The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Teenager Rochea Morley came in and shut down the Lady Stingers’ offence, while her battery mate Takera Collie highlighted the Bommer Gee Lady Operators come-from-behind victory in the bottom of the sixth.

In the match-up between the two women’s teams in their New Providence Softball Association’s season opening debut last night in the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex, the youthful combo of Morley and Collie and the more experienced pair of Tyrice Curry and Lathera Brown helped to spark the Operators as they came from a 13-3 deficit to pull off a stunning 18-15 victory.

“That was really the first time I had the whole team together,” said Martin ‘Pork’ Burrows, manager of the Lady Operators. “We still had one or two players who didn’t make it out because of work commitments. They should be out next week when we play our next game. But the good thing is that we came back. We didn’t give up against the experienced pitching of Thela Johnson (of the Stingers). When I called upon the bench, they came in and produced.”

The Stingers, managed by Kelly Smith and coached by Gary ‘Super’ Johnson and Perry Seymour, had taken an 11-4 lead after scoring seven runs in the top of the first and six more in the second off starter Diva Burrows.

But manager Burrows moved Morley from the designated player role on the mound to replace Burrows and she immediately made an impact as the Lady Operators retired the three batters, sparked by a double play.

That fuelled Bommer Gee offensively as they batted around the clock, putting seven runs on the scoreboard on just four hits off Johnson. Collie started the rally with a RBI ground out and Curry and Brown ended it with a two-run double and a run-producing triple respectively to cut the deficit to 13-11.

The Lady Stingers managed to stay ahead with their 14th run in the fourth on a two-out RBI single from Vonetta Nairn that scored Lashanda Bethel from second on her double and they added their 15th and final run in the sixth as Bethel led off and eventually came home on Thela Johnson’s RBI sacrifice fly.

But down 15-11 going into the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Operators went to work.

With one-out, Shaquille Bain came up with a bases loaded RBI walk as Johnson started to labour on the mound for the Lady Stingers. Curry ripped a two-run shot down the third base line and after Brown was waked, they both got into scoring position on a wild pitch with Curry taking third and Brown moving up to second.

That set the stage for Collie, who hit a rocket to right field, sending Curry and Brown home. On an error as she rounded the bases, Collie then slid into home and almost didn’t touch the base before Lady Stingers’ catcher Randell Cooper attempted to apply the tag. Collie was safe and the Lady Operators celebrated with an 18-15 lead.

All was left was to play defence and Bommer Gee did just that in the seventh.

Collie got Nadia Thompson to ground back out to the mound for the first out. Raquell Cooper singled, but Randell Cooper hit a line shot into the glove of Curry at third, who flipped the ball to Brown at first as they doubled up Raquell Cooper, who couldn’t get back on base in time, to end the marathon game that lasted more than two hours.

The Iradez Panthers played the Sports Centre Dorcy Park Boys in the men’s feature contest, but the score was not available up to press time last night. It was a debut for the two new teams in the league.