Softball: Canny Carson holds back on yahoos

NOT AGAIN: Callum Carson watches a fielder snaffle another one of his hits. PHOTO/Duncan Brown

It could have been easy for Hawke's Bay vice-captain Callum Carson to to be yipeeing and yahooing after the second day of the national under-17 boys' softball tournament ended in Hastings yesterday.

His team finished the day with two wins and one loss to extend their record to four and one and secure a berth in the top four. After day 1 at Akina Park he was the best of the Bay batters and second equal overall on the RBI stats, with four.

But Carson, 16, has been around long enough to know it doesn't pay to get carried away after two days of a four-day nationals. With Auckland and Wellington, the top two teams from the other section, on their schedule today it's a sensible approach.

"I'm happy with the first two days. However I know we need at least one win tomorrow to remain in contention for Sunday's final and they're two tough teams," Carson said.

The Napier Boys' High School year 13 student is playing in his fourth national under-17 tournament during a rep career which has included one under-13 tourney, two under-15s and one under-19s. He ranks this week's team as the tightest he has been involved with.

Carson caught for captain Adam Woon in their first two games yesterday, a 2-0 loss to North Harbour, the top qualifiers from their section, and a 4-2 win against Upper South Island before having a designated hitter's role in an 8-1 win against Southland.

If he needed a reminder on how quickly fortunes can change he got it against Southland when all three of his hits were caught in the outfield. He and coach Paul Woon pointed out errors proved costly in the loss to Harbour.

Highlights for the Bay against Southland included pitcher Tridan McClutchie's home run and back-up first baseman and third-string catcher Sam Coldicutt collecting two hits from as many turns at bat, including a three-bagger.

Carson and co take on Auckland at 11am and Wellington at 3pm before getting another crack at Harbour at 9am tomorrow.

Supporters of Gisborne-based Tairawhiti were in celebration mode last night after their team pipped Hutt Valley 11-10. This was Tairawhiti's first win in two years at this level.

Hawke's Bay's under-17s girls have recorded one win from six games to date at their Christchurch-hosted nationals. Catcher Teah Price hit an in-park home run in the Bay's 9-5 win against Canterbury and combined well with her pitcher Maria Mudd on defence.

Bay manager and co-coach Joyce Chapman said the victory was a good way to bounce back from what she described as a "terrible" 22-0 loss to Auckland in their first outing yesterday. In their third match of the day against Wellington the score was 2-all until the sixth inning but the Bay struggled to combat Wellington's short game in the final inning and lost 7-2.