By Chris Rattue
Auckland Marist took the Dean Schick Memorial softball tournament with a 2-1 win in the grand final at Rosedale Park in Albany despite being out-hit nine to two by Christchurch United.
Marist stars Dean Rice and Patrick Shannon scored singles off former Kiwi pitcher Greg Newton in the first
innings, with catcher Shannon bringing in Rice - the legendary New Zealand infielder - for the first run of the game.
But they needed an error ridden sequence in the third innings to take a two-run lead. Newton walked No 9 batter Roman Gabriel, who stole second, and then came home on a pass-ball and wild pitch, to put the Auckland side in the box seat.
Newton sent the Marist batters three up, three down, in the Auckland side's final three turns at bat but by then the damage had been done.
While Christchurch left a string of runners on base, they were unable to complete the job against Marist pitcher Heinie Shannon until the seventh innings, when Jamie Frisby was batted in by Gareth Cook.
Christchurch's three lead-off batters, Darren Davies, Paul de Lautour and Cook all scored two hits, designated player Glen Roff, with the game's only triple, Mike McDowell and Frisby had a hit apiece.
But they were defeated by a Marist side who have built their reputation on superb defence under pressure as they won the tournament named after Dean Schick, the man who was the driving force behind the Derori Birkenhead club before his sudden death.
