Inspirational Whanganui softballers finish second in North Island age group tournament

The inspirational Whanganui Under-11 softballers finished a brave second in the Okada tournament in the Hutt Valley on Sunday.

An inexperienced, but inspirational group of Whanganui softballers showed a tonne of heart finishing runners-up in a North Island regional representative tournament in the Hutt Valley on Sunday.

For the first time in many years he Whanganui Softball Association selected an Under-11 and Under-9 rep teams from schools throughout the district to compete for the first time at the Okada Tournament in the Hutt.

The U11 team finished runners-up to Hutt Valley Green in the final after beating tournament favourites Hutt Valley Gold in hard-fought semi-final, while the U9 Whanganui side finished down the track.

Coached by Hayden Bradley and managed by Vivien Firmin, the U11 side played four matches on Sunday, including the final which was contested immediately after the semi-final. In fact, the first two qualifying games were also played back-to-back with only a 90 minute break until the semi and final.

"The Whanganui association hasn't had U11 or U9 rep teams for years and these youngsters were only put together two weeks before this tournament," Firmin said.

"They had just four practices before travelling down early on Sunday morning to play four matches throughout the day."

Whanganui U11 fronted up against a far more experienced Manawatu side first up and were taken to a tiebreaker finally winning 4-3 in an extra innings and then convincingly beat PK Red Sox from Wellington 10-7.

"We were way ahead of PK Red Sox early and that allowed us to make changes and give everyone a go, but we beat them convincingly."

Those two wins put the Whanganui youngsters into the semifinal against Hutt Valley Gold.

"We only had about an hour and a half break before going into the semifinal against the tournament favourites who were a well-organised team. Our team put a lot of effort into that semi. We were four runs behind until the last minute when we drew level putting us into another tiebreaker which we won 18-16.

"We then had to go straight into the final without a break. They tried to lift themselves, but I think the kids were beginning to feel the strain. They had put a lot into the semifinal. We ended up losing the final against Hutt Valley Green. We were five down at one stage but fought back to lose the match by just one run at 10-9. The kids were still very excited to have finished runners-up against teas that had been together far longer than we had.

"It was a long day and some even fell asleep in the van on the way home, but what they achieved was quite inspirational," Firmin said.

Meanwhile, the U9 teeball team also showed great team spirit and gained valuable experience.

"They played Hutt Valley boys and Hutt Valley girls getting beaten in both games, however finished on a high beating the Poneke-Kilbirnie team for their final match of the day," Firmin said.

The U9 team was represented by Ethan Darlington, Darius Matthews, Lachlan O'Leary, Isys Fonotoe, Mason Barnes, Harley Albert-Gill, Shiloh Campbell, Awatea Bradley, Alia-Rose Lind, Kaihau Hunapo, Kaiya Green and Navara Wroe.