Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 21:33:45 +1300 From: Vance <vance(at)vanf-graphics.co.nz> Subject: Auckland regional league finals
If the regional league finals were between the top four sides only, Saturdays play would have been intriguing, with some saying a conspiracy was afoot. But those who witnessed the slaughter of national champion Ramblers by the recently-embattled Northcote know that the 14-7 score line was no plot to let any other side win the final game of the round-robin. Thomas Camerons face showed that after he was replaced after Northcotes sensational second turn. But Ramblers had sneaked ahead 2-0 in the second when Lyndon Andrew hit to the fence, over Casey Edens head, and the outfielder almost snared the ball. But his effort helped the shot over and Scott ONeale, who hit a fine double, scored also. Camerons day went wrong when he walked Casey Eden and Todd Wilson, then allowed four successive singles, each snarling past the fielders, to score three Northcote runs. Derrek Coleman, who took an increasingly starring part in the win, Michael Boaler, Aaron Collier and Dean Wallace hit the singles, one batter went out, before Brad Rona was walked deliberately, leaving the bases loaded. Coach Neil Morrison, with Ramblers concentrating on stopping the next hitter, called for a bunt from the visiting American Luis Joglar. The big catcher obliged with a perfectly placed one, tantalisingly out of reach of catcher Lyndon Andrew. It was a killer move which took the score to 5-0. Eden hit safely as Northcote seemingly could do no wrong, Wilson struck out and then Coleman appeared for the second time in a 14-batter inning. He lofted a huge homer over centre field to continue his recent big batting to score three and it was 10-0. Ramblers, as national champion sides should, hit back immediately with two runs when Nathan Nukunuku swung with lightning speed, hitting over centre field with a horizontal drive, similar to his recent fine shots. The fourth passed with no runs for either side and it seemed that the game would become ordinary again. John Hireme took over the Ramblers pitching and tamed the batters in the third and for two outs in the fourth while Andrew languished on third after a solid centre field single in Ramblers fourth against relief pitcher Jimmy Grego. But Northcotes third batter in the fourth was Coleman, who has had a golden run in 2006, directly opposite to his pitching success. He hit the ball so far that the clubrooms seemed in danger to edge Northcote further ahead. Lawrence Naera started the fifth with a smart single to left and Nukunuku was walked to start Ramblers fight back. But Hale, usually the man who threatens the fences, had the third of his four tepid infield outs before Scott ONeale slammed his home run to make the margin 11-7, making a recovery possible. Hireme survived the fifth, aided by a great outfield catch by Bobbie King, right on the right field fence to retire Wallace. Rona returned to the pitching job in the sixth and was threatened by hits to King and Nukunuku but there was no addition to the Ramblers score. Then Rona, with time running out, made sure of the result with a powerful home run over right field. Leon Lambert won a walk from Hireme and up came former Cardinals man Wilson who hit his home run, the seventh of the match, to put Northcote 14-7 ahead before umpire Andrew Laird ended the game on the time limit. It was hardly the result Ramblers wanted for the end of the round-robin, having suffered only one previous defeat, 0-1 against Marist in the first round. It was also not a confidence booster for the Auckland final against Metro on Sunday next, or for the final of the regional league where the team has been seeded through the first play-off day. In the battle for minor placings, Metro was secure in second. Northcote, despite Waitakere Bears final mid-week game against Otahuhu, is third. Bears is likely to finish on the same points total but has a run deficit which reflects some odd results during the season. Northcotes erratic form at least kept the sides runs-for in credit. Bears beat Papatoetoe 13-3 but the South Auckland side, with a major jubilee looming next year, at least finished with a win, over Otahuhu, one of the improving sides of the year. Papatoetoe won 3-1. Marist, always in the top echelon over the past twenty years, dropped out of the top four to finish behind Howick, a team which caused anger at Northcote by winning a non-match by default after Aucklands worst Saturday traffic snarl-up ever when cars were blocked right around the Manukau Harbour, threatening all activities. There were many technicalities discussed at Northcotes appeal against Howicks default win but they were rejected. Anyone who was involved in the chaos, as I was, but managed to find the motorway because I was heading into the mess, would probably have said, forget about it and play another day. It depended where you lived that day, and where you were going. No one doubted the decision to award the Marist v Metro game to Marist, especially when the side was 12-0 ahead after four turns, but there was the continuing anomaly of the score of a forfeited game. When umpire Glen Nalepa said that he was sick of the personal abuse and called the game off, Marist had a fine lead. The forfeit cut that to the regulation 7-0, which could have made a difference if runs for and against had mattered. The rules should not handicap the side leading at the time or else the bush lawyers could have a field day, as they so often do in the rule-dominated sport. For example, Smart Town is trailing 10-0 in the fourth, knowing that a 7-0 loss will give it a play-off spot. Someone starts a melee, or an abuse session, and the whole team joins in. The umpire calls the game off and Smart Town makes the finals. All you need to know is the maths, as they say. The manipulation of the time limit all over town, from the juniors to the seniors, is an example of rule use. Thats why they have the infield fly rule, because the old-timers would drop a simple catch and work the triple play. But there is still one rule which handicaps the innocent. The pitcher throws one at the batters head and, in getting out of the way, the ball hits the bat. It is a foul, or sometimes even worse, a simple put-out, pitcher to first base. If the bat is not swung then it should not be a foul, or a hit, in this circumstance. This situation has existed for sixty years and still someone has not eliminated the anomaly. Come on Wayne Saunders, make a move. Sermon over, the Waitakere Bears women had a set-back but only a minor one when an incomplete game against league leader Marist was completed, in a time turned back scenario, where the two teams, plus the same scorer and umpire, went back to a point in the game and re-started. Marist won 5-0, setting Bears a target for the Auckland final, the first contested by the ambitious club. With the men in the top four, and the women having an excellent second half of the season, the on-field situation has come some way to balancing the fire which razed the clubrooms mid-season. We need Bears to succeed, as we do Otahuhu, Glenora, Howick and Papatoetoe. It has been the best thing in recent years, having local teams doing well. With this on-field joy to live with, perhaps the talk of a western league will disappear into the ether it came from. North Harbour and Counties were once part of Auckland softball and neither can claim much progress, apart from Harbours juniors and a fine Council-controlled ground. Counties almost disappeared and Harbour still has only one major level club, men and women. The western league was a no-go even back in the sixties when United called for a split when Norana Park started operating. The world of sport has changed. There are so many options for young people, and easier, cheaper sports. There is no room for western, eastern, southern and northern organisations, only localised junior play to save trekking across town each Saturday. Leave that for the elite leagues, if necessary. http://www.softball.org.nz/ * Email: snz(at)softball.org.nz Cheers Vance Softball New Zealand web master. * Email: vance(at)vanf-graphics.co.nz Als Fastball List *Email: fastball(at)pmihrm.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.AlsFastball.com/ NEWS: http://fastpitchwest.com/alsfastball
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