There was no confusion for Saints on Saturday, as it took the early lead in the post-Christmas premier round with two narrow wins.
Otago softball has traditionally been split into pre-Christmas and post-Christmas rounds, with points reset in the new year and two separate trophies awarded.
This summer, because of scheduling and weather difficulties, it became clear there might not be time to complete a full set of games before December 25, so the decision was made to start the post-Christmas section early.
Otago softball boss Jill Johnson said the system would be reviewed and possibly scratched, in the interests of simplicity, next summer.
Cardinals won the pre-Christmas title but Saints holds the early lead in the second leg after wins over Dodgers (6-5) and Ellis Park (7-6) on Saturday.
Saints leaped to a 5-1 lead over Ellis Park through three innings, the highlight of which was a Mark Ahlfeld triple that scored Mitchell O'Neill.
Ellis Park responded with runs in the fourth - after a Ryan Williams triple - and fifth innings, then shot to a 6-5 lead with a three-run burst, spurred by a two-run Stephen Hill double, at the top of the seventh.
The pressure was firmly back on Saints but it got the two runs it needed through a walk, an error and a pair of safe hits.
In the late game, Saints had a 4-1 lead over Dodgers through four innings, before Dodgers cribbed back two runs in the fifth.
Ahlfeld made another key play at the top of the sixth when his double brought two runners home, giving Saints a lead it would not relinquish.
The other two games were both one-sided, with battling Waverley failing to last seven full innings in two crushing defeats.
Dodgers marched to a 10-0 win after three innings, with Aran Bailey and Danny Mulvena picking up homers.
Then Cardinals scored eight runs in the fourth inning to belt Waverley 12-3 through five innings.
Mike Lalogafau, Crete Whaanga and Wayne Vial all cleared the fence for Cardinals.
