Softball: Mustangs win first Whanganui senior title contested in over 10 years

The first champions of a Whanganui senior softball competition in over a decade were crowned on Wednesday evening as the Castlecliff Club Mustangs won the WSA Fastpitch Competition Cup despite a narrow defeat in the last game.

The midweek competition consisted of six rounds played between the Mustangs, Ezi Finance Braves and Whanganui Athletic, who all travel to compete in the Manawatu Softball divisions on Saturdays.

Negotiations have continued to allow the Whanganui sides to host Manawatu games at home on the diamonds at Gonville, but in the interim, the clubs and Whanganui Softball Association organised a Fastpitch tournament – allowing them to play seven-innings games at 6pm on Wednesdays.

"We've created a competition that they're playing in Whanganui," said association secretary Lindsay Edwards.

Fastpitch is an attack-orientated version of softball, where in the first innings a tie-breaker runner starts on first base, then second base in the next innings and third base in the following innings, before repeating the sequence.

Batters are also walked to first base after three balls, as opposed to four.

Coming into the last round robin game between the Mustangs and Braves, the Mustangs held the advantage with one more victory than their opposition, meaning the Braves had to win the game by around eight runs or more to then claim the title on points differential.

That seemed a possibility, as the Braves had a very strong start and were leading 8-2 heading into the top of the seventh innings, before the Mustangs closed the gap with a strong finish, still losing the game 8-7, but claiming the title via a superior for/against.

Braves pitcher Caleb Watt was tying the Mustangs down, being unable to score with their tie-breaker runners for the first four innings, where there were seven strike outs from 12 at bat.

Meanwhile, the Braves picked up lots of runs right from the start as Patrick Steele was walked and Watt made a bunt to join tie-breaker Kajah Hunapo on loaded bases, with Richie Smith then bringing them home when his left outfield hit was dropped.

The Mustangs tightened up in the field, with the speedy Jeff Yacap making some great plays at shortstop, as both sides traded runs over the next few innings for an 8-2 Braves lead.

On top of that, the Mustangs had to do without Duane Paranihi, who was ejected from the grounds for a P1 violation of the Zero Tolerance policy, which governs inappropriate language and disputes with officials.

However, Ben Hollis sparked a comeback with an outfield hit that brought himself and the tie-breaker runner home, then two more Mustangs got on base for Yacap to bring them home, before swiftly making his way to the plate himself through fielding errors.

Watt got the last two batters out to ensure his team still won a thriller, but the Mustangs late surge made the title safe.

Midweek softball action will start again in the New Year with the WSA Championship Cup, another six week competition.

Edwards said should the Mustangs win the Championship Cup, they will be overall champions of the season.

If one of the other two teams win the new tournament, they will play the Mustangs in a champions vs champions game.