Hills snatch State Title

By Robert Laidlaw

THERE WAS RAIN, RAIN AND MORE RAIN over the weekend for the annual Softball State Championships at West Beach Parks, but titles were decided and in the men’s A grade, Hills snatched the victory from the jaws of defeat, to triumph 6-5 over NAMSA.

And the hero was Cooper Goodman, who drove in the tying and winning runs with his walk-off double in the bottom of the fifth and final inning.

As conditions deteriorated throughout the contest, where players left the field twice as the rain became too heavy, it looked likely NAMSA had the title in the bag, but fortunes changed and twice Hills fought back to hit the lead and eventually win.

It was the perfect start for NAMSA, as it scored three times in the first inning, after hits to Seb Heintze-Unger and Brett Tyler, Zac Heintze-Unger was hit by a pitch, Riley Karayiannis had a sacrifice fly, and Sam Paturis batted a run in on his groundout.

Hills pulled one back in the bottom of the first, when Kaleb Zakaelj circled the bases on his long shot to centrefield.

Then it became a pitchers’ contest, as Hills’ Jarryd Farrell and NAMSA’s Harry May dominated the batters.

But some ‘sloppy’ fielding in the bottom of the fourth frame opened the door for Hills, as it scored three runs after four errors and Josh Goodman’s big double.

With time running out and two out at the top of the fifth, it looked like NAMSA was done. But Zac Heintze-Unger picked a walk and scored on May’s triple, with May coming home with clever baserunning, to put NAMSA 5-4 up.

Then Hills again fought back, with Mitch Butler and Ben Marsh reaching base on free passes, and with one out, Cooper Goodman put his stamp on the game with his big hit.

Farrell collected the win, pitching five innings for four hits and seven strikeouts, while May conceded four hits for five K2s.

THE WOMEN’S A GRADE unfortunately could not complete their grand final, with Adelaide gaining the title on percentage from earlier games.

In the grand final Adelaide was up against Central Districts Softball Association, and the game was evenly poised after one long inning, before the field became unplayable.

Batting first, Centrals scored seven runs, after hits to Melissa Nettle (two), Rita Meijer (home run), Zoe Tobin and Kaytlan Mackay.

Adelaide managed six runs in reply, with Erin Stone, Bel White (three-run home run), Riley Moore, Elisa Gooley, Ruby Fidge and Mikayla Jankovic collecting hits.

But then the batting box was inspected by grounds crew and umpires, and it was determined unplayable.

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RESULTS:

Men’s A grade grand final: Hills d NAMSA 6-5 (hits: Hills – Zakaelj (hr), C. Goodman, Hopton, J. Goodman; NAMSA – S. Heintze-Unger 2, Tyler, May, Philp. WP: J. Farrell; LP: H. May)

Women’s A grade grand final: CDSA d Adelaide 7-6, [insufficient time was played and Adelaide was declared title holders] (hits: CDSA – Nettle 2, Meijer (hr), Tobin, Mackay; Adelaide – Stone, White (hr), Moore, Gooley, R. Fidge, Jankovic).

Other state title winners: B grade women – Port Pirie; C grade women – Gawler; D grade women – Gawler; B grade men – NAMSA; C grade men – Vikings.

Women’s MVP: Mikayla Cox (Port Pirie); Men’s MPV: Brett Atkinson (Hills).