Softball: All in the family as women's competition returns to Whanganui

Tigers' batter Mya Mahony faces Athletic pitcher Manea Kotuhi-Brown with Cathryn Kilmister catching. Photo / Supplied

Softball is the ultimate family sport.

There are generations of families that have woven their way into Whanganui Softball folklore and last Saturday, teams showed off that true family flavour. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, cousins, aunties and uncles, family names from back in the day, all took the diamond. It seems like everyone is coming back to the park to play softball.

The women's competition started last Saturday, with the first game Athletic v Tigers.

Athletic, being the 2020-21 Manawatū women's champions and having played together for the past three years, stamped their mark early in the game. The newly formed Tigers team showed good heart, but Athletic's pitchers and batters were too strong, winning the match 21–1.

Standout players were Athletic's Alice Ireton, who had three hits from three turns at bat including a home run, and Tigers' Tracy Campbell who was also impressive, with a two- base hit at her first turn at bat and being the only batter to get home for Tigers.

Mustangs Women played Aces Women and had a comfortable 18-4 win.

The Mustangs side is predominantly a team of past players and showed their experience with some great hitting. Making a comeback, Awhina Broughton proved she hasn't lost her touch. Captain of the side, and pitching the full game, Broughton also batted 1000, a superb effort for her first game.

The Aces side has many new players who will be looking to gain as much experience as they can this season.

The men's competition featured a top-of-the table clash between Athletic and Thai Villa Tigers.

Poised to be a close match, it was Athletic who pulled away in the end with some consistent batting winning the match 13–5. Solid in the batter's box were Athletic's Ben Tangata and Scott McKnight, and Thai Villa Tigers' Jeff Yacap, all batting 1000. Athletic player Nathan Procter batted .667 and was exciting to watch on bases. Pressuring Thai Villa Tigers in the field and forcing them to make errors, Procter scored a home run for his team after what started out as a two-base safe hit.

Full of confidence from their win last weekend, the Pirates continued their victory streak beating the Mustangs 12–3. Trent Hemi partnered with Shade Tuaine as the pitcher-catcher combination with Hemi keeping consistent on the mound, making it tough for Mustangs to make base.

Aces played DB Tigers and had a win 13–0.

Aces continue to make a name for themselves in the competition as a top batting side, with Eman Savage, Tyrone Pirere and Jarden Waitokia all having huge home-run hits, making the ball travel into the opposite Diamond 3. Savage continues to be in form, batting 1000 for the second game in a row.

After round four the men's points table is Athletic, Ezi Finance Braves and Pirates 17 points, Aces and Thai Villa Tigers 15 points, Mustangs and DB Tigers 0 points.

With two rounds left of the round-robin play, the top spots are close and anyone can be beaten on the day.