RGS beat Fajar to secure third in B Division Girls Softball Championship

By REDintern Colin Tung. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.

Kallang Cricket Grounds, Thursday, March 5, 2009 – Raffles Girls’ School secured a comfortable 9-2 victory over top-4 debutantes Fajar Secondary at the B Division Girls Softball Championship 3rd/4th placing match.

In a five-inning game lasting over two hours, both teams sought to close the season on a winning note after their losses in the semi-finals.

Fajar Secondary batted first and came up against Natalie Goh of RGS who struck out their opening batter and third batter. The second Fajar batter managed a hit but she was swiftly caught out.

The first inning ended 0-0 as RGS also found no way past the Fajar pitching and fielding. The closest any of their runners got was second base after their #17 had been walked to first base and she subsequently managed a steal of second. It was a preview of the sneaky play that was to come in this game.

The top order of the second inning continued in the same vein as Fajar batters swung without result and their first two batters were dismissed swiftly. A little controversy cropped up when third batter, Man Ru (Fajar, #13) took to the plate. With the count at 2-2 (two balls, two strikes), she conjured a hit that got her to first base. As an RGS fielder fumbled the ball, Man Ru was tempted into taking second base.

The RGS fielders scurried to regroup and tagged Man Ru out. It seemed like an easy tag but after the fielder made the tag, she dropped the ball. As the rules go, if the ball drops out of the fielder’s glove after a tag is made, the runner is not eliminated.

Play stopped for some time as the umpires and coaches clarified the play. RGS counted their blessings when the ‘out’ call stood.

That perhaps served as a wake-up call for RGS as they notched up three runs batting in the bottom order of the second inning. Christine Kho (#24) headed the batting order and got RGS going when she got to first base on a short hit and went on to steal the second base. Then #23 was walked to first base.

Next, Emily (#20) also got a hit. With the bases full, there were hopes that the next batter, Nicole (#25), could hit a home run and bring them all home. Though she could not quite send it over the fences, she hit one good enough for Christine (#24) to reach the home-plate and score the first point.

The bases were still full and it was the turn of the RGS #1 to step up to the plate for a crack at a hit and she certainly hit a sweet one as teammates #23 and #20 found enough time to slide home for a 3-0 lead before she got tagged out.

Down 0-3, Fajar Secondary needed to claw their way back into the game in the third inning. Rather bleakly, the best they could come up with from the plate was a hit that got #23 to first base and later a walk for #9 to first base with #23 moving on to second.

In a reflection of the desperation that was creeping into the Fajar game, #23 tried to steal third base unsuccessfully as the alert RGS fielders tagged her out.

RGS looked to extend their lead when their #20 got a hit to allow her teammate #9 to reach third base from first. When the Fajar fielder fumbled the catch, the RGS #9 decisively ran for home plate to make it 4-0 for her team.

The fourth inning of the game was the highest-scoring inning of the game as first, Fajar summoned their spirits from the dead to stage a mini-comeback with two runs.

The Fajar #10 managed a hit that allowed her to reach first base. After a strike-out by the Fajar #26, their #4 stepped up to a hit a ball deep into the right outfield that allowed #10 to run home for their first run. #4 took third base. The Fajar #27 then brought home teammate #4 for the second run before getting tagged out herself.

Gaining momentum, the next Fajar batter managed to reach first base but the Fajar #11 then hit a ball straight at an RGS player to end the inning.

Trailing 2-4, the Fajar pitcher, Lim Jia Yu, had the uneneviable task of limiting any damage by the RGS batters in the bottom of the fourth inning. As it turned out, she ended up facing nine batters.

First, the RGS #16 got a hit and took first base. As the RGS #17 was batting, #16 stole second base and then advanced to third when teammate #17 hit a high fly ball which was caught by the Fajar fielders.

The third RGS batter, #1, swung a good high hit to the left side of the diamond that took her to second base and brought teammate #16 home for a 5-2 RGS lead.

The fourth RGS batter, #9, then took first base and teammate #1 advanced to third base after a pop fly down the middle and a fumbled catch by the Fajar fielders.

With first and third bases filled, another hit by the fifth RGS batter and another fumbled catch by the Fajar fielder, saw the RGS #9 move to second base with the RGS #1 claiming another run for a 6-2 RGS lead.

With strength waning in her pitches, Fajar pitcher Jia Yu threw a ball that the RGS #5 sweetly struck deep into the left field for a triple. That brought teammate #9 and the fifth batter home for another two runs.

Another hit enabled the RGS #5 on third base to score the last run in the inning for RGS to make it 9-2 to close out the fourth inning.

Fajar took to bat in the fifth and final inning with hopes of finishing third fading away. They swung their hardest but failed to score as pitcher Natalie Goh struck out the Fajar #26 to seal the game for RGS.

Despite losing the game, Fajar Secondary could still be proud of the fact that they are the first of any sports team in the history of Fajar Secondary to achieve top-four status in the national schools arena.

As Mr Steve Xie, the Fajar Secondary coach, commented, “We played below our best but nonetheless, I am proud of the girls for creating history in Fajar Secondary.”

As for RGS, a relatively younger team comprised only of secondary three girls, the third-placing is a result they are looking to better next year.

Coach Nelson Lim singled out his pitcher and catcher for praise saying, “Credit goes to the players. We qualified from a tough group and my most outstanding players have been Natalie and Jocelyn. We’ll have a better chance next year (at winning the championship).”

Natalie, though, was humble in receiving the praise, commenting that “Fajar’s a good team” and that she was just “happy to have held them to two points.”

More pictures in the gallery.