The last time there was softball activity on the pitch was back in September last year during the Independence Cup. The eliminations for the southern zone are at the National Diamond while Mater Spei and Clifton School in Francistown, host matches in the north. Teams will battle it out for slots in the most valuable softball competition in the country scheduled for the President's Day holidays in Selebi-Phikwe. The eliminations will run from June 28 to July 1, with only four slots up grabs in the southern zone for both men and women. In the north, four women's clubs have registered for the eliminations and three slots have been allocated with the fourth slot going to the hosts, Comets.
The same thing applies to the men’s sides where three positions are up for grabs with the fourth slot occupied by Comets. Ghetto Yankees coach, Trevor Musa, told MmegiSport that his side is ready for the challenge. “We are ready to go full force, especially since last year we missed out on the tournament because we failed to pay the registration fee. This time around we will make sure that we pay and there is no way of missing out,” he said. Musa said the aim is to build on from where they left off, especially looking at the Jwaneng Easter competition in 2022. He said they are in the process of recruiting two players to beef up the Yankees squad ahead of the eliminators. BDF IX women will look to defend the title they won last year but they have to deal with the eliminations stage first. Coach Jury Manaka remains unfazed, saying both the men's and women's teams are ready for the competition. “Preparations are at a high level, the team is ready and we are only left with playing ball. We have signed two players for the men’s team, Pako Mompati from Police IX and Phemelo Gouws from Panthers,” he said.
Regarding the arrival of a new coach from Police to BDF IX men's side, Manaka said an announcement has not been made and he remains the only coach. The men’s defending champions, Wells International, are ready to continue with their dominance. For the eliminations, Wells is in the same bracket as Bears, Panthers, and Gatalamotho. The women’s team will battle it out against Bears, BDF, and Wells. Wells chairperson, Moffat Fanah Kgotlaetsile said the plan is to defend the men’s title but the challenge is that they are losing players. “Players are unemployed, they are now retracing their steps back to their villages. We used to manage them well but these days it is difficult,” Kgotlaetsile said. Police coach, Phibion Tawina, said his charges are ready for the battle, despite losing decorated pitcher, Onneetse Seth-Ribbin who has joined Titans. “I believe we have enough depth in the team to fill the void that she has left,” he said.
South – women Group A: Titans, Dinare, and Panthers. Group B: Vikings, Police, and UB Giants. Group C: Bears, BDF, and Wells.
South – men Group A: Police, UB Giants, BDF, and Vikings. Group B: Panthers, Gatalamotho, Wells, and Bears.
North – men Rail Giants, Carats, Gheto Yankees, Scramblers, Raptures, Sua Raiders, Rebels, and Diphofu.
South – women Rail Giants, Carats, Scramblers, and Gheto Yankees.
