Otahuhu to face Howick at home

Otahuhu’s premier women’s softballers have been gifted home advantage against Howick on Saturday.

The match was originally set down for Meadowlands Reserve in Howick but was moved by Auckland Softball because the ground there is still not ready for use yet.

The familiar surroundings of Sturgess Park, Otahuhu will play into the hands of Otahuhu who plan to pick up where they left off at Classic.

They finished runners-up spot, beaten 4-0 by Western Magpies in a re-match of last year’s final.

Brear says his team has much to build on and won’t be taking Howick lightly after their 3-2 tiebreaker loss last weekend.

‘‘The challenge is to back our performances up again this Saturday and take the lessons we learned and build on them.

‘‘While we were disappointed at losing to Howick there’s much to to happy with.

‘‘We managed to get many young players out on the diamond and still win games with them playing in positions they are not used to.

‘‘We also had some good hitting from the young ones who stepped up when asked to.

‘‘Our young players need exposure to the higher level and the Classic tournament provided the perfect opportunity.

‘‘Young Sapphire Finau pitched the first game against Howick and just missed out on the win in tie breaker. Our senior players were also very consistent.

‘‘Sammi (Parks) picked up the tournament top batter award with an average of .473 and Krystal, Michal Tangaroa and Nita Hickey consistently performed with the bat all weekend.

‘‘Hickey showed the class at shortstop taking some outstanding outs and showing why she got a White Sox squad call up at the end of last season.

‘‘Allison Mohi was back from a broken finger and kept us in two games.’’

Otahuhu’s premier men’s team were but a shadow of their women’s team. They lost all their matches.

DRAWS: Premier women’s:

Otahuhu v Howick, Sturges Park, Otahuhu. October 29. 3.30pm

Waitakere Bears v Otahuhu, Starling Park, Ranui. October 29. 3.30pm.

Date: Start: Premier men’s: Date: Date: Reserves: Start: Start:

Waitakere Bears v Otahuhu, Starling Park, Ranui. October 29. 1.30pm