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Wooden bat tourney round-up

The annual wooden bat Slo-pitch tourney on the Filomi Days weekend was a hit.
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Andrew Smith of the Bushcats fires the ball back from left field during the 'A' final of the Filomi Days wooden bat tourney.

The wooden bats created a whole different ball game for the players at the Filomi Days softball tourney held at Storeys Beach. Without the extra pop from aluminum or composite bats no player was able to clear the fence all tourney, meaning most of the games were tight, low-scoring displays of fielding.

As a case in point, in the first game of the tourney the Bush Rats beat the Generals 1-0, with the lead-off batter in the first inning the only player to reach home plate.

The B final was a more open affair, with the solid hitting of High Vis beating out the Bush rats by 10 runs to 5. A strong start in the first inning saw High Vis bring home four runs after subjecting the Bush Rats to three straight outs. The next four innings were a lot more evenly matched with High Vis just maintaining their lead until their strong 3-run sixth inning put them effectively out of reach.

A single inning made all the difference in the A final too, when the Bushcats beat out the Bluesox.

A fantastic, and at times spectacular, fielding display from both teams kept the game scoreless until the decisive fourth inning. The Bushcats had a runner on first when a fielding error in right field stretched what would have been a single to an RBI and a runner on second.

From there the floodgates seemed to open and the Bushcats came home four more times. The Bluesox managed one in reply but the Bushcats got one more to regain their five run buffer and held this lead to win the game.

Organizer David Deans called it a great event and said that the next tourneys would be in September, with an all-girl event and an orthodox tourney in the works.

 

Results:

 

'A' division

Semi-finals:

Bluesox mercy The Rez

Bushcats 4-2 Ballerz

 

Final:

Bushcats 6-1 Bluesox

 

MVPs: Aaron Millar- Bluesox, Kristian Knutson- Bushcats

 

'B' Division

Semi-finals:

Bush Rats 1-0 Generals

High Vis    3-2 Bandits

 

Final;

High Vis 10-5 Bush Rats

 

MVPs: Kelly Jones- High Vis, Shiloh McCulley- Bush Rats