NZDF men's softball swings into action

Written by FLTLT Brent Collier and F/S Chris Mitchell

On Friday 12 March 2010, male softballers from the NZ Defence Force began to gather at Burnham Military Camp, Christchurch to prepare for the New Zealand National Interclub Tournament held in Christchurch over the period 16-20 March. The players, coaching staff, and management had been selected during the fiercely contested Inter-Service Softball Tournament held in Whenuapai in December 2009.

Preparations for the tournament started with an intensive training camp, designed to 'gel' the team together before facing the best club teams in New Zealand. Although only three days of training were available to the side, a well-planned programme (consisting of gym sessions, diamond work, batting coaching, fielding drills, and team building activities) ensured maximum benefit was gained by all. The training camp was rounded-off with a game of 'Ambrose' golf, proving to the team that they had been chosen for their softball skills and not their golfing ability!

The first game of the tournament was a great, albeit slightly humbling, introduction to the level of play required to be competitive at the tournament. It was against one of top club sides in the country, Miramar from Wellington. Right from the start the NZDF team proved that they were here to play and not be the tournament easy-beats. NZDF showed some great defence to hold a strong Miramar batting line-up to just 4 runs up until the last innings while managing to squeeze 1 run in ourselves. Miramar's former Black Sox pitcher did a great job to keep our batters tied up. A home run in the final innings with 2 runners on base gave Miramar a comfortable 7-1 win, but they knew they had been in a ball game.

Our next five games were all against tough opposition with NZDF narrowly losing two of those games by close margins, which resulted in the NZDF being placed in the third division (bottom 8 teams). The NZDF teams defence was generally of a high standard and our hitting was improving with each game. The team knew they had the goods and that it was just a matter of putting everything that they had learned during the week into practice.

CPL Vincent Flynn, RNZALR found a few opportunities during his Pre-Deployment Training (PDT) to join the team. CPL Flynn played extremely well, particularly with the bat, contributing to a handful of this teams runs. SIG Sydney Reweti, also on PDT and an NZDF "Rookie", joined the team, which saw him take the diamond to earn his NZDF pocket.

CPL Vincent Flynn awaits the next pitch during the NZDF's game against Albion during section play (WB-10-0056-079).

On day three of the tournament, the NZDF found their winning stride by beating Stoke (Nelson) 9 - 2 and Demons (Southland) 3 - 2 to win through to the third division play-offs.

Despite all of the feedback from the coaches about how the team had performed so well to get to the semi-final and how Cardinals (Hutt Valley) would be tough...the players knew differently. They were on a high and put on an excellent hitting and fielding display, against a competitive Cardinals team. NZDF ran out comfortable winners 9 - 2 under the mercy rule to take the team into the division final. If the team had any doubts previously about whether or not they were good enough to compete at this tournament, then those doubts were well and truly erased by now. Defeating Cardinals was a great result for NZDF Softball.

The final was against Albion from Christchurch. The NZDF knew they were in for a tough game having lost to Albion 6 - 5 in round robin play. Albion went ahead scoring one run in the second inning and another in the fourth. Despite having numerous opportunities, it wasn't until the sixth innings that the NZDF were able to score. Through disciplined hitting and great base-running, the NZDF managed to tie the game up 2 - 2. No runs were scored in the seventh innings, so the game went into a tiebreak (extra innings - sudden death). This is what you play the game for, the high pressure scenario of playing a tiebreak in a final. Despite a good bunt play, the NZDF were unable to advance their base-runner home as he was tagged out whilst sliding into home plate. Albion on the other hand, took the game to the NZDF and a home-run to deep centre right field won them the game. Despite the loss, the NZDF team were still pretty stoked from their overall performance at the tournament. They had won through to the final and it was a huge improvement from the 2009 tournament.

The NZDF team were visited during the tournament by WO1 (rtd) Mr John Eagar, the Patron of Army softball. John, now in his late 80's, has been involved with Army and Defence Force softball for approx 52 years. "It was great for the guys, especially the Army members, to see the patron again. He hasn't been in the best of health lately, so getting down to the park to see the team was a big effort. Whenever he is around us, he really lifts the guys - he is a legend of Army softball. We are extremely fond of our patron." said WO2 Groves.

The Army softball representatives were MAJ Clayton Willocks, co-coach (HQ NZDF), MAJ Ra Koia (HQ 2LFG), Mrs Rose Williams, strapper (Catering Pl Burnham), WO2 Dean Groves (LOTC), SGT Trevor King (2ER), SGT Andrew Chambers (Linton Fire Station), CPL Vincent Flynn and SIG Sydney Reweti (both deploying abroad).

The Army representatives of the NZDF softball team sit with the Patron of Army Softball Mr John Eagar. Absent from this picture is SIG Syd Reweti (AW-10-0505-5).

The NZDF team were graced with a great management team and thanks should go to F/S Mike Thomas, MAJ Clayton Willocks, W/O Rob Chee, W/O Ian Ditfort and Mrs Rose Williams for bringing a great bunch of players together and guiding the team through an intense week of softball. Also thanks to CDF and the NZDF Sports committee for approving NZDF softball to participate in the tournament.

Should you wish to join the NZDF's top softball team, we will see you at next years Army Inter-Regional Softball Tournament or check out the Events Calendar.

Yours in Army Softball.

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