The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE championship matchups in the junior division are set and some familiar opponents will face off once again to decide Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary School Softball titles.

In the junior boys, the St Augustine's College Big Red Machine will face the NCA Crusaders and in junior girls the Big Red Machine will take on the Queen's College Comets.

SAC's junior boys advanced yesterday with a 12-2 win over the Comets in the second semi-final.

Tyler Munroe was dominant at the plate and pitched a complete game with four strikeouts. He also went 2-3 at the plate and scored four runs. Malik Foster was 1-1 with 2 RBI and two runs scored and Joshua Miller was 1-2 with two RBI.

SAC took a 5-0 lead through two innings, highlighted by Munroe's three RBI double. The Comets had two men on but a bunt hit into a double play ended the inning. The Comets scored their only runs of the game in the third inning, on a wild pitch, and one on a fielding error. Miller responded for the Big Red Machine with a two-RBI double to take an 8-2 lead and the Comets were unable to threaten in the later innings.

"Considering the work the guys put in this is a very good feeling," SAC head coach Michael Adderley said. "Every year the guys work hard, we get a lot of new talent and we have to develop, sometimes it's hard but this is what we fight for every year. It's a long tradition to have all the teams in the championship and we don't want to make this year any exception."

They advance to face the Crusaders in the final. Led by talented ace Norman Basden, they scored a 9-6 win over the CW Saunders Cougars in the other semifinal.

"We have to be tough because their pitcher has been shown to be one of the better pitchers in the league, in fact may be the best pitcher in the league," Adderley said, "But one of the things I know is that good hitting always beats good pitching. As long as we continue to field and hit like we have been hitting all year we will be fine."

The Comets fared better in the Junior Girls matchup and withstood a late rally from the Cougars to take a 23-16 win in extra innings.

Faced with a deficit that reached as much as 10 runs in the second inning, the Cougars clawed their way back into the game to tie the game at 16 at the end of the fifth inning.

The Comets offense came alive in the sixth inning and put the game away with their highest-scoring inning of the game.

"I just told the girls to believe in themselves, play hard, give it their all and just synergise on the field. We know we have a good team the girls just need to believe in themselves, give it their best try and they did and I'm so proud of them," Comets Head Coach Sandra Hobbs said, "Our pitching was a bit off and we gave up quite a few runs so we will work on that for championship series."

QC took a 6-0 lead over the Cougars through two innings and the lead ballooned to 10-0 before CW Saunders scored their first run of the game. They tacked on two additional runs and trailed 10-4 heading into the third. QC regained the 10 run advantage, 14-4, but the Cougars continued to cut into the deficit in the bottom half of the inning. CWS entered the fourth trailing 14-8 but still trailed by three runs headed into the fifth after both teams traded runs.

The Comets will face the Big Red Machine who advanced on Monday with a 20-5 win over the Kingsway Academy Saints.

Championship series in all four divisions begin Monday, November 13 at the Freedom Farm Complex in Yamacraw.