Softball shield safe on home plate
Former NZ rep Kurt Schollum was back on the mound for the Marlborough softball side on Sunday. Photos Peter Jones.
Softball’s Seddon Shield remained firmly in Marlborough hands after a series of matches in the annual fixture were played at Lansdowne Park on Sunday.
The two top of the south regions squared off at under-13, under-15 mixed, women’s and senior men’s levels, the home sides winning all four comfortably.
The under 13s were a classy combination, coming away with a 30-9 victory, while the under-15 mixed side prevailed 18-3, also turning on a complete performance with Taine Hunter on the mound.
The women’s game was won by the same score, with Wiri Bristowe and Juliana Angulo standing out among a string of top performances.
The men’s match was expected to be closer and it was, the home side winning 7-0.
Marlborough made a blazing start, helped by some inconsistent pitching in the early stages. The first three Marlborough batters were walked, Anaru Anderson coming home on a pass ball, then Drew Roberts and Braden Healy scoring from a fielder’s error.
A Blake Wisdom hit brought Kurt Schollum home and by the end of the first the home side were 4-0 to the good.
The return to Marlborough’s pitching ranks of Schollum, a former international hurler, was a feature and he did not disappoint, allowing only a couple of singles late in the match. His guile, pace and control proved too much for the Nelson batters as he shut them out through five innings before the game was ended on the mercy rule.
Along the way, Felix Hall and Wisdom scored two more runs, on the back of another fielding mishap, while Anderson scampered home in the fifth to complete the scoring for a Marlborough side preparing for a tilt at the Jefferies Cup (South Island provincial) tournament in Christchurch in early December.
