Both the men’s and women’s teams posted comfortable wins in their annual encounter against Southland at Hancock Park yesterday.
The Māreikura (women) won 9-2 and the Whatukura (men) posted an 8-1 win.
The mercy rule was applied in both fixtures as the Otago teams led by seven or more runs after five innings.
In the women’s game, Southland started well. But Otago wrestled control of the Henderson’s Shield match in the third innings.
Jasmine Hill collected a hit, and two of her team-mates rounded on home base.
Māreikura added five more runs in the fourth innings and another two in the fifth to seal it.
Pitcher Terena Anderson-Ramsay was a standout performer, and short stop Keisha Togo drove in some runs and had a very strong game.
Some of the usual suspects stood out for Whatukura.
Cameron Watts collected an inside-the-diamond home run with the bases loaded. He is so fast he scampered around.
James Mathieson banged a double and triple and pitcher Jacob Wedlock conceded just one run and pitched the entire Bates Shield game.
