One team in and one team out. A guest Black Sox player (maybe).
Gnarly old pitchers. And a handful of rising teenage talent.
Club softball resumes today with the usual mix of interesting storylines.
Key among them is the change in teams in the premier men's grade, with Waverley pulling out and Ellis Park fielding a second team.
Waverley joined the premier grade last season and was reasonably competitive, but it decided recently it could not field a side this summer.
Ellis Park had already looked into fielding two teams and will now have Maroon and Gold in the five-strong competition.
"We had 25 players at training, which showed us we could have two teams," Ellis Park coach Wayne Vial said yesterday.
"We've had a trial game so we're still sort of working out who will go in which team."
Vial said the club was aiming for the national club tournament at the end of the season.
It requires a 15-man roster, plus two extras, so he will look for both Ellis Park teams to throw up contenders.
Luke Egan (Maroon) and veteran Pete Mathieson (Gold) are pencilled in as the starting pitchers, but the club will also look to give King's High School youngsters Krizevac Tuitea and Will Meiklejohn some opportunities.
Vial is excited about possibly having Black Sox outfielder Campbell Makea playing for one of the Ellis Park teams for the first few weeks.
"He plays for PK, in Wellington, but we're just hoping to confirm his transfer for the first five weeks or so.
"Campbell played for us a couple of seasons ago. He's a varsity student, and having him play in the competition is a huge bonus for us."
Softball Otago boss Jill Johnson has her fingers crossed Makea will be cleared to play.
"Everyone just wants Cam to play. It's not like it's a situation where we're trying to snaffle a player from someone else," Johnson said.
"Softball New Zealand are being very supportive and hopefully we can get it sorted out."
Defending champion Dodgers has retained the nucleus of its line-up, with star pitcher Ben Watts to again lead the attack. He will be joined by two younger brothers, Cam and Matt.
Jamie Robinson and Wayne Sangster provide the experience in a side Dodgers coach Aran Bailey hopes will carry on its winning form.
"We'd obviously like to stay on top if we can, but it looks like the competition will be quite strong," Bailey said.
Cardinals have picked up four Waverley players and have also been reporting good numbers at training.
Last season's leading batter, Mike Lalagofau, has left Dunedin, but Crete Whaanga and Simon Maole should provide plenty of runs.
On the Cardinals mound will be former Southland representative Steve Willis.
His back-up, Shane Whaanga, and player-coach Glenn Forrester are both recovering from shoulder injuries.
Saints coach Tim Howard is quietly confident his stable squad will be competitive.
Sam Jones leads the pitching staff, Travis McIntosh provides a dangerous bat and the club has also welcomed back Michael Crowley.
