Southern Pride makes a statement in the opening weekend of the men

[Al Doran]

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 18:18:12 +1300

From: Vance <vance(at)vanf-graphics.co.nz>
Subject: Southern Pride makes a statement in the opening weekend of the
   men


Southern Pride makes a statement in the opening weekend
Sunday November 20th 2005

A double dose of victory today for Southern Pride in the New Zealand 
Community Trust Men’s National League sends a message to the other sides in 
the competition that they are not a team to be taken lightly.

The team from the south went into this weekend as the bottom seeds in the 
competition given their last placing last season but the form book counted 
for little at Surrey Park in Invercargill today.

Southern Pride have picked up two wins over Hutt Valley to put them in 
third place on the points table after week one. The home team won the first 
game of the double header 4-3 and then backed it up with an 8-6 win in the 
second game.

In game one Southern Pride showed real fighting spirit as they came from 
behind to take the game.

The defining moment of the match came in the fifth inning when with the 
scores locked at 1-1 Hutt Valley were at bat and loaded up the bases with 
two down. Under pressure NZCT Black Sox pitcher Michael Gaiger delivered 
for Southern Pride as he struck out the batter at the plate to end the 
inning and get his team out of trouble.

After escaping a Hutt Valley onslaught in the fifth inning Southern Pride 
struck back immediately in the top of the sixth inning scoring three runs 
when lead off hitter Derryn French singled and then Gareth Cooke smashed 
the ball out of the park to score two runs. Daniel Tarapi rounded out the 
scoring for Southern Pride when after getting on base via a walk he came 
home on an error.

Hutt Valley struck back with two runs of their own late in the game but it 
wasn’t enough to deny the home side a 4-3 victory.

On the mound for Southern Pride Michael Gaiger was a dominant figure giving 
up three hits and five walks while taking 10 strikeouts. For Hutt Valley 
Steven Tau fought hard on the mound he took four strikeouts while giving up 
eight hits and three walks.

Southern Pride came from behind again in the second game of the double 
header after the visiting team picked up two runs in the first inning. 
Southern Pride struck back with six runs in their second at bat to take the 
lead and they never relinquished it.

Gareth Cooke was the stand out performer with the bat for Southern Pride 
picking up three hits in the second game to go with the two he struck in 
the first encounter.

For the home side Lewis Acker did the job on the mound picking up five 
strikeouts while giving up 10 hits and two walks. For Hutt Valley Shaun 
Jamieson and Steven Tau shared the pitching duties.

Jamieson started the game giving up five hits and three walks while taking 
two strikeouts. Tau came into the game in the fourth inning and took two 
strikeouts while giving up six hits.

Another side to open the league with an unbeaten record is the defending 
champions Wellington who have played four games in the opening round and 
maintained a perfect record.

The defending champions were pushed hard in both of their games at Rosedale 
Park, North Harbour today. First up they took a narrow 3-2 win over Central 
Vikings and then followed that up with a 4-1 victory over the home side.

Also picking up two wins today was Auckland reversing the two losses they 
suffered against the same opposition a day earlier. Auckland opened the day 
with a narrow tie breaker victory over North Harbour 5-4 with the winning 
runs coming in the bottom of the ninth inning.

There was nothing nail biting about the result against Central Vikings 
though as the Auckland power hitters came out to play to win the game 18-0 
in just five innings. The star with the bat for Auckland was NZCT Black Sox 
catcher Patrick Shannon who smashed three automatic home runs in his first 
three trips to the batters box.

NEW ZEALAND COMMUNITY TRUST MEN’S NATIONAL LEAGUE RESULTS:
Sunday November 20th –
Auckland 5 North Harbour 4 (tiebreaker), Wellington 3 Central Vikings 2, 
Southern Pride 4 Hutt Valley 3, Auckland 18 Central Vikings 0, Wellington 4 
North Harbour 1, Southern Pride 8 Hutt Valley 6.
Saturday November 19th –
North Harbour 4 Auckland 2, Wellington 7 Central Vikings 1, Central Vikings 
3 Auckland 0, Wellington 11 North Harbour 1.

Points Table (after week one)

Team      Games Played  Won     Lost    BP 1    BP 2  Total
Wellington      4       4       -       -       -       20
Auckland        4       2       2       -       1       11
Southern Pride  2       2       -       -       -       10
North Harbour   4       1       3       1       -       7
Central Vikings4        1       3       -       1       6
Hutt Valley     2       -       2       -       2       2

By SNZ Media Liaison: Kelly Mitchell
*  mailto:kelly.mitchell(at)xtra.co.nz

http://www.softball.org.nz/
* mailto:snz(at)softball.org.nz


Cheers Vance
Softball New Zealand web master.
*   mailto:vance(at)vanf-graphics.co.nz

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