The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Sigma Brackettes got their wish.

They asked for the Proper Care Pool Lady Sharks to be their opponents in the New Providence Softball Association ladies best-of-seven championship series and they got the pennant winners.

Tuesday night at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex, the Lady Sharks avenged their loss in game three of their semifinal playoff series against the Sigma Wildcats by pulling off a 21-11 triumph to book their trip to the finals slated to start Thursday night.

They did it by scoring in all but the fifth inning, pulling away from a 14-11 advantage to produce three runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to ensure that they didn’t give the Wildcats another life to come back for a fifth and deciding game.

The Lady Sharks wrapped up the series with a 3-1 deficit and nobody was more happy than manager Stephen ‘Bishop’ Beneby. “Mentally it was frustrating because I thought we were going to sweep them,” Beneby said. “Be as it may, four games, now we are ready to go into the championship.”

And if the Brackettes think that they have chalk, Beneby advised them otherwise. “They have to like their chances against us. We are ready,” he said. “All we have to do is go out there and what Proper Care usually does - hit and pitch. Our defence will be solid and once our offence comes around, we will be solid.”

As for all the trash-talking from the Brackettes that they want “Bishop,” Beneby had this to say: “Tell them they better come put up or shut up. That’s all I have to say.”

For mainstay Alex Gabriel, it was a struggle on the mound, but she said she’s committed to the task. Even at the beginning of the game when the Wildcats argued about her wearing a visor on her head, she took it off and told the umpires not to worry about it, she will play without it.

On the field, Gabriel and the Lady Sharks had three difficult innings against the Wildcats as they scored four runs in the bottom of the first, two in the third and five in the fourth. But after shutting them down in the fifth, sixth and seventh, she knew that they were not going to come back to win as they did in game three.

“We know when we come out here, we have to play hard because ain’t nobody giving you nothing,” she said. “So if you don’t hit the ball, they can’t take hits away from you, so I told them tonight that they have to come out and hit the ball.”

Gabriel has already made up her mind that she has to pitch because there’s nobody else in the dugout to go to. “I intend to do my best and once they put the runs up, I will try my best to pitch behind therm,” she said.

That was the case last night. Her team-mates gave her the runs and she delivered on the mound.

Proper Care Pool scored in every inning except the fifth. They got two in the first, six in the second, two in the third, four in the fourth, three in the sixth and four in the seventh as they stopped the Wildcats each time they threatened,

Trekia Munroe, the third sacker batting third in the line-up, went 4-for-6 with two RBI and two runs. Daria Cambridge, who made a superb catch in centrefield to stop a potential Wildcats’ run in the second, was 3-for-6 with three RBI and four runs.

Designated player Rochea Morley, batting ninth in the line-up, made her presence felt as she went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs. Tia Deal, the second sacker who combined with first sacker Kelly Smith to put the icing on the cake defensively in the seventh. was also 2-for-5 with three runs scored.

And with Smith scoring a run all the way from second on an error, you just knew that the Lady Sharks were on a roll.

Mary ‘Cruise’ Edgecombe was tagged with the loss.

In a limited attack offensively, shortstop Jeanine Wallace went 2-for-3 with two walks, drove in two runs and scored twice. Donnette Edwards was 2-for-5 with three runs scored.

Manager Anthony Bullard said the way they played, there was no way they could win. “We gave them a run in the early part of the game. After that, we made too many errors,” he said. “When you have more than seven errors, there’s no way that you are going to win. The pitcher was helping us out, but we made too many errors.

“I couldn’t look into the dugout because there was no one there to bring in. We called on someone to go in, but they just stayed in their corner. Next year, we just have to go much younger.”