A solo home run from Joel Naughton proved the difference, as Wanderers men won by a solitary run.

Runs were hard to come by in the Mount Isa softball association A-grade match, especially as Wanderers’ Ryan Smith pitched very tightly.

Jarrod Nilsson, Matt Croghan and Frank “the Tank” Long were other standouts for the victorious Wanderers side.

Pirates pitcher Jaymon King also limited Wanderers hits and was well supported by teammates Kevin Richards, Andrew Walden, Tristan Saltmere and Josh Rankine.

In the other A-grade men’s encounter, Rebels fought gallantly but eventually lost 10-5 to a committed Red Devils side.

Phil Horne provided the highlight of the encounter, smashing a ball out of the ground, to almost land on the Barkly Highway, with fans saying that they don’t go that far on holidays.

Red Devils were led by Jayson Morgan, Josh Wagner, James Larkin, ‘‘old man river’’ Jim Worth on the day.

 Despite being low on numbers, with Edith Medwin, Renee Parker and Kristie Munns filling in for Rebels, Matt Hovi, Mark Bellamy and Nathan Denyer proved their class once again.

In the A-reserve men, Wanderers were too strong for Pirates 10-2.

The win was set up by an extraordinary nine-run first innings by the Wanderers, with Jarrod Nilsson, Alex Kostowski, Matt Croghan and Simon Bulgarelli doing most of the damage.

Nathan Drew kept Pirates honest all match, consistently finding base while batting low in the order, as Mitchell Nilsson’s pitching was exceptional restricting Pirates to just two runs.

Huge hits from Kieran Punch and Josh Rankine got the Pirates on the scoreboard, while Jaymon King,  Trystan Saltmere, Bart Walden and Brenton Ah Kit were outstanding in the field.

New player Andrew Strangeways showed great effort and has shown improvement in his first couple of matches.