News Stories

Wellington threaten Auckland's hold on national men's softball title

February 18, 2017

Auckland, NZ - - Wellington threaten Auckland's hold on national men's softball title


                                                         RENEE McKAY/PHOTOSPORT

Black Sox hurler Josh Pettett has pitched Wellington into the national softball championship final.

 

ORIGINAL STORY by Tony Smith

Wellington have a shot at winning their first national men's softball title for seven years after beating defending champions Auckland in a vital semifinal.

The capital city combination advanced to Sunday's National Fastpitch Championships (NFC) final after a 3-0 win over Auckland at Lower Hutt's Fraser Park on Saturday night.

Auckland - chasing a third consecutive title - can still make the final if they beat North Harbour in Sunday morning's playoff.

Former Black Sox infielder Tyson Byrne batted in two runs for Wellington in a semifinal win over Auckland.
JOHN SELKIRK/Fairfax NZ

Former Black Sox infielder Tyson Byrne batted in two runs for Wellington in a semifinal win over Auckland.

 

All the scoring action in the Wellington-Auckland game came in the third inning when former Black Sox star Tyson Byrne batted in Zac Boyd and Callum Lewis-Carson and Campbell Makea scored on an error.

READ MORE:
* Family trio star in upset
* 
Black Sox batters' blasts 
* Black Sox berths up for grabs 
* 'Back to basics' for White Sox 
* Big win for NZ in tournament final ​

But the win was forged by some impeccable defence with Wellington - champions for the last time in 2010 - producing their third shut out victory of the day.

Josh Pettett - who pitched the Black Sox to the Challenge Cup title last weekend - continued his form by holding Auckland's power-packed batting lineup to four safe hits. He did not allow a walk in challenging weather conditions and pitched well to his field, taking just two strikeouts.

Auckland's Japanese pitcher Kenta Okazaki was even more impressive with 14 strikeouts for three hits.

North Harbour - who have never won a NFC men's title - shaded Canterbury 1-0 in a pitching duel between Harbour's Hikaru Matsuda (8 strikeouts and 1 safe hit) and Canterbury's Penese Iosefo  (11 strikeouts and two hits). An illegal pitch call on Iosefo in the second inning allowed Harbour to score the only run.

Meanwhile, the Auckland women's team qualified for Sunday's final with a 4-1 semifinal victory over Canterbury.

 

Auckland, champions in 2015 and 2016,  took advantage of Canterbury fielding fumbles (the southerners made six errors in total) to lead 3-1 by the middle innings and starting pitcher Jennifer Feret-Brear batted in a extra run in the sixth. Canterbury loaded the bases in the final inning, but could not get the big hit required to tie the game.

Canterbury will play Wellington on Sunday morning for the right to meet Auckland in the final after the Wellingtonians whitewashed Southern Pride 6-0. Catcher Emma Francis smashed a triple for Wellington and Freya Bullock had two hits while Kara Sterling pitched a five-hit shut out.

The final day of pool play in the women's competition was closely contested with five of the eight games being decided by one-run margins.

Wellington's Brooke Cutting clouted an automatic home run over the outfield fence in a 6-3 win over neighbours Hutt Valley.

There was plenty of power hitting in the men's section with Wellington's Joel Harris slugging two homers (and five RBIs) in a 7-0 win over Southern Pride. Auckland's Connor Peden, Cole Evans, Rhys Evans and Kallan Compain also joined the home run hit parade while Hutt Valley's Scott Cartwright put one out of the park for a 1-0 win over North Harbour after smashing a triple earlier.

Host province Hutt Valley failed to make the top-four in both the men's and women's competitions.                                                    

AT A GLANCE

Day 3 results at the National Fastpitch Championship softball tournament at Lower Hutt.

MEN

Section Play: Wellington 4 Canterbury 0, North Harbour 6 Counties Manukau-Waikato 0, Auckland 1 Canterbury 0, Wellington 7 Southern Pride 0, Hutt Valley 1 North Harbour 0, Auckland 7 Southern Pride 0, Counties Manukau-Waikato 3 Hutt Valley 2.

Semifinals: Wellington 3 Auckland 0 (Wellington qualify for final), North Harbour 1 Canterbury 0. 

Sunday's final: 2pm: Wellington v winner of Auckland-North Harbour playoff.

WOMEN

Section Play: Southern Pride 4 Canterbury 3, Hutt Valley 6 Counties Manukau-Waikato 5, Auckland 9 Southern Pride 4, Canterbury 2 Wellington 1, Auckland 2 Counties Manukau-Waikato 1, Wellington 6 Hutt Valley 3, Canterbury 3 Hutt Valley 1, Southern Pride 6 Counties Manukau-Waikato 5.

Semifinals: Auckland 4 Canterbury 1 (Auckland qualify for final), Wellington 6 Southern Pride 0.

Sunday's final 12 noon: Auckland v winner of Canterbury-Wellington playoff.

 

 

 

 

 

 - Stuff

OUR SPONSORS

TRENDING NOW
@alsfastball
FRIENDS OF AL'S FASTBALL
AU Sable AFP Fastpitch Fastpitch West International Softball Congress Men’s Fastpitch SA North American Fastpitch Association Ontario Amateur Softball Association

Ontario Masters Fastball sports betting site betway Shooters Fastpitch League Softball Canada Softball New Zealand WBSC