth inning.

A son of Black Sox pitching legend Chubb Tangaroa, Ihaka, conceded no runs during his three innings on the mound and was also economical in the first win of the day.

Woon's son and 2016 Junior Black Sox pitcher Adam Woon replaced Tangaroa in the fifth inning of the Auckland B game and pitched the entire game against Upper South Island.

Hawke's Bay play the tournament's other unbeaten side, Auckland, this morning and the winner will have two lives in their quest to reach tomorrow's final.

"Auckland have a very good batting lineup but if our boys play like they did against Wellington on day one they will have a good chance of winning," Ferguson said.

The New Zealand White Sox women, who are coached by Hawke's Bay's Kevin Gettins, and include the Bay's pitcher-catcher combination of Rita Hokianga and Melanie Gettins, remain winless after losing 8-3 to North Harbour and 9-6 to Southland.

While the White Sox batting improved they are still conceding too many runs.

They are playing in the tournament with the aim of becoming more familiar with a faster style of game as prepare for the 2018 World Championship in Japan which will be a key tournament in the qualification process for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.