U12 Rounders v Loretto

Belhaven lost the toss and Loretto chose to field first. At first our girls were a little hesitant and were not on top form in terms of hitting. Unfortunately a bit of bad luck meant Rosabel and Annabel were caught out on their first bat. Grizel tried to liven things up and with a great hit scored a rounder at fourth. Jeanie was also set to score another rounder at fourth but lost her footing and despite a dramatic dive was put out at fourth post. The rest of the team kept going but without making any impact on the score. Amelia made an unlucky hit towards first post and was caught out and this was followed swifly by Grizel being stumped out at first. Mairi and Abigail managed to notch up a few half rounders. Not long after Poppy and Mairi began to take a few calculated risks as the numbers of balls dwindled but were stumped out at second. Sophie and Abigail were the only players left in and the fielding side stumped the box ending our innings with only one good ball to go and 3 1/2 rounders for Belhaven.

It was then our turn to field and excellent bowling by Amelia often took Loretto by surprise. Their girls took a few risks as they were not used to such quick fielding and two players were put out by Mairi at second on their first bat. Grizel was very quick as backstop to pick up and pass the ball. Loretto's strongest player managed to score a few half rounders, but tight fileding put a stop to any further scoring. Sophie Benson made a great catch off fourth base putting another player out and Grizel did the same with lightening reactions for the very next batter. Quick team work between Grizel and Rosabel resulted in another batter being stumped out. We gave away only one half rounder for no balls. Two more players were stumped out by Annabel on third post and Mairi on second and shortly afterwards Loretto ran out of good balls with a score of 1 1/2 rounders.

In the second innings Belhaven's confidence grew and the girls hitting improved. We lost Rosabel early on as she was stumped out at fourth base. She was unfortunely feeling rather unwell and was not on top form and so we had to go on without our star player from last week. We also lost Jeanie who was caught out. Mairi and Abigail again managed to score with a couple of half rounders for no balls and a couple for nice runs. Soon after Amelia was stumped out in a risky run to second, but then Grizel, Mairi and Sophie W-M made some good hits all adding half rounders to our score. Grizel was on great form and scored another half. We lost Mairi with a nice catch by the Loretto team and Poppy with a good catch by their bowler. But then in a final flourish and with the last three bats Grizel and Sophie W-M scored super rounders and Sophie Benson scored another half. The Belhaven girls had scored another 6 1/2 rounders bringing our total to 10.

Loretto had a lot of catching up to do and definitely improved their game in the last innings. They made some good runs and put us under preassure at times, notching up the half rounders. But the girls fielding was superb and they kept their cool. The girls worked as a team with controlled passes to stump the Loretto girls out at the posts and Sophie Benson made another great catch. Three of the Loretto girls left in kept fighting and did show off their skill, but they did not have enough good balls left to make an impact and at the end of the innings they had scored four rounders bringing their total to 5 1/2.

Well done all of you!

Girl of the match: Grizel