The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

After two days of sudden death playoff rounds, championship series are all set to conclude the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ softball season next week.

Both the junior boys’ and girls’ divisions will be decided between the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine and the St Andrew’s Hurricanes.  

In the junior boys’ division, the Hurricanes stormed into the final series with a 12-6 win over the QC Comets yesterday at the Freedom Farm baseball field. They will advance to face the Big Red Machine who took a 16-6 win over the CW Saunders Cougars on Tuesday.

Hurricanes manager David Sweeting said his team is looking forward to an opportunity for a rematch with the Big Red Machine.

“We’re looking forward to it and we’re excited. It doesn’t matter, we prepared so we are ready for whoever we have to take on,” he said. “We just came out, did what we know how to do. The guys here have been playing baseball and softball for years, they just put it all together and put everything they had into this game.”

The Comets, at 8-2, finished a game ahead of the Hurricanes in the standings at 7-3.

Queen’s College took a 3-2 lead in the second inning, but the Hurricanes would score the equaliser on the top of the third on an RBI single from Nagge Osburne.

Tied at three heading into the fourth, the Hurricanes put the game away with a dominant nine-run inning to take command for good.

“Heading into that inning I just told them we have to do it now. We couldn’t wait. All season long anytime we didn’t take advantage of an opportunity right away, bad things happened so we were just ready to take over right then and there,” Sweeting said.

“We came off two good innings where we were able to tie the score and then hold them without a run, so the momentum was on our side and we were able to take advantage.”

After a walk, pitcher Kristian Robinson helped his own cause with a single. Dylan Knowles followed with an RBI double to plate the go-ahead score for the Hurricanes at 4-3.

Robinson scored the following play on a wild pitch for a two- run lead and it was extended to four when Scott Roberts drove in two RBI with a bases loaded double. They ended the inning with a 12-3 lead and held on after three late runs by the Comets.

In the final, the Big Red Machine look to continue their recent dominance in the division. The defending champions enter the series with an undefeated 10-0 regular season record.

In junior girls’ play, the Big Red Machine took a 12-2 decision over the Comets yesterday to advance to the championship series. They will face the pennant winning undefeated Hurricanes, who finished the regular season at 7-0.

The Hurricanes blanked the CW Saunders Cougars, 10-0, in Tuesday’s semifinal.

The Hurricanes look to rebound from last year’s loss in the championship series when they fell in two games to the Comets. SAC finished second in the division at 6-1.

Yesterday’s junior girls’ win assured the Big Red Machine would place a team in each of the four championship series.

Both the pennant winning senior boys and girls advanced to the finals with lopsided wins Tuesday.

The senior boys won 19-4 over the NCA Crusaders and the girls took a 22-4 win over the Comets.

Results of the other half of the senior semifinal brackets were unavailable up to press time.

The Cougars took on the St Anne’s Blue Waves in senior boys, while the Hurricanes looked to have their third team with a championship appearance when they took on the Kingsway Saints.

The championship series in each division will begin Monday, November 11, with juniors at 4pm.

Game twos are set for Wednesday, November 13 and game threes (if necessary) Thursday, November 14.