The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AS long as they continue hitting the ball, centre fielder Tyrice Curry said there's no reason why her Sunshine Auto Wildcats should not be able to wrap up their defence of the New Providence Softball Association ladies' championship crown on Tuesday night.

Coming off their 27-6 massacre on Thursday night, Sunshine Auto secured a 17-5 rout on Saturday night in the Banker's Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex to snatch a commanding 3-1 lead over the Lady Truckers in game four of the best-of-seven championship series.

"We're playing as a championship team. On Tuesday, we just have to put it together and make sure the bats keep coming around and don't give up," said Curry, who made her contribution in the game as the second batter in the line-up, going 3-for-5 with a run batted in (RBI) and scored twice. "We should have been ending it tonight, but Tuesday, we will do it. I'm just confident in our bats."

Although they faced an unexpected reinforcement from the Lady Truckers with collegian Valencia Gibson returning home for the weekend to pitch and give workhorse Diva Burrows some much-needed rest, the Lady Wildcats still went wild, producing 10 hits.

But it was the first inning when her defence allowed Sunshine Auto to score eight runs that ruined Gibson's surprise appearance on the mound.

"It was great. I wanted to give my team a chance to get back into the series and I tried my best," said Gibson, a junior at the University of Central Arkansas minoring in exercise science. "I hope moving forward they would excel and bring the title home."

Unfortunately, she won't be available for what could be the finale on Tuesday night as Burrows should get the ball with a couple days rest. Like they did in game two, the Lady Truckers, however, will have to find a way to get some runs off Lady Wildcats' mainstay Thela Johnson.

Johnson, who was 1-for-4 offensively, scoring three times, held the Lady Truckers to six hits with 10 strike outs. Johnson worked herself out of two big jams in the third and fifth with a strike out on third sacker Aurelia Russell to kill the rallies that resulted in two runs each. Russell got their only other run in the second with two out when she tripled and scored on an error.

Shevette Taylor went 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored and Crystal Eneas had a RBI single and a run scored to lead the attack for the Lady Truckers. But coach Mario Ford admitted that they simply made too many errors like they did in game three that made the difference in the outcome.

"We were flat tonight. We didn't have any energy and we didn't play with any intensity," Ford pointed out. "You're in a championship. It's no tomorrow. We have to win every game as you go along and try to keep it a series. But right now, we're not playing as the team we are capable of playing.

"We're making too many defensive mistakes. The pitcher is not pitching bad. We're just not making the plays behind them. Tonight we didn't do anything. We were just here. Once the players come on time and we can put the best line-up out there, we can have a chance of making a series of it. But the way we are playing like this, we won't be making a series of it."

The Lady Wildcats, managed by Anthony Bullard, showed that they meant business, adding to their eight-run first inning by scoring three more in the second and two in the third, fifth and seventh. They didn't score in the fourth and sixth.

All of their batters had at least five plate appearances with centre fielder Lashonda Bethel pacing the attack with a 4-for-5 outing three runs scored. Regular season batting champion and shortstop Larikah Russell went 2-for-5 with a RBI and three runs scored and first sacker Chryshan Percentie was 3-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored with pinch runner Shavonne Dames getting another.

Right fielder Michesia Davis had a pair of hits as well and ended up coming home twice to help out.