The Whanganui Ballpark became the "House of Huge Hits" last weekend, as players in the newly-formed senior men's softball competition started to get comfortable in the batter's box.
The outfield had a busy day on all diamonds as massive hits were witnessed in every game. Dominant batting meant every game ended early under the NZSA mercy rule - the rule is that the game ends before the full 7 innings are played out if one of the teams is 15 runs ahead after 3 innings, 10 runs ahead after 4 innings, or 7 runs ahead after 5 innings.
Aces played Pirates on Diamond 3 and the game was close coming into the 5th innings, with Aces just ahead 3-1. Aces pulled away nicely, scoring an impressive 7 runs in the 5th innings to win the game 10–2. Aces player Devon Maihi had an outstanding game, smashing two jaw-dropping, game-stopping home runs during the match. The home runs were so massive and the ball travelled so far, that both hits stopped play on the opposite Diamond 2.
After a bye last week, DB Tigers had their debut match against the experienced Braves team. The game was good to watch as the young guns from DB Tigers were involved in some awesome plays. Tigers players Kingi Edwards and Moses Newton had solid games. Edwards had some great plays at shortstop and Newton looked after right-field, taking a couple of outstanding catches from the big-hitting Braves side. Braves, however, proved too strong for the DB Tigers, winning the match 9–0 in the 5th innings.
The last game of the day was Athletic v Mustangs. Athletic put out some big hits but equally the Mustangs had a great outfield crew with Brian Landon-Lane and Regan Calder snatching up some great catches. Best bat was Hoani-Raey Kotuhi-Max (Athletic) who hit hard into the centre field for a 3-base hit, took his chances and headed home to score a run for his team in a close play at the plate.
