Southern softball has been starved of success for a long time but the region's top women are celebrating after reaching the finals of the national league.
The Southern Pride qualified for the top-three play-offs for the first time after winning two of its four games in the second round of the league in Wellington at the weekend.
The Pride will return north in three weeks to play Auckland for a place in the final against Hutt Valley.
For years, Otago and Southern teams have struggled to compete with more experienced and more physical teams.
But over the weekend, the Pride had excellent wins over two provincial powers, Auckland (4-2) and Canterbury (7-0), to qualify for the finals.
"We're absolutely thrilled," Southern coach Kath McGilbert said yesterday.
"The win over Auckland, in particular, was a huge result for us because it showed we could play with anyone."
The Pride still had a nervous wait as it would have slipped to fourth had Wellington beaten Hutt Valley.
Happily, the Hutt held on.
In its two other games, McGilbert's side was beaten 4-3 by Wellington and 9-2 by strong favourite Hutt Valley.
Neither the men's nor women's team from the Southern region had qualified for the national league finals before the weekend.
Meanwhile, Otago's Daniel Tarapi played a starring role as the Southern Pride men ended a disappointing weekend in the national league with a shock win yesterday.
The Pride had lost four games on the trot in the second round of the league in Christchurch and was expected to be no match for powerful Wellington.
But, powered by the bat of Tarapi in the lead-off position, the Southern side won 5-2, after Wellington had held a 2-0 lead.
Tarapi led off the third inning with a triple and was soon batted in, while fellow Dunedin-based player Scott Cartwright also got on base and scored on a wild pitch.
The Otago duo were back in action in the sixth inning, with Tarapi - who was a perfect four-from-four from the plate for the game - smacking another triple and being batted in by Cartwright.
Pride player-coach Marty Grant pitched with great control to keep Wellington scoreless after the first inning, but the Southern batters could also be pleased after seeing off two Black Sox pitchers, Jarrad Martin and Karl Gollan.
The Southern men were smashed 13-3 by Canterbury and 9-1 by Auckland but were far more competitive in losses to Hutt Valley (6-5) and North Harbour (8-6).
