11 Nov 2014

BDF IX women’s head coach, Gerald Mokgweetsi says their come-from-behind victory over Panthers was a welcome motivation for his team after two straight losses at the start of the BOFINET Softball League.

BDF were thrashed 15-3 by Wells and 7-0 by Dinare in their opening two matches, but recovered to down Panthers 7-3 at the National Diamond on Sunday November 9.

After both teams hit the blanks in the first inning, Panthers went ahead in the second inning when Lesego Rankgwaila and Lingani Galeboe completed runs from the third and second bases respectively. 

However, Kemmonye Otimile halved the deficit in the third inning before Kesego Segwe drew BDF level in the fourth inning after first baseman Tebogo Bosena failed to catch a simple ball.

BDF then established a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning after another fielding mistake at the first base was punished by two runs completed by Wangu Gondo and Boitshwarelo Sefo. 

Keletso Rampadi then extended the lead by finishing off a run from the third base after a good hit through the centre by Matildah Raditloko cleared the Panthers fielders, before Esther Bitsang made the score 6-2.

Bonang Lepotokisi further pulled her team ahead in the sixth inning, but Panthers pulled one back through Bosena in the last inning after Rampadi failed to deal with Keneilwe Lebudi’s ball.

The win enabled BDF to register their first points of the season after a poor start, and Mokgweetsi said he has noticed improvement from his team after the first two defeats. “We improved a lot today and the performance will motivate us,” said Mokgweetsi.

He said his team was not panicking though they lost their first two games. “It is not that we were not playing well. You should look at the quality of teams that beat us. We lost against Wells and Dinare which are good teams that won trophies last season,” said Mokgweetsi.

The coach said his team was looking forward to continue their winning momentum when they meet UB Giants this Saturday.  In other women’s matches Bears defeated Police IX 6-2 on Sunday. On Saturday Wells beat Vikings 5-3.

In the men’s division Vikings beat Gatalamotho 11-5 before losing 15-7 to Wells on Saturday. On Sunday Police IX beat Bears 10-3. ENDS