The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Sigma Wildcats, with an explosive fifth inning and a home run in both the sixth and seventh innings, finally closed out the New Providence Softball Association’s Carl ‘Bang Bang’ Johnson series as ladies’ champions.

The Wildcats, who blew a 2-0 lead at the start of the best-of-seven series, out-slugged the Sigma Brackettes 18-12 in game six last night to secure the title with a 4-2 advantage.

“We wanted to close it out the other night but Mario (Ford) and coach (Bobby) Baylor (Fernander) are two hard coaches, so it was hard to beat them,” said Wildcats’ manager Anthony Bullard.

“Me, Spurgeon (Johnson) and Hyacinth (Farrington) gave it our best and fortunately, we came out on top.”

Bullard said after failing to close out the series on Sunday night when they lost in nine innings, they regrouped and decided that if their players were not prepared to win Monday night, then they should stay home.

With a more determined effort, the Wildcats came from a 9-6 deficit in the fifth to produce eight runs on just three hits to take an insurmountable 14-9 lead.

If that wasn’t enough, most valuable player Jeannette Hilton erupted for a two-out two-run in-the-park home run in the sixth and Khatrel Dorsett put the icing on the cake with a solo homer in a two-run seventh.

All that was left was for injured ace pitcher Mary ‘Cruise’ Sweeting to close the door in the bottom of the seventh.

After she gave up consecutive runs to Krystal Delancey and Zella Symonette on a RBI single from Shervette Taylor and a RBI ground out from Ruthann Simms, Sweeting’s defence backed her up as Vonetta Nairn came through with a double play and caught a line drive from Amariage Taylor to end the game.

“Tonight, I think we played a terrific game. We knew we had to come out and win this game tonight,” said Sweeting, who came in relief in the fourth for starter Shonell Symonette for the win.

“The previous games we played, we were supposed to win, but I told my team that we had to do it. I didn’t want to play a game seven because a lot of us were hurting.”

The Brackettes gave it their best shot after taking the Wildcats to the limit in the last three games over the weekend. Centre fielder Krystal Delancey, who had a pair of triples with a RBI and scoring a run, said they don’t have anything to feel ashamed about.

“I was proud of the way my girls played in this series,” she said. “Earlier in the season, we didn’t beat the Wildcats, but we came in the championship and fought back. We were still in the series, but they came out on top.”

After taking the lead by scoring a run in the first, two in the second, four in the third and three in the fourth, manager Mario Ford said it was disappointing that his Brackettes were not able to hold off the Wildcats.

“We didn’t play as hard and as well as we should have played,” he said. “I have to take my hat off to Ernestine (Stubbs). Ernestine has been the mainstay for the team and she has been pitching for years, but we really didn’t play behind her.

As the defending champions, Ford said they had to come back and prove their worth, but the Wildcats wanted it more than them after they made too many mistakes late in the game.

The series will probably finally end the career for Stubbs, who went down giving up 13 hits. Ford, however, said his Brackettes didn’t win and so they will have to go back to the drawing board and regroup for next year.

In the meantime, the Wildcats will take the next two days off to heal their bruised and battered players before they get ready for the start of the Bahamas Softball Federation’s National Round Robin Championships.

The Wildcats will join the men’s champions Arnette’s Sporting Lounge Hitmen, who will represent the NPSA in the tournament that starts on Thursday night against the championship teams from Abaco, Andros, Eleuthera and Grand Bahama.