Wells' dream of getting a slot at the tournament was diminished by a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Vikings. The women’s teams that have qualified for the Phikwe Softball Extravaganza from the Southern Zone are Police IX, BDF IX (defending champions), Titans and Vikings. Wells manager, Moffat Fanah Kgotlaetsile, told SportMonitor that they failed to make the cut because of lack of games. “Lack of games makes players idle, they were rusty. Of course we are disappointed. We were looking forward to playing in Phikwe but things did not go according to plan. As the management, we are going to meet and discuss the way forward. We have no option but to seriously look for sponsorship and play invitational games from our neighbours from South Africa,” he said.
Meanwhile, Carats have raised concern that Wells was refusing with a pitcher that they wanted to recruit. Kgotlaetsile explained that the club should follow regulations governing transfer of players. He said the club should engage the Wells management on the player. UB Giants women also found the going tough as they were also kicked out of the tournament. The side was walloped 12-0 by Police and went on to lose 2-0 on penalties against Vikings. Giants coach, Tebogo Johannes, said his players failed to stick to the game plan and they simply collapsed against Police. “I gave instructions but when they stepped on the field of play they decided to change it and I do not know why. Offensively they did well but defensively it was difficult. They played well against Vikings and managed to hold it until the last inning where the score line was 2-2 and we went for penalties, unfortunately Vikings got it. I cannot say my players do not have experience at this level because they have played all tournaments, it is time for them to bring results, but I guess this time around it was not meant to be,” he said.
Police coach, Phibion Tawina, said he had a good plan for the eliminations and his players were able to execute it perfectly. Police won all their matches including beating Vikings 4-3. “We should now go back and work on the mistakes that we made as we prepare for Phikwe. We know what is at stake. There is nothing like a small team in this tournament. We are not going to undermine anyone. As long as they have qualified, it means they are a threat and as such they should be dealt with,” Tawina said. There were nine Southern Zone women team competing for the four slots allocated by the Extravaganza Local Organizing Committee (LOC). In the Northern Zone, with four women teams registered for the eliminations, only three slots were available with the fourth slot reserved for the host team, Comets. Other results: Titans 14-0 Dinare, BDF 15-0 Bears, Panthers 10-0 Dinare, BDF 14-Wells, Titans 8-0 Panthers, Wells 20-0 Bears, Vikings 14-0 Panthers and Vikings 2-0 Wells.
