The Tribune

BOTH Golden Gates and St Paul’s stepped their game up as the Baptist Sports Council kicked off its 2014 Coca-Cola Softball Classic postseason play in the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex on Saturday night.

In a rematch of last year’s final, Golden Gates didn’t waste any time as they pounded St John’s 13-3 via the 10-run rule to start their co-ed best-of-three playoffs.

Game two is set for 7pm on Thursday.

St Paul’s, turning things around after a dismal showing in the regular season, was a little too much for Faith United to handle as they prevailed with an impressive 18-8 rout.

Game two is scheduled to be played 8pm Thursday.

• Here’s a summary of the double header:

Golden Gates 13, St John’s 3

Ken Wood Jr belted a two-run homer to score the final two runs to signal the end of game one of their series in the bottom of the third.

Golden Gates had an explosive 10-run first inning for a 10-0 lead and it was just a matter of what the final score would be after they extended their lead to 11-0 after the second inning.

Wood Jr, the winning pitcher, helped his own cause by adding a solo homer in the first. His battery mate, catcher Candice Smith, was 2-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored. Sherman Ferguson and Richard Bain were both 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run and two runs scored respectively. Jeannette Hilton had a two-run triple, scoring a run and Anthon Rolle was 2-for-2 with two runs scored.

Davin Duncombe and Donnette Edwards both were 2-for-2 with a RBI, scoring a run for St John’s. Ishmael Thompson was tagged with the loss.

St Paul’s 18, Faith United 8

Putting out their best offensive attack, St Paul’s ripped 16 hits to easily rattle the men’s pennant winning Faith United.

Addie Finley Jr was 3-for-3 with five runs scored, Lamar Watkins was 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored, Deval Storr was 2-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored and Zhivargo Archer had the lone home run - a two-run shot - for his only hit to lead the parade.

Peter Rahming was the winning pitcher and Moses Johnson suffered the loss.

Philip Johnson had a perfect 4-for-4 night, scoring three runs, Stenard Duncombe was 2-for-4 with a run scored, Daniel Cash was 2-for-4 with three RBI and Stephen Duncombe and David Cash were both 2-for-3.

The other halves of the playoffs are scheduled to be played tonight with the following match-ups:

Tuesday

7pm - St Paul’s vs

Macedonia (co-ed)

8pm - Golden Gates vs

Macedonia (Men)