The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After getting blown out by 14 runs in game six, the Sigma Brackettes returned the favour, almost shutting out the pennant winning Proper Care Pool Lady Sharks as they pulled off an 11-1 victory to regain the New Providence Softball Association (NPSA) ladies’ championship that they last held back in 2009.

And in the men’s finale (see the full story in Thursday Sports), the pennant winning Arnette’s Sporting Lounge Hitmen got a 5-4 victory over the Andre Gardiner Construction Buccaneers in the deciding Game 7 last night to join the Brackettes as NPSA champions. The most valuable player was Jameko Sands, Alcott Forbes was the winning pitcher and Deval Storr the losing pitcher.

Ernestine Stubbs went the distance, firing a five-hit performance, and ironically, most valuable player Zella Symonette, her daughter Kenese Symonette, Shervette Taylor, Ann Bullard and Krystal Delancy were all 2-for-4 as the Brackettes produced a 14-hit parade off losing pitcher Alex Gabriel to complete a 4-3 decision in the best-of-seven series.

“We worked hard all year for this, but after letting them come back and tie the series, it showed our heart,” said manager Mario Ford, as he broke out the championship shirts to mark the festive moment on the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

“My hats off to Bishop (Stephen Beneby) and the Sharks. They played a hell of a series. They never gave up. That’s the way championship ball is played. It’s just that we were the better team in the series.”

The series, which was decided by just one run in the previous five games, far exceeded the expectations of many by going the distance. But nobody expected the two explosive showings by the two teams in the respective games six and seven. When it counted the most, Ford said it was clear that his Brackettes wanted it the most.

They broke up a scoreless first two innings to put three runs on the scoreboard in the top of the third, highlighted by third sacker Shervette Taylor’s two-run double. They added four more in the fourth as they extended their lead to 7-0, thanks to a back-to-back RBI single from Zella Symonette and a RBI double from Shervette Taylor.

After leaving Marissa Burrows and Keisha Miller stranded in scoring positions in the fourth, the Lady Sharks finally broke their scoring drought in the fifth as Rochea Morley led off with a double and scooted home on Shonte Cargill’s bunt RBI single to trim the deficit to 7-1.

That seemed to have only fuelled the Brackettes as they responded with another run in the sixth as Bullard singled and raced all the way home on an error in right field.

If that wasn’t enough, the Brackettes tacked three more runs on the scoreboard in the seventh as they got consecutive singles from Kenese Symonette and Shequel Smith. With one-out, Delancey and Bullard knocked in the two runners on their RBI single, one after the other.

And to ensure that there was no final comeback, Stubbs got the first Lady Sharks batters out before she walked Cargill. But on a fly ball from Daria Cambridge that could have caused some trouble, Shequel Smith caught the ball, dropping on one knee as the Brackettes got the final out of the game.

And the celebrations began.

“It feels good. Words can’t desribe how I feel,” said Zella Symonette. “All I told the girls, every game we played, it was a one-run victory. Only the last game they blew us out for whatever reason. But I told the girls tonight, we have to go out and do this. We have the girls and we can do it and we did.”

Symonette, who anchored the defence on the field in shortstop, did her part as she finished10-for-21 for a .476 batting average with eight runs scored and eight RBI to earn the MVP honours. Holding up the trophy as she couldn’t hold back her excitement, she noted that it was a team effort.

“I wasn’t really looking for it. I was just playing hard every game,” she said. “Every one of us played hard. It could have been anyone of us. It just so happens that it was me.”

Honourable mention should be given to Stubbs, who carried the pitching load, even though she got some help from Ashanti Darville.

“First of all, I have to give thanks to God above, our manager and our sponsor, Sigma Enterprise,” she said. “I told my team this is it. Either we win it, or we go home. I told them you hit and I will pitch. The circle was mine. I pitched and they played behind me. I played to my best and I have to say thank you Lord, thank you Lord.”

Stubbs said she wasn’t concerned at all because she knew once they hit the ball, it was going to be difficult for the Lady Sharks to beat them.

After the loss, Beneby said the Brackettes were that much better than his Lady Sharks.

“The better team won. They were a better team than us tonight,” he said. “No regrets.”

Beneby said they just have to regroup and “come back next year bigger and better.”

But third sacker Tericka Munroe admitted that they didn’t expect the outcome.

“I really don’t know. We came out with 17 runs in the last game and we just scored one tonight. I find that so hard to believe,” she said. “It seemed like we just broke down under the pressure. But except for our last game, we didn’t hit at all in this series. It’s disappointing, but then again it’s not.

“We came from a 2-0 deficit and 3-1 and we still took them to seven games. So we don’t have anything to feel bad about. But it’s a bitter feeling to end up the way we did, only scoring one run in the final game.”

While Proper Care Pool will now have to wait until next year, the Sigma Brackettes will now prepare to represent the NPSA in the Bahamas Softball Federation’s National Round Robin Tournament next weekend at the same park that they celebrated on last night.