The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bommer G Truckers fell short of winning the Bahamas Softball Federation men’s national title last year. But this year, manager Perry Seymour has acquired the service of Edney “The Heat” Bethel, whom he’s hoping will enable them to give sponsor Bommer George one of the two titles at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex this weekend.

The other one is expected to come from the Bommer G Lady Operators, who will join the Truckers to represent New Providence in the round robin that is slated to start tonight and run through Sunday.

Should the Truckers and the Operators complete the sweep, it will be a delightful weekend for Bommer George as he and his company will be inducted into the BSF’s 2012 Hall of Fame. This year’s class will comprise of more than 30 persons and sponsors, who will be inducted during the ceremonies set for the official opening Friday night.

Seymour, who guided the Truckers to the title two years ago, wants to regain their position as the national champions again. “We’re getting there, but we had about two weeks lay off and we had some bad weather so we couldn’t get in as much practice as we would have liked,” said Seymour, whose Truckers completed a two-game sweep of arch-rivals Dorin United Hitmen in a keenly contested match-up to repeat as the NPSA champions.

“The more we play, the stronger we get so we just have to hold our own until we get some games in.”

Despite not getting in sufficient practice, Seymour said their intention is to go into the round robin and not take any team for granted, or they could once again miss out on the golden opportunity to win the title.

The one that they have on their side is Bethel. The last time the Eleuthera native, who has played on teams from various islands, played with the Truckers, they won the national crown. Seymour is hoping that Bethel will once again make the difference in whether or not they are champions.

“That’s what we’re planning on. That’s our goal, but we have to do what we always do, take it one game at a time,” he said. “We don’t want to look ahead and you get beat.”

In addition to Bethel, the Truckers have also acquired the services of Eugene Pratt, who has mostly played third base. Pratt, however, is expected to join the Mortimer brothers to provide the assistance on the mound for the reliable Bethel. On both the offensive and defensive attack, the Truckers have the Wood clan in Marvin and Terran Wood, the Johnson brothers in Jamal and Ramon and Van ‘Lil Joe’ Johnson, Ramon Storr and Olando McPhee, just to name a few.

“Everybody’s okay,” Seymour said.

Their only concern is what type of team they will face from Abaco, led by national team pitcher Freddie ‘the Skipper’ Cornish, who many are predicting will surpass both Grand Bahama and Eleuthera and be the sleeper in the tournament.

“I understand Spanish Wells is bringing a team too, but I don’t know how they look,” Seymour said. “But we know that Abaco right now seems to be the strongest team to beat. Of course, we’re not counting out Grand Bahama and Eleuthera because if we sleep on them, we could get beat.”

All eyes will definitely be on New Providence, especially in the women’s division where the Operators, managed by Mario Ford, are gearing up for another classic showdown with Grand Bahama.

The Operators also strengthened their pitching department during the off season when they acquired Sharnell Symonette from the dethroned national champions Proper Care Pool Lady Sharks. She was also to compliment ace Desiree Taylor as they too completed a sweep of the NPSA title over the first year Lady Hitmen.

It’s not known if the Operators will have the service of Tyrice Curry, who has played exceptionally well this year as one of their lead off batters and defenders. Curry was recently treated for her appendix, so it’s not known if she has fully recovered to resume play. If she doesn’t, they still have two veterans in Neressa Seymour and Vantrice Bowleg to rely on.

The big question is: Will this be another sweet weekend for Bommer George to celebrate? It’s all up to the Truckers and the Lady Operators and how well they play against the competition coming in from their Family Island rivals.