Falcons double off Zombies, Sharks

Chichester Falcons Softball Club continue their rise though the Solent League with comfortable wins against Portsmouth Zombies and Southsea Sharks in early June, to go 3 & 2 for the season so far.

With the season squad now set, the Falcons began the Zombies game with a single run and things stayed that way until the fourth inning where the Chichester offense busted out with a pile of hits to get 7-3 ahead. Doubles from Oliver Howley and Lucy Morris set up pitcher Jason Mercer for a three-run homer, where he was initially called out on a tag at home plate. A short discussion with the umpire saw the call overturned before Emma Brown and David Morris rubbed salt into the Zombies� wound with another pair of doubles and three more runs.

Ally Warr clubs out another home run

The Falcons outfield worked hard and kept Portsmouth quiet thanks to a commanding right field of Hettie McNeil and Dave Piesse, before Chichester took up the bat again in the fifth to club another seven runs on the board, with back-to-back-to-back home runs from Morris, Piesse and double MVP Ally Warr. Going into the final inning the Falcons were a clear 14 runs ahead and managed to keep the Zombies pinned back to win the game 20-6.

The following Wednesday brought a tougher fixture at Oaklands Park, with the Falcons facing Southsea Sharks. Founding members of the league, the Sharks are typically an organised outfit but the Falcons welcomed them with a four-spot in the first and some spectacular fielding by James Wheeler, returning from injury at third base. Peter Martin was rampant, hitting 5 for 5 on the night as Chichester pegged back the Sharks thanks to another stellar performance at second base by Anne Rutherford, while Ben Sawkins hoovered anything close to shortstop. Stefan Panayotopoulos made the play of the night with a herculean running catch deep in centre right, as pitcher Jason Mercer battled with the wind to frustrate the Sharks offense.

Anne Rutherford makes it to third base safely

Another two-out rally in the third effectively put the game to bed as the Falcons hit 9 runs � that all but two of the eleven hits were singles demonstrated their discipline at bat � as they went into the final innings way ahead at 18-9. Ally Warr continued to impress as she worked hard to snag a flyball in foul territory and Lucy Morris held steady at first base to limit the Sharks� final response to just one run, leaving the Falcons to celebrate a second win for the week at Oaklands Park.