Softball: Hutt Valley hits form in nationals

Canterbury's winning run came to an abrupt end when they were shut out 2-0 by defending champions Hutt Valley in the first game of the second day at the men's interprovincial softball championships at Surrey Park, Invercargill, yesterday.

Although they came right back to form later in the day with a smashing 12-0 win over Southland, the earlier defeat means Canterbury share the lead in the round-robin section of the tournament with Wellington.

Gene Lutton's fourth-inning walk was the catalyst for Hutt Valley's win over Canterbury. Then followed a chapter of errors as Steve Ratu followed him home, and although Greg Newton limited Hutt to just three hits, his opposite number Brad Baker went even better in containing Canterbury to a solitary runner on
base.

For Hutt Valley it was a marked improvement on their efforts on the first day, but the good news was only temporary with the team unable to cope with a determined display by Wellington later in the day, losing 5-1.

Home team Southland featured in two cliff-hangers before the heavy defeat by Canterbury and in the process scored their first win of the five-team championship.

Southland seemed well out of it in the early fixture against Wellington, trailing 4-0 on the back of Thomas Makea's home run and two hits from Clayton Willocks.

Wellington's international star pitcher Jarrad Martin was sitting on a perfect game until Southland's Michael Telfer, Patrick Shannon and Lyndon Andrew picked up successive hits in the seventh for a final 4-3 scoreline.

It was much the same a few hours later, but this time the boot was on the other foot, with Southland sitting on a commanding 4-0 lead after six innings thanks to the batting efforts of Brendon Paisley (two hits), Telfer and Shannon against
the pitching of Derek Coleman.

Taine Richardson had scattered four hits in six innings to the Otago batters until the wheels fell off in the last. Regan Taouma and Coleman grabbed their second hits in a tally of five as Otago closed the gap to 4-3 before the final out was taken.

Hutt Valley's Canadian player Mike Taylor scored the game's opening run against Wellington in the second, but apart from Gene Lutton's double in the first and Taylor again in the seventh, it was the only time the champions were in the game.

In the final game of the day Wellington had too much firepower for Otago in winning 10-0. Makea blasted a pitch from Brendon Keen over the fence in the first inning to start the ball running and his team never looked back. - NZPA