The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE stage is now set for the Bahamas Softball Federation’s 2013 National Round Robin and Championship series.

It’s scheduled for the weekend of October 31 to November 3 at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex and will feature six men and five ladies teams from the affiliated island associations in the federation.

This year, the federation will honour veteran Grand Bahamian catcher Nell Russell, Eleuthera native pitcher Reggie ‘the Juicer’ Knowles and manager Alphonso ‘Chicken’ Albury during what is being dubbed ‘The Prime Minister’s Cup.’

The men’s division will be represented by Abaco, Andros, Grand Bahama, New Providence, Spanish Wells, Eleuthera and Exuma. The ladies will have teams competing from Abaco, Andros, Grand Bahama, New Providence and Spanish Wells.

Federation president Burkett Dorsett said they are anticipating a great weekend of fastpitch competition in both divisions. “From what I’ve seen from the last couple of weeks in going around the Family Islands, I think we will have a very competitive tournament, especially in the men’s division at the round robin this time around,” Dorsett said.

“We have Edney (Bethel) in Freeport, we have Alcott (Forbes) in New Providence and we have three good pitchers in the Abaco league and Exuma is having an exciting championship series, so we expect some great competition in the men’s division.”

On the ladies’ side of the coin, Dorsett said Grand Bahama will always be a challenge, but he anticipates that New Providence will be making just as much noise as they contend for the championship title.

He noted that based on what he has seen from the other teams, they are all very young, which should provide the type of competition that the two powerhouses will need if they are going to stay on top of the field.

Dorsett anticipates that this would be a power-packed weekend as the federation always intend to honour some of their veteran players, who have helped to put the Bahamas on the map in softball in the past.

“We expect a tremendous crowd this time around,” he said. “We are looking forward to some of the veteran players coming back to the park to be honoured, as well as some of the stalwart managers and coaches, who have been a part of our success in the past.”

As usual, the federation will play a round robin format in both divisions with the top two teams advancing to play for the championship title.

Three games will get the tournament started on opening day on Thursday, October 31 at 7pm. On Friday, November 1, four more games will be played, starting at 6pm. However, the official opening ceremonies will be staged at 7pm when the various players will be honoured for their contribution to the game.

The action is scheduled to resume on Saturday, November 2 at 10am with games being played simultaneously on three fields and will run through the remainder of the day. Sunday, November 3 is medal games, starting with the bronze for third place and ending with the gold for the winners.

NOTE: Just before the National Round Robin is played, the BSF is all set to hold its annual Austin Knowles National High School Softball Tournament at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex. The event for senior high school boys and girls is scheduled to run from Thursday to Sunday.

The federation, however, has not yet released the official list of teams participating and the schedule of games to be played.