The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Alcott Forbes and the pennant winning C&S Hitmen missed another shutout, but they pulled off the three-game sweep to derail the defending champions Commando Security Truckers to secure the New Providence Softball Association men’s championship crown.

The Hitmen, winners of the first two games in the series 8-0 and 5-0, stunned the Truckers 7-1 to complete the sweep in the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sports Complex on Saturday.

“First of all, I want to give God thanks for the sweep,” said manager Darren Stevens. “I was looking for the shutout, but unfortunately they scored a run, but I will take the sweep.”

Forbes, who had fired two consecutive shutouts on two hits and 13 strike outs each in the previous two games of the series, was working on another shutout with a no-hitter through the first six innings when Truckers’ right fielder Teran Wood broke it up with a single into right field.

With one out, third baseman Garfield Bethel went the same way with another single. On a wild pitch they both moved into scoring position.

Then, with two out, Olando McPhee reached safely to first on an error that enabled Wood to scamper home with Commando Security’s first and only run in the series. All Forbes did after that was strike out Eugene Pratt to end the game as the celebrations began for C&S and sponsor Clifford Sands, who brought out the campaign.

“I’m feeling good, I couldn’t feel much better,” said Forbes, who went on to strike out 10 in the clincher to earn the most valuable player award. “It’s a very, very emotional one for me. We had a lot of young guys on the team and they all worked very hard towards this. I promised them that once we stay focused and remain hungry, I will have their back.”

There was another inning when the Truckers threatened to score.

It came in the fifth when Gilbert got on base on an error and moved to second on pitcher Thomas Davis’ walk. Greg Jones came in and pinch ran for Gilbert and got to third on a pass ball. Forbes managed to strike out McPhee and his defence turned the double play on Pratt’s grounder to get Davis attempting to reach second and Pratt at first.

“He got a little upset over an error in right field, so my job was to get him back on track and I knew what I had to say to him to get him back on track,” Stevens said.

“That’s all it was, a little back and forth between me and him, but it wasn’t nothing to worry about.”

Forbes, who wasn’t perturbed at all by what was happening, said he simply asked Stevens to “trust me. He wanted the shutout. So I asked him to stay with me. I will make my pitches. I told him I had him. We didn’t get the shutout, but we got the win. Thank God we are the champions.”

One of those young players, second baseman Philip Johnson led the offensive charge for C&S on Saturday. After right fielder Keiron Munroe opened the bottom of the first frame with a triple to left-centrefield, Johnson drilled a shot over the head of left fielder Ramon Storr that he raced out for a two-run in-the-park home run and a 2-0 lead.

In the third inning, Johnson led off with a triple and came home with the first of three more runs on a passed ball after Forbes got hit by a pitch.

Hosea Hilton added a run-producing single and Michael Ingraham had a RBI sacrifice fly to contribute for the other runs in the rally.

“I was comfortable and I liked the intensity that we brought to the game,” Johnson said. “We came together, we fought hard and we came out with the win.”

In between Johnson’s two splashes, shortstop Dino Sweeting got on base on and error and scored the third run in the second on another. They got their final run as Forbes did the same in the fourth. Thomas admitted that while he cooled off the Hitmen in the final two innings, it was a little too late.

“I felt I pitched pretty good, but our defence and our hitting didn’t show up,” said Thomas, who gave up eight hits on nine strike outs in the loss. “That was a big factor. Knowing that we didn’t hit and play the defence we are capable of playing in the series, I was a little disappointed in our performance.”

Truckers manager Perry Seymour said they just simply played “horrible.”

“We didn’t make any type of adjustment at all,” he said. “Yes, they fight, but the Truckers normally beat a lot of teams by playing smart. We played the opposite this series. We are going to have to look for some players and because of this beating we may have some players who want to join us. If they come, we will welcome them and hopefully do better next year.”

But for now, it’s all about C&S. Sands, who has sponsored a few national champions out of Eleuthera, is the first to come to another island and win and he had nothing but praise for his Hitmen.

“We came through and we got the sweep,” Sands said. “We planned the whole thing from day one and we got the whole cow. We won the pennant and the championship. Now we’re going for the national title. This team is top of the line.”

The national title is the Bahamas Softball Federation’s National Round Robin Tournament that is scheduled to be held this weekend at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex. After getting two thirds of their mission complete, Stevens said they want to get the whole hog when they try to add the national title to their NPSA pennant and championship crowns.

“The talk around Nassau is that we can’t win the round robin, but that’s our objective which we set out from earlier in the year and we’re ready to accomplish what we set out to do,” Stevens said.

As long as the players stay savvy, Forbes said there’s no reason why they should not prevail as national champions too.

“We just have to remember what got us here and don’t get complacent or cocky and we will do it,” he said.

The Hitmen joined the Johnson’s Lady Truckers, who also swept the pennant winning Sunshine Auto Wildcats in three games the previous weekend to earn the right to represent the NPSA at the nationals. As the NPSA closed out its season, president Henry Dean was also in a festive mood as they had a fan appreciation giveaway of drinks and food.