Kopex upstage Bears in Moresby softball

By EKONIA PENI
ONE of the underdogs of Port Moresby men’s softball Kopex yesterday upstaged the more fancied Airways Bears 6-5 in a close encounter in round six of the Digicel sponsored competition.
And Andrew Raphael who usually plays at shortstop in the past couple of seasons suddenly rose to the occasion as a pitcher when he made sure Bears did not score easy points.
In the all-tight affair both teams scored one run each in the first inning with the Bears scoring through Consie Bais and Kopex through Sam Ulur.
In the second inning Bears scored an extra through Joe Avuchulas Junior off a Martin Changgau hit to lead 2-1.
But the lead was short lived as Kopex scored three runs at the bottom of the second inning to lead 4-2.
The first point came from Andrew Raphael courtesy of a sacrifice by Willie Tauna, and then Misiel Puipui and Jack Bola scored a double from a big hit to right outfield by Anthony Raphael.
After a pointless third inning, Bears returned strongly in the fourth inning with some solid batting of their own resulting in them scoring three more runs through Sam Malum, Consie Bais and Mark Simon to lead 5-4.
At the bottom of the fourth inning Kopex knew they were still in the hunt for a win if only they can bat well.
However their final two points, one to equalise and the other to win the matchdid not come from safe hits but were scored by Willie Tauna and Andrew Raphael both from wild pitches.
The win by Kopex should also be credited to abit of complacency by Bears who were over confident and did not take their opponents seriously.
In the other matches yesterday PNG Power defeated Samurai 5-1, LBC Gazelle nailed Dolphins 4-nil and Brown Eagles thrashed Malangan 12-2.
In Saturday’s match of the day SPIA Manolos continued their winning record with a 7-1 win over Bullets 7-1.
Meanwhile, in the women’s matches Airways Bears had too much experience and batting might which enabled them to thrash the much improved Dolphins 7-0.
And Bee Hive Gazelle after losing to Dolphins in their last outing managed to resurrect their winning form by thumping Admiralty 15-3 in a one sided affair.
While BRE Wantoks returned to the winner’s circle with a credible performance that saw them thrashed Malangan 8-nil.