(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Nova Southeastern University & Softball New Zealand)
 New Zealand player Te Reo Powhiri Matautia joins Tex Town Tigers
Nederlands
...Te Reo Powhiri Matautia at NSU Sharks in 2015...
(© Photo courtesy of Nova Southeastern Univ.) |
 ENSCHEDE (Neth.) -
Tex Town Tigers has added New Zealand-player Te Reo Powhiri Matautia to its roster for this years season in the Golden League, the club announced on Sunday (January 10).
The outfielder lives in the German city of Munster, which is about an hour drive from Enschede, and already has joined the club for the practice sessions preparing for the new season.
Besides playing in the main squad, she will as coach of the women's second team of the club.
The 22-year old outfielder played two seasons for Tallahassee Community College in Florida.
In 2013, she appeared in only four games of the Eagles, then played a full season in 2014.
She then played in 54 games and finished with a .371 batting average (66-for-178), including 11 doubles, one double and six homeruns.
She scored 54 runs, batted in 40 and stole 13 bases, while being struckout only eight times.
After completion of the 2014 season, the Auckland-born outfielder was named to the All-Panhandle Conference Team, as well as the Second Team FCSAA All-State and NFCA All-American Team.
She also was named Most Valuable Player in the FCSAA.
In 2015, Te Reo Powhiri Matautia played for the Sharks, the team of Nova Southeastern University, which is located in Fort Lauderdale (Florida).
She closed the 2015-season with a .313 batting average (31-for-93), which was the third best of the Sharks.
...Te Reo Powhiri Matautia...
...played for New Zealand in...
...the 2012 and 2014...
...World Championships...
(© Photo: SB New Zealand) |
Amongst her 31 basehits were six doubles and two triples, while batting in 16 runs.
She led the team with 23 runs scored.
Playing in both leftfield and centerfield, she did very well and after the season, she was named to the All-Sunshine State Conference Second Team.
Besides playing in college-softball in the USA, the outfielder also gained a lot of international experience, as she has been a member of the National Teams of New Zealand in the past few years.
With the Under-19 Team, she participated in the 2011 World Junior Championships in South Africa.
In 2012, she made her debut in the National Team of New Zealand.
With the White Sox (nickname of the national squad), she participated in the World Championship of 2012 in Canada (Whitehorse) and 2014 in the Netherlands (Haarlem).
Te Reo Powhiri Matautia is not the first New Zealand-player to play for Tex Town Tigers.
In 2008, Katrina Stockford (now Nukunuku) played for the Enschede-team, which then won the Dutch Championship-title.
Both were teammates in the New Zealand-squad in Canada and the Netherlands.
Stockford also represented New Zealand at the 2010 World Championship in Venezuela.
Last year, New Zealand-pitcher Jasmin Kaiaruna played for Roef! in the Silver League, the second highest Dutch league.
(January 10)
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