Veteran pitcher Peter Mathieson led defending champion Ellis Park to a 13-11 win over the Cardinals on the tie-breaker rule in the opening round of Dunedin premier softball on Saturday.
The Dodgers and the Saints also picked up wins in the competition, which involves four teams and has two playing a double-header.
Mathieson kept cool on the mound for Ellis Park in the late game and also batted .500 for the day.
The sides were tied 9-9 going into the sixth inning.
Ellis Park smashed four runs and the Cardinals could only respond with two.
There was a promising all-round performance from Ellis Park infielder Adam Whelan (18), who had two hits in three at-bats and made some nice plays at third base.
The Dodgers smacked the Cardinals 9-2, with the game called off under the mercy rule after five innings.
Both sides scored twice in the first inning and the game was still tied 2-2 at the top of the fourth, when the bats opened up.
The Dodgers scored three runs in that inning and a further four at the top of the fifth.
Junior Black Sox batter Jonathan Campbell made his premier debut for the Dodgers, who out-hit the Cardinals 5-2.
In the third game, played under a 90min time limit, the Saints beat Ellis Park 9-6 after five innings.
Former Ellis Park catcher Tim Howard paced the Saints against his old team, batting two-for-three, with Kyle O'Neill also getting two hits.
Seven different Ellis Park batters had a hit.
Saturday marked the first time Dunedin softball was scored using a new electronic system.
Sandy Wallace, New Zealand's chief scorer, said the system worked well with only "a few hiccups", which was to be expected.
