Unheralded American stars in Tuatara win

Auckland Tuatara 9 Canberra Cavalry 1

The Auckland Tuatara have found an unlikely hero in Kris Richards.

The Wellington-based American made the squad through local tryouts but has made the most of his opportunity with a strong bat and solid defence.

Richards was again in fine form yesterday as the Tuatara dealt a 9-1 thrashing to the Canberra Cavalry at Auckland’s McLeod Park.

His performances could raise some questions for the Tuatara bosses, after next weekend’s final home series.

Richards counts as an import player, and with MLB prospects Nick Tanielu and Taylor Snyder set to join the side soon, Richards seems unlikely to hold his spot, despite his impact on the team — particularly against Canberra.

The hosts catapulted to a 9-0 lead after four innings, jumping all over Canberra’s starting pitcher Jason Lott, who gave up four runs in just 1.2 innings before being hooked.

Tuatara starter Josh Collmenter, on the other hand, was dealing and looked near unhittable in his 5.1 innings.

On offence, Richards was among a number of Tuatara to get involved in the carnage, counting for two of the nine runs. It came on the back of his walk-off hit, giving the Tuatara a win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

The sides split the four-game weekend series 2-2, which sees the Tuatara improve their overall record to 4-7. They still have ground to make in the hunt for the playoffs, but with seven series remaining in the regular season, the side have plenty of time to make a run.