06 Jul 2015

Tears and excitement were the order of the day as the Southern zone men softball giants slugged it out at National Diamond over the weekend to book themselves a spot at the Selebi Phikwe Softball Extravaganza.

Ultimately it was Wells, Gatalamotho and Police who emerged the fieriest in the South, as they will be joining defending champions BDF and Northern zone Rail Giants, Carats and Rebels.

Bracket B ignited sparks as the teams fought neck and neck for the number one spot which was eventually occupied by Gatalamotho after narrowly beating BMC 3-2 in their final game.

Wells made things easier for themselves by winning all their games and it was up to the remaining four in Bracket A to compete for the number two spot which was taken by Police.

Police and Panthers settled for number two from Bracket A and B respectively then slugged out in the finale for the third ticket where Police thrashed the latter 11-1.

Police was just too hot to handle scoring a run in the first inning by Mothusi Godson which seemed to have rubbed Panthers the wrong way as they made change ups in the fielding.

Panthers conceded easy runs in the second inning, while their opponents registered four runs in that inning by Tshepiso Tina, Laone Moredi, Oaitse Abel and Godson as they mounted more pressure.

It was an uphill battle for Panthers as they continued to struggle in batting while Police on the other hand scored more runs.

Baarongwa Mmapitsa and Boago Messe registered points in the third inning following a powerful smack by Abel which landed at the fence.

Abel then followed suit and scored after a drop ball mistake from first base followed by another Police smack from Tawina Phibion which ensued a point from Godson.

It was a runs galore at the Police camp as they scored two more runs from Abel and Tina in the fifth inning opening an 11-0 gap.

Panthers ended the dry spell in the fifth inning from a very nimbly Thato Matenge who pushed hard to register a point but it was way too late as they could not further redeem themselves.

The ladies teams headed for Selebi Phikwe are Southern zone Dinare, Panthers, Police and Wells, and Northern Zone Rail Giants Carats and Motlakase.
The annual tournament will be played on July 18-20. Ends