Our four Year 5 and 6 Interschool Softball teams performed well at the Glasshouse District Interschool Sports competition held over two Fridays. The teams had been training hard all term although the very wet and very hot weather conditions limited the practises.
The A boys’ team improved immensely under the guidance of Mr Mick Jaeys who taught them the keys to smart game play. The B boys and A girls’ teams also improved as the term went on and realised areas which needed practice after the first day of games. The B girls’ team were all quite new to softball. They learned lots about it and improved with each game. The students learned the importance of a great pitcher and catcher combination and we will focus on this when we play again next year.
The highest placed team were the B boys’ teams who finished third overall. They played five games each week and won 70% of their games to be in third place after the round robin games. They played against Maleny Primary School in the 3rd/4th final and beat them 8 – 5 to be placed third overall which was a fantastic result.
The standard of play in the A boys’ competition was high so our boys needed to bring their best skills to every game. They won three games, drew one, lost four and played off for fifth and sixth position. They played Beerwah State School in their final and won 10 – 1 with a fantastic demonstration of controlled softball. They finished in fifth place.
The A girls had some very close games and once again the skills of the pitcher were crucial. The girls fielded well and definitely improved as the competition progressed. They played Maleny Primary School in the third and fourth final and lost 5 – 8 to finish fourth overall. This team had beaten them 20 – 2 in the very first game so this was a great improvement.
The B girls team played a modified game allowing a tee to be used after three balls had been pitched so that more girls had the opportunity to bat. The girls finished seventh out of ten teams which was great and they will certainly take this experience into the games next year as many of them were Year 5 students.
St Michael’s College won all but the B boys’ competition which was won by Mooloolah State School. Glasshouse is a very strong district in softball and our boys showed great skills so we would encourage as many boys as possible to go to the Glasshouse District Trial coming up next term.
Wendy Stott
