Softball: Women to add new dimension to club competition

Women, a rising teenaged pitcher and a 53-year-old catcher-coach will be among the cast of interesting characters in Dunedin premier club softball this season.

The summer on the diamond is scheduled to begin today, with the Cardinals playing the Dodgers in the early game and the Saints meeting Ellis Park in the main game.

An early talking point will be the presence of women in an Ellis Park side that won last season's pre-Christmas title but has been struggling for numbers.

The club has dispensation to field as many as three women, and has already recruited American pitcher Claire Velaski - a student at the University of Otago - and Southern Pride hopeful Kate Brewerton.

"That should make us a point of interest," Ellis Park coach Grant Johnstone said.

Velaski, who played for Linfield College in Oregon, will play only before Christmas and is not available this weekend.

Brewerton needs a chance to play top softball to prepare her for the national league.

Women have only occasionally appeared in Dunedin men's softball since the women's game slid into oblivion, but it is apparently a relatively common occurrence in Southland.

Johnstone, who coached Ellis Park in the late-1980s and the Cardinals in 2001-02 and was going to coach Otago three years ago until ill health intervened, joined Ellis Park only a couple of weeks ago, when he heard the club was battling.

"The club was really struggling to get a team together. But I think we're getting to a point where we can be competitive."

Ellis Park has no recognised catcher, so Johnstone (53) expects to have to spend some time squatting behind home plate.

"I'm going to be the oldest catcher in the world," he said.

Another seasoned player is Pete Mathieson, who turned 50 this week and will be joined in the team by son Adam.

Ellis Park has lost key player Daniel Tarapi, who has joined the great Poneke-Kilbirnie club in Wellington, but retains the services of Bevan Campbell, Simon Wallace and Scott Dundass.

The Saints are heavily favoured to defend their title, having lost only Hami Goldsmith from last year's roster.

Infielder Ben Foster is back after missing last season, Sam Jones is the starting pitcher and Tim Howard, Michael Crowley, Mitchell and Michael O'Neill, and Lachie Brensell form the heart of a powerful batting line-up.

"There have been a lot of rumours about other teams getting weaker and that can make it difficult to keep your intensity levels up," Saints coach Kevin Jones said.

"But if we play to our potential, I think we'll be hard to bowl."

Sixteen-year-old Ben Watts will continue his pitching apprenticeship by leading the Dodgers from the mound.

If Watts can find his groove, the bats of Scott Cartwright, Chris Anderson and Wayne Sangster should help the Dodgers go close to getting back to the final.

"We've been pretty competitive the last few seasons.

We missed out on the title last season but we know we can put it together on the day," Dodgers coach Aran Bailey said.

The Cardinals struggled last season but coach Mark Ludlow thinks his side looks stronger this summer.

Glenn Forrester, Shane Whaanga, Crete Whaanga and Ricky Scott are among the key players, while Ludlow's son, Kaikorai Valley College pupil Joshua Ludlow (17), will get a chance to pitch.