20 December results:  Softball. Auckland Fastpitch championship.

Women: Ramblers 4 Marist 1, Waitakere Bears 13 Otahuhu 0, Metro 7 Howick 0.

Points: Bears 24, Ramblers 20, Marist 18, Metro 12, Otahuhu and Howick 2.

As Waitakere Bears charged on toward the Auckland women’s title, Mt Albert Ramblers won an important game after weeks of patchy form, downing national champion Marist 4-1 to stay in the race and confine Marist to hoping for upsets.

It was a poor performance from Marist which allowed Ramblers to dominate the game. Errors and lack of concentration allowed runners extra unearned bases and four unearned runs.

With the third round almost finished, Bears, with a sweeping 13-0 win over Howick, is building up a strong finishing position with an eight-match unbeaten run.

 

14 December results:  Softball. Auckland Fastpitch championship.

Women: Marist 7 Otahuhu 6 (tiebreaker), Bears 6 Metro 0, Ramblers 11 Otahuhu 10 (tiebreaker), Bears 3 Howick 0, Ramblers 16 Howick 7, Marist 4 Metro 0.

Points: Bears 22 (12), Ramblers and Marist 18, Metro 10, Howick and Otahuhu 2.

It was a healthier weekend for the beleaguered Auckland champion Ramblers’ women but they made hard work of a tiebreaker 11-10 win over an Otahuhu side which has won only one game this season. Then Howick built a seven run lead before Ramblers started a fight-back in the third. Kara Tivoli was the star with two three base hits and a double, aided by Janelle Mase with a home run, Susan Swanepoel with three hits and Jodie Byles with two to win 16-7.

For the Metro women it was another frustrating weekend with losses to Marist (4-0) and championship leader Waitakere Bears (6-0) with the disappointment of failing to score a run.

 

6 December results:  Softball. Auckland Fastpitch championship.

Women: Bears 5 Ramblers 2, Marist 11 Howick 2.

Points: Bears 18 (10), Ramblers 14 and Marist 14, Metro 8, Howick and Otahuhu 2

Pitching and injury woes hit Ramblers women again, going down to new leader Bears 4-2 for Ramblers third loss in a row after an unbeaten seven game start to the season. Four walks and a Nga Hiku hit put Bears first three batters home and Bears scored one in the second and in the third.

Ramblers seemed to be in the game when it scored two in its first turn, through a triple by Jonelle Masey  and a walk but Ramblers managed only three hits to Bears’ ten.

With women’s championship leader Ramblers defeated for the third time in a row, Waitakere Bears took a two game lead over Ramblers and Metro. Bears beat Ramblers 5-2 while Marist swamped Howick with an 11-2 win, even though Howick managed to get eight hits to Marist’s 16.

 

29 November results:  Softball. Auckland Fastpitch championship.

For national women’s champion side Marist it was a taste of battles to come as Waitakere Bears won 11-7 in a thriller. Marist took the lead through its 15 year old prodigy Te Reo Powhiri Matautia but that was cancelled out by a huge home run from Bears’ international pitcher Michal Tangaroa.

A fine touch came as pitcher Cheree Cartwright was the first to congratulate Tangaroa as she approached home plate after one of the biggest hits seen by a woman player.

Bears took the championship lead when Ramblers, the only side to defeat Bears, slumped to a 10-2 loss to a Metro squad which had failed to beat any of the top three so far this season.

 

November 22-23 results. Softball. Auckland Fastpitch championship.   

Women: Bears 7 Otahuhu 0, Metro 7 Howick 0 (game 1), Metro 5 Howick 4, Marist 6 Mt Albert Ramblers 3.

Points: Ramblers and Bears 14 (8), Marist 12, Metro 6, Howick 2, Otahuhu 0.

In women’s play, Ramblers’ dream run ended in farce yesterday as the reigning Auckland women’s champion dropped its first game of the season, folding to national champion Marist at Fowlds Park .

Marist had revenge with a 6-3 win, carrying on a steady improvement after a stuttering start to the season. But there was only one earned run in the error-littered game, in the first inning, when Ramblers had back to back two base shots to take the early lead.

Ramblers’ loss allowed Waitakere Bears to climb to equal top. Bears overwhelmed Otahuhu 7-0.