Otago softball will be in good hands if its
future is judged by the emerging generation of young stars on
the diamond.
Among the crop of youngsters, two teenagers made their premier club debuts at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Roderick McGinnis (Kavanagh College), a 16-year-old left-handed pitcher, held his own on the mound for Cardinals, while Tyrone Pelasio (Kaikorai Valley College) played above his age (14) to get two walks and a safe hit in his three bats for Ellis Park.
Pelasio has softball in his blood - his mother, Toni (nee Wall), played for years and still turns out for the Evergreens.
A third promising player, Ben Watts (16), celebrated his first win in his rookie season as he pitched the Dodgers to a 12-3 win over the Cardinals.
With Watts in control on the mound, both Scott Cartwright and Jeremy Tisdall went 2-from-3 with the bat to lead the Dodgers to victory on the mercy rule.
In the feature game, the Saints suffered their first loss of the season when they were beaten 8-5 by Ellis Park.
The Saints held a 5-2 lead after two innings but could not score again, allowing Ellis Park to pummel six runs in the bottom of the third to take the win.
They might have lost but the Saints provided the story of the day when veteran Frank O'Neill, a member of the Otago softball executive, took the field to join sons Mike and Mitchell in a depleted line-up.
O'Neill senior showed the benefit of experience when he batted in Mike Wilson for the Saints' second run.
Ellis Park made it two from two when it beat the Cardinals 9-2 on the mercy rule.
Ellis Park scored in bunches, four runs at the top of the second and five at the top of the fourth, and out-hit the Cardinals 7-4.