One Otago team got its hands (briefly) on a coveted shield this season, and now another one has a crack.
The Otago softball team will try to regain the Bates Shield when it plays Southland at Ellis Park, in Dunedin, tomorrow.
There are two games but the first of them is effectively a warm-up. The second, at 2pm, is for the shield.
Otago will go into the game with some confidence, not only because it has home advantage but also because it has a potential match-winner out on the mound.
Pitcher Ben Watts has the ability to strangle a batting order, and his ability to keep the Southlanders off the bases will be hugely important.
He is joined in the squad by brothers Matt and Cam, along with a host of talented younger players like Hoani Iva-Keen, Krizevac Tuitea and Will Meiklejohn.
Jamie Robinson, Ryan Williams and Doug Hill will try to give Otago some impetus with their bats.
Southland can call on two talented sets of brothers, Chris and Matt Telfer and Jono and Tim Campbell, while much is expected of Daniel Karsten.
The provincial rivals are also clashing at under-15 level, with the boys in Dunedin and the girls in Invercargill.
Regular Dunedin premier club softball will be played today.
Rising Dunedin star Hoani Iva-Keen is in the Junior Black Sox squad for a tournament in Hastings next month.
Iva-Keen, who plays third base for Otago and the Cardinals club, is in the squad to contest the North Island Classic from December 6 to 8.
It is a great opportunity for him to impress the coaching staff, including Black Sox greats Thomas Makea and Jarrad Martin, ahead of the world junior championship in Canada next year.
Bates Shield: Otago squad
Jamie Robinson, Ben Watts, Ryan Williams, Matt Watts, Cam Watts, Gary Pointon, Tane Tuhakaraina, Simon Wallace, Mark Edmunds, Will Meiklejohn, Mitchell Finnie, Doug Hill, Hoani Iva-Keen, Jacob Wedlock, Krizevac Tuitea, Richard Clarke.
