Fierce softball eliminators on the cards in Palapye
Koketso Kgoboge | Thursday June 18, 2015 10:48
The finals of the annual tournament take place in Selebi-Phikwe over the President’s Day holiday.
Seven men’s teams and five sides from the women’s league are expected to battle it out in the eliminators on Saturday and Sunday at Motlakase, Mabogo Junior School and Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) softball pitches. The top three teams from each category proceed to the finals in Selebi-Phikwe.
“Palapye is ready. We have logistics secured and we expect teams to arrive on Friday. Games begin on Saturday morning,” Motlakase softball team manager, Letsweletse Jonas told Mmegi Sport. Jonas said there will be two pools for the men’s competition, which will be done considering previous league standings and a round robin method will be used for the women’s teams. “Rail Giants of Mahalapye and Orapa’s Carats performed well in the league this season, therefore they will be seeded in the two pools and the rest will go through a toss to determine where they fall.
“Winners of both pools will qualify automatically and the third berth will be battled for by three teams on position two and three in the pool that has four teams and team on position two in the pool that has three teams.”
For women, the best three teams out of the round robin will straight away qualify for the extravaganza.
Furthermore, Jonas said he is confident that his youthful Motlakase teams will represent Palapye well and make the cut.
“Our players are mostly students and as thus they lack competitive experience in the level we will be playing, but they can be a hard nut to crack.
“They are united and play together really well. I think they will put up a show and I am optimistic that one if not both of our teams will qualify,” Jonas said.
Jonas added that 12 teams from both the north and south zones are selected through the eliminators to add up to Phikwe Comets who automatically qualify as hosts.
Dinare women and BDF IX men’s teams are in automatically as respective defending champions.