Hawke's Bay's Monstars claim 10th consecutive title
Hawke's Bay's Monstars may not have been as dominant as previous seasons but they still claimed a 10th consecutive Fun in the Sun softball tournament women's grade title on Sunday.
With three former White Sox players, Melanie Gettins, Rita Hokianga and Alison Boyce, on their roster for the 40th edition of the end-of-season tournament at Akina Park, Hastings, Monstars, didn't have everything their own way in round-robin play.
They lost to the East Coast Mexicans from Gisborne and the Paki Paki Allstars mixed teams and drew with the Porirua team PCI More Beer than Gear. While the five women's teams and four mixed teams played in the same grade the top two mixed and top two women's teams played in their respective finals of the two-day tournament.
Monstars beat Wellington Demons Softball Club's the Biggest Boozer (both teams pictured above) 15-1 in their last round-robin outing. Despite the Biggest Boozer finishing one point higher in round-robin play, Monstars beat them 16-1 in the final.
In the seven-team men's grade, Kapiti Coast team Jokers captured the Stuart Hape Memorial Trophy with a 2-1 victory against Fast Pitch Sliders in the final. Flaxmere were unbeaten in round-robin play while Kapiti Coast Jokers had three losses.
However, Jokers pipped Flaxmere 8-6 in their semifinal while Sliders beat Tawa in their semifinal.
The mixed grade final saw the Tangaroa Tribe, which included former White Sox pitcher Michal Tangaroa beat the East Coast Mexicans 5-1.
