Thrilling win puts Mixed Mates in final

MIXMATES have booked a date with Thunderbolts in the Tabubil Men’s Softball grand final this weekend after a thrilling 10-9 win over Karanas last Saturday.
In the women’s grand final, Karanas will meet Thunderbolts after defeating Eagle Rangers 12-3 last Saturday.
In the men’s it was the biggest upset of the round as the cliff hanger went right down to the wire when youngster Daula Ellison put the nail in the coffin when he scored the match winner to end Karanas 2012-2013 season.
The scores were locked at 9-9 at the bottom of the seventh innings after Ora Gima, who was well targeted by Mix Mates throughout the match, levelled the scores.
None of the Karanas players were able to put points on the board after Gima following some disciplined pitching from Mix Mates captain, Bernard Peter.
A well-constructed set play led by the veteran Mix Mates skipper when it was their turn to bat in the seventh innings gave the young side a sniff at victory.
Karanas had themselves to blame for a poor fielding display, which gave way for Ellison to run home the winner and give his side their first ever grand final appearance.
But Karanas showed a lot of promise earlier when they led 5-3 at the end of the second innings before Mix Mates came back to steal the lead at the sixth innings 6-5.
That gave the underdogs enough steam to run home winners.
Peter said it was their batting power that got them through and the boys did very well on that.
He said they started from fifth place and made it all the way to their first grand final. He said his game plan was simply do the simple and basic things right and apply the same performance against Thunderbolts when they meet this weekend.
Peter acknowledged the support of Michael Ellison and family, the Tavuls, Grinhais, John Pise and all the Nuk Street Rusty, Tigress, Mixmates Ladies team and all other SSMA families that have supported them in their campaign that sees them a step away from being champions.