The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE St Andrew’s Hurricanes got some sweet revenge as they pulled off their second straight victory in the junior boys’ division of the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools 2015 softball league.

Following their 17-9 rout over the defending champions St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine on Tuesday at SAC, St Andrew’s travelled to Queen’s College on Thursday where they held off the Comets 5-4 in a rematch of last year’s playoffs. The Comets eliminated the Hurricanes in the semi-final playoffs.

“The boys are getting what they deserve. They have been working hard in practice and it’s showing in their results,” said St Andrew’s coach Yiorgo Coyle. “But we’re not going to be content until the end of the season when we can win the championship.”

But Coyle said yesterday’s win over last year’s runners-up Comets has given them a lot of confidence, even though it turned out to be a closer encounter than their match-up against SAC.

“QC were the ones who knocked us out of the playoffs last year, which was very disappointing,” he recalled. “Today it was a chance for us to prove who is the better team going into this year’s season, so I’m glad that we were able to pull through. It’s good to get that second win under your belt.”

Coyle, however, admitted that it wasn’t an easy walk in the park.

The Hurricanes came out blowing up a storm, taking a quick 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, sparked by a shot to left by Owen Taylor that turned out to be an error, scoring two runners on base. Kristian Robinson followed with a shot to the same area for a two-run home run, picking up Taylor.

St Andrew’s threatened to score at least one more run, but eventually left Alex Saunders stranded on third after he walked and Queen’s College got the next three batters out.

The Comets came right back in the bottom of the frame and put two runs on the scoreboard, ignited by a two-run double from Damal Sands that plated Loren Williams and Tristen Hanna. They came within one (4-3) with another run in the second on Nijai Ambrister’s run-producing single that sent Ajai Hanna home from second after he singled.

Robinson, the 6-1, 14-year-old ace pitcher helped his own cause again in the third when he got to first on a lead of error by Armbrister, stole second, got to third on a passed ball and scampered home with St Andrew’s fifth run on a one-out RBI single from Aidan Clarke.

St Andrew’s had a golden opportunity to put the game out of reach in the fifth when Alex Saunders singled, stole second, Nicholas Colclough had a one-out single and Aaron Forbes drew a two-out walk to lead the bases. Damian Flowers went down with the final out.

That gave Queen’s College some breathing room as they responded in the bottom of the frame with Nijai Armbrister leading off with a triple, catching a ride home on Loren Williams’ RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-4. But it remained that way as Robinson held the Comets’ bats in check the rest of the inning.

“That’s the beauty of sports. You get your heart rating going,” said Coyle about the close call down the stretch. “We’re just happy that we came out with the win.”

Despite the loss, Comets’ coach Garry Markham said they had to get the rust off, playing for the first time this year.

“We had a few holes. I was disappointed with some of our players who can actually play. I expected more from the bat from them. We had a few errors,” he said. “St Andrew’s beat SAC and so it’s very hard to gauge the level that we have. But if that’s what the level is with St Andrew’s and SAC, which are usually the top two teams, I think we can compete with them.

“We need to be tight with our pitching in order to compete with the top level. We are not tight there yet, but hopefully we will get there.

“Overall, I was pleased with the first game, but disappointed that we lost. I was expecting worse, but we have some young players, three grade sevens starting. We’re just lacking some experience, but we hope to get better as the season progresses.”