Strathalbyn v Bears (Hills Softball Association ‘A’ Grade)

Bears were up to bat first and even though they earnt a walk and had a safe hit to centre, Strathalbyn worked hard in the field with pitcher Tessa Norris making an out at first base, catcher Britt Jackson taking a catch, and third baser Jarrah Taylor making another out to Kim Cutting at first. Strath had a great start to their batting dig with Cutting getting a three baser but she was left stranded on third with Bears making two outs at first, and a K2 to pitcher/catcher combo Alix Hitchcock to Bronwyn Pendleton, to send them from the diamond scoreless.

Strath held the Bears scoreless again in the second dig with two catches taken at first by Cutting, one a line drive, and a K2. Strath earnt walks to Emily Eglitis and Ashlee Peterson and through great base stealing Eglitis got home but Peterson was left on third with another two K2’s to Bears ending the innings.

Rita Meijer had a two base hit to right field and with excellent base running she made it home before two K2’s and an out at first by Strath sent them from the diamond. Strath came in for their third turn at bat and had safe hits to Cutting, Jackson and Norris with Chloe Zakelj hit by a pitched ball but they were unable to get anyone home with an out at first, an out at third and an out at second holding them scoreless.

The fourth dig for Bears was also scoreless with Olivia Rigby having the only safe hit while Strath’s second baser Peterson took a catch, Norris made an out at first and short stop Zakelj also took a catch to end the innings. Three up, three down for Strath’s fourth turn at bat with Bears making all three outs at first base without letting Strath add to the score.

Safe hits to Bears batters Alisha Wreghitt, Pendleton and Jane Wreghitt and some great base running brought home two more runs before Strath could shut them down again with two outs at first and a catch taken by Norris. Strath’s fifth batting dig produced another two baser to Cutting but again Bears were sharp in the field making two outs at first and a tag out at home to prevent any added runs.

Bears had safe hits to Rigby, Naliah Rigby and A.Wreghitt with a two baser to Hitchcock which helped bring in two more runs before Strath regrouped and made another two outs at first, and a tag by Peterson to end the innings. Strath needed to make some runs to stay in touch and even though they got batters on to base, they were unable to get home with two outs at first and an out at second holding them scoreless again with time and game called. Final scores were Bears 5 defeated Strathalbyn 1.

Strathalbyn v Echunga (Hills Softball Association ‘C’ Grade)

Strathalbyn were up to bat first and had hits to Annabel McGregor, Laura Sneath and Alecia Spinks and walks to Dani O’Brien and Rebecca Sims which all helped to bring in three runs with Echunga’s third baser Margaret Jarrett taking a catch and then fielding and throwing to Chris Wawryk at first for the second out and shortstop Karen Boswell making the third out to end the innings. Echunga started well in their first turn at bat with hits to Lily Byfield, Hayley Brown, Boswell and Wawryk which brought in two runs with Strath’s pitcher Sims taking a catch, an infield fly and second baser Spinks fielding and throwing to Kelly Roe at first to send Echunga from the diamond.

The second batting dig for Strath produced safe hits to Hannah Jones, McGregor, Sims, Sneath and Spinks which all pushed runners around to bring in three runs with Echunga making an out at first and two outs at second. Echunga had safe hits to Byfield, Brown and Boswell which brought three runners home before Strath’s short stop McGregor made an out at first then took a catch with Roe taking a catch at first to end the innings.

The third dig for Strath gained a further four runs with safe hits to Sneath, Nicole Filsell and two basers to Roe and Sims with Echunga’s pitcher/catcher combo of Ella Playford to Byfield working well together for two K2’s and Boswell fielding and making the third out at third. Strath needed to hold Echunga and even though they had safe hits to Byfield, Brown and Boswell Strath worked hard in the field with Sims taking a catch, Sneath fielding at right and throwing to first and McGregor taking another catch to end the innings and the game with Echunga only adding a further three runs. Final scores were Strathalbyn 10 defeated Echunga 8.