It was, to put it mildly, a day for the batters in Dunedin premier men's softball on Saturday.
With pitchers struggling to find their control early in the season at Ellis Park, the round almost turned into an exhibition as a combined 105 runs were scored in the four games played.
The highest-scoring game was Ellis Park's 21-17 win over Saints, but not far behind was Cardinals' 20-16 win over Ellis Park.
Other wins to Saints (14-4 over Waverley) and Dodgers (9-4 over Waverley) seemed almost pedestrian by comparison.
Two of the stars of the most prolific game were actually on the losing side.
Saints centre fielder Luke Egan had five hits, including three doubles, in his six appearances at the plate, and Travis McIntosh whacked two home runs.
Ellis Park had the edge in overall hits (22 to 10) but was in a big hole when it trailed 14-8 in the bottom of the fifth inning, with Saints just a run away from winning on the mercy rule.
That must have put the wind up the Ellis Park batters, who responded with four runs at the top of the sixth and eight at the top of the seventh. In the final inning, five consecutive Ellis Park batters got hits.
It was all about finding the fence in the Cardinals-Ellis Park runfest, with no fewer than nine home runs being hit.
Ryan Williams (two), Ross McCarthy, Ash Taylor and Josh Hinch hit dingers for Ellis Park, while Mike Lalogafau (two), Simon Maole and Wayne Vial went long for Cardinals.
It was a topsy-turvy game, with Cardinals starting with a four-run first inning and Ellis Park responding with five.
Cardinals grabbed a bag of six in the fourth, with Ellis Park replying with three in both the fourth and the fifth.
Cardinals scored steadily to hold on to the lead. Ellis Park took three runs from the final inning but left the bases loaded.
Jamie Robinson had a double and a triple for Dodgers in their win over Waverley, while Dodgers rookie Benji Matheson - the son of Dunedin veteran Pete - had three RBIs.
Saints cleaned up Waverley on the mercy rule inside five innings. Lachie Brenssell batted 1000 and had three RBIs.
