NGI explode late to seal final spot

A LATE surge by minor premiers New Guinea Islands over Drongos in the fifth and sixth innings kept their premiership hunt alive in the Mt Hagen men’s softball preliminary finals on Saturday.
NGI now meet the Rovers in the grand final show down this weekend.
It took NGI just two innings to have the tide their way after being down by 11 runs in most part of the game.
A boundary hit by centre outfielder Ephraim Kove set off the swing in batting form.
The flood gates opened as Jason Daniel, Danny Eric, David Sioni, Charlie Kove and Terence Tirupia romped home to bridge the gap 6-11.
Six more runs were scored the following inning from Eric, Daniel, Tirupia, veteran Sebastian Tirupia, Paul Perry and Sioni as NGI put up a solid defense to feature in this weekend’s premiership decider.
But Drongos had to make NGI work hard to earn a grand final berth and wasted no time at their first turn at bat with three runs from Nara Kakat, Westin Kakat and Daniel Bosky.
Hurler Westin Kakat was on top of the opposition for four innings with catcher Kuli Topiso calling the shots from behind the home plate.
Third baseman Leslie Diop, Ezron Gigimat, Topiso and Michael Gandi continued the batting flare with four more runs to further extend the lead.