The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

DAY two of the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) sudden death softball playoffs saw the St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine clinch berths to the championship series in several divisions.

The Big Red Machine’s junior boys were the first to advance with a hard fought 4-2 win over the St Andrew’s Hurricanes in the opener yesterday at the Freedom Farm Baseball League Complex in Yamacraw.

After a pair of scoreless innings, the Big Red Machine struck first on the scoreboard when Perez Burrows scored on a wild pitch.

Terico Sweeting would follow with an RBI single to plate Patrick Hepburn and take a 2-0 lead in the inning.

The Hurricanes left two runners stranded faced against a stout Big Red Machine defence that was on pace for a shutout until the latter portion of the final inning.

In the fourth, SAC would go ahead 3-0 when Tyler Munroe stole home and would score their final run of the game in the top of the fifth when Jude Smith’s RBI would plate Sweeting to take a 4-0 lead.

The Hurricanes mounted a late rally in the bottom of the fifth with two outs remaining.

Alex Sanders’ single drove home Luke Thompson for the first St Andrew’s run of the game and they would score on a wild pitch shortly after.

Yesterday’s defensive struggle was a complete turnaround from the high scoring 17-9 win the Hurricanes scored over the Big Red Machine in the season opener.

A groundout ended the Hurricanes’ run as SAC earned their first championship appearance under new head coach  Je’Vaughn Saunders.

“We came in with the plan to be aggressive at bat and on the bases and execute. We did that and we were able to come out with the win. It’s a pretty good feeling. At SAC we have a legacy of striving for excellence so that’s what I try to do as a coach, that’s what they do as players and even our fans, that’s what they try to do,” Saunders said. In the championship the best team will win. We’ll come out, try to be as aggressive as possible, but smart. Again once we execute we should be fine.”

This sets up a matchup between the Big Red Machine and the Queen’s College Comets who advanced with a 10-7 upset win over the NCA Crusaders.

In the junior girls’ division, the Big Red Machine earned the right to compete for their third consecutive title with a 14-4 win over the Kingsway Academy Saints.

In the finale they will face the team that handed them their only loss of the season, the pennant winning NCA Crusaders.

St Augustine’s College coach Vernice Russell said they got the win, but there is still room left for improvement if they look to repeat.

“We had a plan and we executed the plan and it flowed pretty well for us. We showed some improvement, we still need to work on a few things and I’m sure we will have those completed and ready in time for the championship,” she said. “We had a great season, we lost only one game, but in these few days we are going to work on the things we need to work on with energy, with vigour and we plan to take the championship. During the regular season, NCA defeated us but of course we learned from that, we made the adjustments we need to make and they cannot rest on their laurels because we are ready.”

Results of the matchups in the senior divisions were unavailable up to press time last night.

The championships in all four divisions are set for 4pm Monday at Freedom Farm in Yamacraw.