Mixed fortunes for Mustangs and and Braves at the pointy end of Manawatu softball champs

Cameron Hollis about to hit to the outfield during Castlecliff Club Mustangs' win over raiders in Palmerston North at the weekend. Photo / Supplied

After some mixed results last weekend both Castlecliff Club Mustangs teams came out all guns blazing posting solid victories in the Manawatu Senior Men's Reserve Grade sofyball league on Saturday.

Castlecliff Club Mustangs made amends for their first round loss to Raiders, convincingly beating them 12-3, while Mustangs Black remain unbeaten this round with a 14-10 win over Linton Bombers.

Raiders were dismissed at their first turn at bat without scoring.

Lead off batter for the Mustangs, Josh Hollis, hit safely to reach second base, next batter Jefferson Yacap hit a single to reach base, Trent Hemi then hit to right feild to score both Hollis and Yacap. With Hemi on second base Jake Hollis hit safely to bring him home while Petera Rurawhe Martin then hit to score Hollis.

The scoring stopped there as the next batters were taken out.

In the second innings Aaron Mahoney put down the perfect bunt to reach base then stole second while Yacap hit safely. Hemi belted the the ball deep to score himself and the base runners.

Ruarwhe Martin got himself on base when he hit safely, and was scored from a hit by Regan Calder that put the Mustangs ahead 8-0. Raiders managed to score two runs when Shaun Terry smashed a three base hit to score them both.

Mustangs made some changes allowing lead batter Devon Maihi and Calder to hit big for a home run apiece. Rurawhe was next to score when batted in by Cameron Hollis.

Mustangs last run was scored by Mahoney after he hit safely and was batted in by Hemi.
Pitching for the Mustangs Hemi recorded nine strikeouts.

"Very nice to hit form again," coach Ben Hollis said.
"The team played very well today."

Castlecliff Mustangs Black continued their winning ways beating Linton Bombers 14-10 and remain unbeaten in this round with one game left in the round.

Meanwhile, the mercy rule was used to save futher embarressment for a hapless Ezi Finance Whanganui Braves in its Manawatu Senior Men's Premier grade clash with Huia Chiefs on Saturday.

Braves lost to a fired up Huia Chiefs outfit 13-0 in four innings when the mercy rule was applied.

"It was one of the heaviest defeats some team members can recall," player/coach Shane Foster said.

Without regular pitcher Brad Worsley, who was picked up by North Harbour team Northcote for the NZ National Club Championships, Braves had to rely on veteran Foster to perform the pitching duties.

However, Foster was merely batting practice for the unbeaten Huia Chiefs lineup with the rampant champions from last season sending an ominous message to whoever meets them in the final in two weeks, they are going to hit the ball hard.

And on Saturday, Huia Chiefs hit the ball hard, everywhere. They exposed the Braves defense on numerous occasions forcing errors, but also found space, including an automatic home run.

One positive from the game was some Braves batters were moving the ball.

Left handed lead batter Paddy Steele hit hard to centre right field for a two base hit, only to undo his hard work by over running second and be picked off by an impressive throw from the Huia Chiefs outfield.

Others were moving the ball on the deck too, which was promising for the make or break game against Bluesox this Saturday.

The winner of this game will determine the other finalist for the 2018/2019 Premier Men's Championship, against Huia Chiefs on March 30.

Thankfully, regular hurler Worsley returns to the Braves pitching duties this weekend.

"There's no doubting that a good pitcher, especially one of Worsley's calibre, makes a difference to any team. We are blessed to have him and he will make the difference this weekend, I'm sure of that," Foster said.