The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH they are headed to the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) senior boys’ softball playoffs, there was a lot of bragging rights for the Charles W Saunders Cougars and the Jordan Prince William Falcons.

The two Baptist schools, coached by the Wood brothers - Brad and Brad Sr and Jr (Cougars) and Andre ‘Star’ Wood (Falcons), finally hooked up in the much anticipated showdown.

The match-up, which was postponed earlier in the season, came at the end of the regular season with the Cougars coming out on top with a 23-11 rout yesterday at Flamingo Gardens Park.

While Charles W Saunders improved their second place record to 8-1, the fourth place Jordan Prince Williams dropped to fourth at 6-3. Now the two teams will be out next week when the playoffs get underway to see if they can book each other again in the championship series.

“The guys came out ready to play. We are just getting tuned up for the playoffs,” said Brad Wood Sr after the Cougars’ victory. “I was looking forward to playing against them. “I know the president (Rev Dr William Thompson) said he would like to see the two Baptist schools in the final, so we are trying very hard with the way the format is set up for us to make it happen.”

Based on the league standings, the Falcons are expected to face the pennant winning Nassau Christian Academy Crusaders, while the Cougars are set to take on the defending champions St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine.

“If we can pull it off, it would be a good time having the two schools play each other and brother go up against brother,” said Wood Sr about the possibility of the match-up in the final.

In yesterday’s game, Charles W Saunders broke away from a 3-3 tie in the top of the second inning by exploding for 10 runs on four hits as they batted around the clock to blow the game wide open.

Kristan Fulford sparked the run with a two-run double and he ended it with a run-producing single after Michael Troupe came up with a RBI single as well just ahead of Shorn Davis’ RBI ground out.

Jordan Prince Williams, however, returned the favour by putting six runs of their own on the scoreboard on four hits as well for a 13-9 deficit. In their spurt, Amahj McPhee had a RBI single and Nathaj Miller came through with a two-run in-the-park home run.

The Cougars would again extend their lead, going up 19-9 as they scored six runs in the third, highlighted by a two-run double from Dames as they again batted around the clock.

And they pushed their lead to 23-9 with four more runs in the fourth, thanks to a consecutive RBI single from Van Wood and Michael Troupe and a two-run single from Shorn Davis.

The Falcons managed to make it a little closer when they got two runs in the fourth on bases loaded RBI walks from Othie Newry and Enrique Woodside. But it was a little too late to thwart the game being stopped in the fifth via the 10-run mercy rule.

“Under different circumstances, it would have been a lot more competitive, but in nothing related to the game, I lost my centre fielder, Krisoff Jennings, today and that kind of put a little damper on the team spirit,” Andre Wood said after Jordan Prince Williams’ defeat.

As they prepare for the playoffs, Wood said his Falcons will just have to dig down deep and get ready to play. “I expect for each and every individual to come out and give me their best,” he said. “That’s all I ask, nothing more and nothing less. Just give me your best. When we finish, I want them to say that they gave it their best shot win or lose.”

And as it pertains to the coaching showdown with his sibling, Wood said “that’s my brother and nephew. We just go out there and give it our best. But we try to make it fun doing it.”

Now that they are in the playoffs, both coaches say they would like nothing better than to get the Charles W Saunders and Jordan Prince Williams match-up in the senior boys’ final next week.