In the first game on Friday, defending champion New South Wales Firestars shutout Western Australia Flames 3-0.
The Flames collected only four basehits off of three pitchers.
Dutch National Team-player Saskia Kosterink was 0-for-3 in this game.
NSW scored its first run in the second inning on an error.
With two outs, Alexandra Casey walked, then scored when a hit by Samantha Poole was missed in the outfield.
Two runs were added in the third at bat.
Michelle Cox led off with a single and Stacey McManus singled with one out.
The two advanced on a passed ball with two outs, then scored on a single by Rachel Lack.
In the afternoon on Friday, South Australia Starz won 4-2 vs. Victoria Titans, while Queensland Heat remained unbeaten by winning 4-1 vs. Australian Capital Territory Diamonds.
The Starz scored two runs in the first inning.
Ada Brincat-Tree led off with a walk and stole second base with one out.
Jenny Dunn then reached on an error and the bases got loaded when Michelle Edgtton walked.
A following single by Sarah Tonkin brought in two runners.
The Starz added a run in the third when Jenny Dunn led off with a single and later scored on an error with two outs.
Victoria got one run back in its third at bat when Sarah Beales led off with a double and scored on an one-out single by Alys Young.
The Titans narrowed the deficit to 3-2 in the sixth inning when Erin Dunstan led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jackie Di Siervi.
The Starz then scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning.
With one out, Jenny Dunn reached on an error, moved on a wild pitch and a grounder, then scored on a single by Lana Kaesler.
...Britt Vonk...
...one basehit, run, walk...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
At the same time, Queensland won its fourth consecutive game.
The Heat registered eight basehits.
Britt Vonk was 1-for-3 for Queensland, scored a run and also walked once.
Italian National Team-player Ilaria Pino had one of ACT's four basehits.
Queensland opened the score with two runs in the top of the first inning and again, the productive duo Britt Vonk and Brenda De Blaes were involved.
Vonk led off with a double, then scored on an one-out double by De Blaes.
The latter advanced on a passed ball, then scored on a 2-out single by Jade Wall.
Queensland added a run in the fourth via a single by Janice Blackman with two outs.
They made it 4-0 in the seventh inning when Jade Wall again delivered a runscoring single.
The Diamonds scored their lone run in the bottom of the seventh.
Lead-off hitter Clare Jones was awarded first base on catcher's interference, then moved on a single by Ilaria Pino.
Short stop Britt Vonk then turned a double play on a following grounder, but then committed an error on the next grounder that enable Jones to score the lone run for ACT.
With the win, Queensland secured itself of a spot in the top-four.
In the next two games, which started in the late afternoon, New South Wales Firestars won 4-3 vs. Victoria Titans, while Australian Capital Territiory Diamonds outscored Western Australia Flames, 3-1.
For the Diamonds, this was its first win after having won its previous three games.
For the Titans, this was their last game in the preliminary round, resulting in elimination for the top-4.
Initially, Victoria took a 3-0 lead in the game against the Firestars.
The team scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning, which were all credited to starting pitcher Amelia Cudicio.
With one out, Jess Bahn reached on an infield-single, then Jackie Di Siervi was hit by a pitch and the bases got loaded when Tayla Supple followed with a single.
Hereafter, Ellen Roberts took over the pitching.
First, a runner was forced out at home, but then Natasha Holt was hit by a pitch to bring in the first run.
Brianna Wanke then singled in a run, then an outfield-error resulted in the next run.
...Saskia Kosterink...
...scored lone run for Flames...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
The Firestars scored once in the its fourth when Rachel Lack led off with a double and later scored on a sacrfice fly.
In the bottom of the fifth, it were the Firestars who scored three runs off of reliever Jessica Tolmie to take a 4-3 lead.
Stacey Porter led off with a single, then Stacey McManus walked.
A force out on third base followed, then the bases got loaded with two outs when Alexandra Casey walked.
Next, Simone Freeman cleared the bases with a 3-run double to give NSW the lead.
ACT Diamonds broke an 1-1 tie in the sixth inning by scoring two runs en route to a 3-1 victory.
In the fourth, they had taken an 1-0 lead off of starter Amber Johnson.
Clare Warwick led off with a single, moved on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Clare Jones.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Flames came alongside.
With one out, Saskia Kosterink walked, then stole second base with two outs.
She then scored on a following single by Leigh Godfrey.
ACT re-took the lead in the top of the sixth inning.
Katherine Tye led off with a bunt-single and Clare Warwick singled.
With one out, both scored on a double by Clare Jones to make it 3-1 in their favor.
In the lone game scheduled to start at 6 PM, South Australia Starz shutout Western Australia Flames, 3-0 to secure a spot in the top-four.
The Starz opened the score in the top of the third inning off of starter Amber Johnson.
Lana Kaesler led off with a walk, then advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Jasmine Lee and a single by Chelsea Robinson.
She then scored when Ada Brincat-Tree reached on an error.
...Monica Perry...
...winning pitcher...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In the bottom of the third inning, the Flames got in scoring position.
With one out, Saskia Kosterink reached on an infield-hit and moved on sacrifice bunt by Jemma Freegard.
Hereafter, Monica Perry took over the pitching for the Starz and retired next batter Leigh Godfrey.
The Starz then immediately added another run in the fourth inning.
They got the bases loaded with one out, which was followed by a pitching change.
Madeline Cameron (who had singled with one out) then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jasmine Lee.
The third run was scored in the seventh inning.
With one out, Jordan Lambert singled and advanced to third on an outfield-error, then scored on a sac-fly by Jenny Dunn.
After taking over the pitching in the third inning, Monica Perry retired nine batters in a row.
With two outs in the sixth, she gave up a 2-out single to Leigh Godfrey, but she stranded.
In the final two games on Friday, New South Wales Firestars handed Queensland Heat its first loss.
With the 4-3 win, NSW secured itself of first place in the preliminary round and will meet Queensland again in the semi-final on Saturday with the winner of that game advancing to the Final in the evening.
In the other game on Friday-evening, Australian Capital Territory Diamonds won 3-0 vs. South Australia Starz to qualify for the top-four.
These two teams will meet each other again on Saturday-morning in the Play-Offs.
The loser of that game will be eliminated, while the winner meets the losing team of the Firestars vs. Heat semi-final.
That means that Western Australia Flames and Victoria Titans will play on Saturday-morning for fifth and sixth place.
Like earlier in the day against the Titans, the Firestars came from behind in its game against the Heat.
The defending champion faced a 3-1 deficit in the sixth inning when it rallied for three runs to win the game.
Queensland collected only four hits in this game, but two of them were hit again by Britt Vonk, who also scored once.
Brenda De Blaes had one basehit, but scored once and batted in two runs.
Stacey Porter and Samantha Poole both had two hits for NSW.
NSW opened the score in the bottom of the second inning off of starter Jocelyn McCallum.
With one out, Belinda Barnes reached on an error, then scored on a double by Samantha Poole.
...Britt Vonk...
...two hits, triple, run scored...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In the top of the third inning, Britt Vonk led off with a bunt-single for Queensland, but then was forced out on a grounder by Janice Blackman.
Brenda De Blaes followed with a 2-run homerun to give the Heat a 2-1 lead.
Queensland added another run in the fifth inning.
This time, Britt Vonk led off with a triple and went on to score on a sacrifice fly by Janice Blackman.
But in the bottom of the sixth inning, NSW rallied for three runs off of reliever Sandra Holden.
With one out, Stacey Porter doubled, then Alexandra Casey reached on an error, which led to a run.
Taylah Tsitsikronis then singled, but a following grounder accounted for the second out.
But then Samanta Poole doubled to bring in two runs and give NSW a 4-3 lead.
ACT Diamonds outhit the Starz 7-2, but the game remained scoreless for four innings.
The Diamonds then opened the score in the top of the fifth inning off of starter Vanessa Stokes.
In that at bat, Katherine Tye led off with a single and scored on a double by Clare Warwick.
Hereafter, Monica Perry took over for Stokes and retired the next three batters, two of them with a strikeout.
ACT added two unearned runs in the sixth inning.
With two outs, Kylie Robson and Aimee Palmer singled, then both scored when a fly by Katherine Tye ended in an outfield-error.
Italian National Team-pitcher Greta Cecchetti went the distance for the Diamonds.
The righthander struckout six batters and gave up only two basehits.
She allowed only one runner to reach second base.
(January 8)
Related articles:
 Australian Softball Finals resume with abbreviated schedule. (January 7)
Australian Softball Championship hampered by heavy rain. (January 5)
Britt Vonk, Saskia Kosterink; more familiar names in Australian Softball Final. (January 3)
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Britt Vonk in Semi-Final Australian Softball Championship
BLACKTOWN, Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) -
Netherlands National Team-player Britt Vonk and her team Queensland Heat have qualified for semi-final of the 69th edition of the Women's Softball Fastpitch Australian National Championship Tournament.
Former Dutch big league-pitcher Monica Perry will play in the elimination semi-final with South Australia Starz, while Dutch Team-outfielder Saskia Kosterink's team Western Australia Flames has been eliminated for the Play-Offs.
She now will play on Saturday in the game for fifth and sixth place.
On Friday (January 8), the preliminary round of the event closed, resulting in a final ranking that set up the schedule for the Play-Offs on Saturday.