Central Districts pair Jamie How opened with 42 while fellow Stags squad member Bevan Small contributed 32.
"The par score would've been 250-plus at the start of the day, considering we played on that wicket the day before," De Terte said of his men who defeated Taranaki in their play-off on Saturday while Manawatu tamed Nelson.
De Terte lauded the efforts of his spittle shiners yesterday.
"All the guys bowled exceptionally well but Stevie Smidt claimed a hat-trick, ripping the heart out of the middle order," he said of the Complete Paints Napier Technical Old Boys medium-fast bowler, who finished with 3-30 off nine overs with others sharing the wickets, including two run-outs.
In their run chase, the Bay were cruising at 97-3 in 21 overs with former international Mathew Sinclair (44 runs) and De Terte (38) providing the cornerstone of a promising reply.
But the men from the other side of the open-again-closed-again Gorge had other ideas.
Old head Michael Mason and former Twenty20 international Adam Milne created havoc with their frugality, while Roald Badenhorst claimed three scalps in the commotion.
"Losing Skip [Sinclair] and myself in the space off two to three overs was not ideal," De Terte said after the Lincoln Doull-coached Bay men exposed mental frailties.
They lost five wickets in the space of 10 runs.
"The collapse completely swung the balance in their favour," De Terte said, although Jacob Smith, in his first rep outing this summer, added 24 runs with Luke Wright and Kurt Richards providing some resistance before they were bundled out of 154.
"It's always disappointing to lose from such a good position but fixtures between Manawatu and Hawke's Bay always have their swings of balance and it's never one-sided." No doubt CD Stags coach Alan Hunt would have taken stock of the royal battle between the two CD-heavy sides, with Manawatu clearly showing their bowling prowess.
On Saturday, the Bay lost the toss and batted on a strip that offered seam bowlers assistance.
Doull said: "Taranaki tended to bowl a little shorter in length than the Bay, so I think we got it pretty much right."
Smidt opened the batting, a plan Doull employed in the final yesterday. "Although it did not have the desired effect, it is worth persevering with for a couple more games."
It was the De Terte and Sinclair show again with the former carving up 67 and the latter 35, although CD wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk's 60 was equally pivotal.
Carl Cachopa 31, Morten Freer 28 and Seb Langridge 15 all made contributions, lacking yesterday.
"They all batted well and there was excellent running between the wickets at all times, applying pressure on the field," Doull said.
The second-wicket partnership of Langridge/Freer racked up 49 runs, Sinclair and De Terte added 97 for the fourth wicket while Cachopa and Van Wyk added 82 for the sixth wicket.
An erratic 21 extra from Taranaki gifted the Bay a handsome 263-7 off 50 overs.
"After losing the toss, we thought a score of 230 to 235 would be competitive," Doull said, but the Bay stymied Taranaki's chase when they skittled them for 191 in 45.1 overs.
Like the hosts yesterday, Taranaki had a promising start with an opening partnership of 61 between CD veteran Peter Ingram (25) and youngster Dean Robinson (37).
Captain Dion Ebrahim, batted at No3, scoring 63 off 84 balls, and Willie Young played well for his 30, batting at No4.
Doull didn't think the Bay's fielding was fantastic after a dropped catch and a couple of run-outs were shy of the stumps, but five catches - two to Sinclair and one each to Langridge, Cachopa and Smith - gave the coach some fulfilment.
CD spinner Tarun Nethula took 3-41 but Cachopa, 2-25 off seven overs including a maiden, and Kurt Richards, 1-35 off 10 overs including a maiden, won in the frugality stakes.
"We only bowled two wides while Taranaki had 11," Doull said, but yesterday's meltdown will send him back to the drawing board mindful that the Stags batsmen, who have consistently dug deep, will not be available for the Hawke Cup campaign for minor-association supremacy.
CD begin their four-day Plunket Shield campaign on Friday against the Wellington Firebirds in Nelson Park.
