TWO HOMERS FOR INWOOD IN HALSWELL WOMEN WIN

By Tony Smith

Cherie Inwood’s two home runs for Halswell highlighted the latest round of the Canterbury women’s softball premiership.

The pitcher-utility – part of the New Zealand White Sox training squad – homered twice in the Hornets’ 6-2 win over Papanui at Dynasty Ballpark on Saturday.

Lyndsay slugged a three-run homer in a perfect batting performance in the Kaiapoi Queens’ 9-2 mercy rule win over Papanui while the PCU Angels piled on 14 hits in their 8-3 victory over Sydenham Kereru.

The champion ELE Papanui Tigers celebrated victories over Richmond Keas and the Kaiapoi Kings on an outer grass diamond at Papanui Domain in the second round of the men’s premiership.

Black Sox pitching hopeful Ben Watts struck out 18 RKS hitters while understudy Hunter Simpson picked up the win over his former Kaiapoi clubmates.

Left-handed hurler Liam Potts fanned 13 in the PCU Devils’ 3-0 shutout of the Albion Anteaters at Dynasty.

                                                WOMEN

                                                 KAIAPOI QUEENS 9 PAPANUI 2 (5 INNINGS)

Lyndsay Thomas treated onlookers to another batting clinic with a three-run homer to also score McKenzie Bailey-McDowell and Arnora Hesp in the bottom of the third inning.

Thomas also slugged a single in the Queens’ five-run spree in the fourth to go two from two and notch a 1.000 average shared with Hesp.

Kaiapoi’s fourth frame blitz came after hits by Hesp, Thomas and Raina Joseph.

McKenzie Bailey-McDowell held the Papanui batters to two hits while taking three strikeouts and yielded three walks.

Elizabeth Rice batted in both Papanui runs with a single through first base/right field in the third inning.

Pitcher Brittany Terrey cracked a double for Papanui’s only other hit. She snared seven Ks for five hits and gave up six walks and three more free rides from hitting batters.

                                            HALSWELL 6 PAPANUI 2

Cherie Inwood had a game to remember with solo-shot homers for Halswell in the second and sixth innings to cement the coveted 1.000 average.

Sophie Yarham clubbed a two-run triple in the fourth frame when Halswell got three of their six runs.

Top order hitters Alyssa Lory and Lucy McIntyre – both part of coach Carl Tuinenga’s Canterbury Red Hawks squad for the upcoming NFC series in Christchurch – went two from three to bat .666.

Centrefielder Simone Salter scored both of Papanui’s runs. She doubled in the first inning and plated on clean-up hitter Brittany Terrey’s single and scored on errors in the fifth after singling and advancing on an Elizabeth Rice hit.

In the battle of the Red Hawks pitchers, Halswell’s Amy Begg prevailed with nine Ks for six hits and two walks over Terrey, who had four Ks, two walks and eight hits.

                                            PCU ANGELS 8 SYDENHAM KERERU 3

Stella Jorgensen’s leadoff first inning home run set the scene for big-hitting PCU’s comfortable win, but Tessa Metuatini stole the show.

Metuatini hit safely on all four trips to the plate in an impressive performance by the Angels third base.

PCU put their stamp on the game with three runs in the fifth inning after back-to-back hits by Kaiyah Ratu, Metuatini and Lillie Simcott.

Pitcher Trinity Mackley also batted well, going two from three including a two-bagger.

For SK, Mikayala Werahiko batted home Cassandra McLeod and Robyn Hall in the bottom of the third and Hall singled up the middle in the seventh to score Katy Taha, who’d advanced on Cheyann Whyte’s hit.

Hall and Whyte batted .666 and Krystal Werahiko – who followed sisters Carly and Mikayala in the heart of the SK order – clouted a double.

                                                          MEN

                                                       PAPANUI TIGERS 5 RICHMOND KEAS 0

Softball purists eagerly anticipated the pitching match-up between Papanui’s Black Sox contender Ben Watts and RKS player-coach Penese Iosefo, the 2013 Black Sox world series gold medallist.

And, as expected, precious little slugging took place on the diamond adjacent to the Papanui Boxing Club as hurlers dominated hitters.

Papanui’s clutch of Canterbury Red Sox players got a golden opportunity to test themselves against quality pitching before the NFC and, in Jackson Watt’s case, before next weekend’s Black Sox trials in Auckland.

RKS’ batters were whiffing at Watts’ pitches all day and Iosefo had the wood on most Tigers tonkers too for the first three innings.

Only second baseman Jayden Britt ripped a hit off the veteran to score Jacko Watt in the second inning.

The score was still 1-0 when Iosefo dragged himself and called on young back-up pitcher Jacob Neale to pitch the fourth frame.

Neale shut Pap out for the next two innings, but the Tigers tallied four runs in the sixth – three coming off a home run by catcher Josh Lubiejewski through left field. It was some consolation for Lubiejewski – one of three Canterbury players in the New Zealand Major Sox team whose upcoming tour to the world under-23 championships was postponed last week after a devastating hurricane in the Dominican Republic.

Lubiejewski got one of Papanui’s four hits, the others going to Watt, Britt and Callum Muir.

Watts logged 18 strikeouts and conceded just two hits – both singles - to Finny Mounty and Caleb Ward.

                                          PAPANUI 10 KAIAPOI KINGS 0 (4 INNINGS)

The Tigers did not tarry too long against Kaiapoi, with pitcher Hunter Simpson racking up their second shutout win of the day.

It was all over after the first inning when Papanui piled on three runs, following doubles by Mitch Finnie and Jackson Watt.

A three-run homer by Callum Muir highlighted a five-run scoring streak in the third and pinch-hitter Jayden Britt wrapped up proceedings early with a two-run triple in the bottom of the fourth.

Veteran Tyron Bartorillo was Papanui’s best at the plate with three hits at three and Muir went two from two and Jackson Watt two from three. Bottom order men Caleb Stewart (triple) and Fletcher Due (double) also had extra-base hits.

Kaiapoi pitcher Jakzon Quinn toiled manfully on the mound but the hit count blew out to 11 with the Kings outfielders playing far too deep on the open diamond and thus unable to turn base hit fly balls into regulation outs.

First baseman Mitch Burrows was Kaiapoi’s best with two hits of their three safe hits, including a two-bagger.

Papanui were without Callum Bishop for the day with the Red Sox hitter trying to shake off an injury before the Black Sox trials.

                                         PCU DEVILS 3 ALBION ANTEATERS 0

Albion had no answer to PCU pitcher Liam Potts’ left-handed deliveries in a tight encounter at Dynasty Ballpark.

In fact, the Anteaters were unable to hit Potts safely out of the diamond, with their only two hits coming from an infield single by leadoff man Cortia Holmes-Hurst and a beaten-out bunt by Matt Dougherty.

Potts struck out five of the first six hitters he faced on his way to 13Ks.

Kev Papuni was pretty parsimonious too for Albion, shutting out the young Devils team for the first four innings.
But PCU shortstop Dru deLatour drove in Leon Lumb in the bottom of the fifth and the Devils clinched it in the sixth after Jayden Potts plopped down a safe bunt, advanced on Andy Verheul’s hit and scored on a wild pitch before Hapene Kumeroa batted in Verheul for the third run.

Papuni bagged eight strikeouts and scattered four hits.

Article added: Wednesday 12 October 2022