Police IX Continue Winning Streak
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday February 1, 2016 14:44
The two teams came into the match after recording wins in their previous encounters.
Panthers started the third inning on a high with Chiludo Johane hitting a long ball that saw her side score two runs. Police IX came to bat with revenge in mind but Panthers pitcher, Boitshwarelo Sefo sent a warning to them as she sent off the first batter with three straight strikes. Police IX made a come back throwing in their revered pitcher, Mantho Mojeremane into the mix. She replaced Lebogang Budani who had conceded two runs.
The arrival of Mojeremane changed the pace of the game.
Seeing the changes, Panthers changed their pitcher. Despite that, Police IX continued scoring good runs and the going got tough for Panthers.
Meanwhile, Panthers coach, Disang Selemogwe said the game went according to plan despite the loss. He said they came into the game knowing that their opponents had a good pitcher and the intention was to work on offence. He said they had more runs than Police IX. “We made errors and got punished for that. If we could have avoided mistakes, we could have picked a win. I changed my pitcher because I wanted to slow down the game. Our opponents were gaining momentum. You have to realise that focus is important in softball,” he said.
Selemogwe said Police IX have good players and that was pressure on its own and he had advised his players to take that out of their minds in order to play their game. Police IX coach, Gaolebale Isaac said he had to change his game plan because he realised his opponents were catching up with them. He said using experienced players also worked for him. He admitted that his opponents were youngsters and fast and therefore posed a threat. Isaac said he made sure his players score more runs to protect the pitcher.
“I keep changing game plans in each match as I have realised the teams have studied our pattern. Teams are trying to find loopholes in our strategies. We want to avoid that or else we will get punished,” said Isaac.