Southern Pride teams faced their usual uphill battle at the national fastpitch championships in Lower Hutt last week.
The tournament is always a struggle for the Southern teams, which confront batting and, especially, pitching vastly superior to what the players strike on the home front.
Even bolstered by ring-ins, the Pride men and women generally find it difficult to be anything more than competitive.
That was the case again over the last four days, though both teams had their moments.
The Southern men won just one game out of eight, beating North Harbour 8-1 on the opening day, with Dunedin's Ben Watts singling to score another Dunedin player, Jamie Robinson, in a run-heavy third inning.
Heavy losses were recorded against Hawkes Bay (6-2), Hutt Valley (10-2), Wellington (6-1), Canterbury (8-4) and Auckland (5-0).
The Pride competed better against guest side Japan Universities, before being pipped 6-5, and was only beaten 9-7 by Counties-Waikato.
Manager Hamish Fletcher said Watts pitched well in the opportunities he got. Watts held Canterbury scoreless for three innings, and also blanked Auckland in the one inning he got to pitch in relief.
Younger brother Cam Watts also saw some time for the Pride, which finished with the wooden spoon after a 6-3 loss to Counties-Waikato yesterday.
The Southern Pride women's team bounced back from losses to Wellington (3-1) and Auckland (6-0) on opening day with two wins from three on the second day.
A 5-1 win over Counties-Waikato was highlighted by an Erika Avery homer in the final inning, while Avery scored the winning run on a wild pitch in a 2-1 upset of Hutt Valley.
The Pride women maintained their momentum with two strong performances on Saturday, with one-point losses to Canterbury (4-3) and Auckland (2-1).
Dunedin club softball was washed out on Saturday.
