The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

With another impressive showing, the Sunshine Auto Wildcats proved that they are simply the best ladies’ team in the New Providence Softball Association, repeating as champions last night.

Not even a well rested Diva Burrows or an early 2-0 lead by her Johnson’s Lady Truckers was enough to stop the Lady Wildcats from celebrating a 16-6 rout on three explosive five-run innings in the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

In the end, Sunshine Auto handed sponsor Deanza ‘Sonny’ Cox a 4-1 series win over the Lady Truckers as they hosted a party to close out what has been an impressive year for the defending champions and pennant winners.

“This feels better than the first one I must say,” said a proud Cox, who got dosed with champagne as they celebrated on the field. “This year, we had some really good girls and trust me, they loved it.

“From we started practicing before we cut the team, we realised that all of us were on one accord, we wanted the victory and we played for it. From game to game, we fought and here we are champions, 2017 and 2018 repeat champions.”

Cox couldn’t say it any better, but he watched as the Lady Wildcats put up a splendid performance to once again prove why they are the best ladies’ team in the NPSA.

Mainstay Thela Johnson was masterful from the mound, giving up six hits. After giving up two runs in the top of the first, highlighted by left fielder Theota Johnson’s RBI ground out, the Lady Truckers started their own celebrations and Johnson went to work.

The league’s best pitcher this year held the Lady Truckers in check for the next two innings and it wasn’t until the fourth when Dawayna Pratt got a RBI fielder’s choice that drove in the third run.

Then in the sixth, the Lady Truckers got their final three runs, thanks to a two-run single from catcher Jireh Sturrup.

But Johnson said enough was enough and she shut down the Lady Truckers again in the seventh as the celebrations began.

“There was a lot of haters pulling against this team and they didn’t want me to come to the Wildcats because they knew what was going to happen,” said Johnson, who took over from the retired Mary ‘Cruise’ Sweeting.

“I’m going to love myself tonight with my team and enjoy this championship and work a little harder for next year on one or two things and one or two positions so we can win it again.”

As if they didn’t have it all together this year, the Lady Wildcats ripped out 12 hits and had three explosive five-run innings in the second, third and sixth off Diva Burrows, the losing pitcher.

Third sacker Ruthann Simms had a run-producing triple and centrefielder LaShonda Bethel added a two-run single to spark the first big rally.

As they batted around the clock in the third, second sacker Rebecca Moss and left fielder Tyrice Curry both had a RBI sacrifice fly and Bethel capped it off with another two-run single.

And as they put the nail in the coffin in the sixth, Curry came up with a RBI single and league batting champion Larikah Russell had a two-run double.

For good measure, Moss led off the fourth on an error that placed her at first and pinch runner Daria Cambridge eventually scored their other run.

However they got it, manager Anthony Bullard said they will cherish it just as they did last year. “This one feels better than last year,” he stated. “This year we had to let some girls go to bring in some youngsters to keep the team growing as we go. It hurts to let some go, but we put it all together and now we are back as champions.”

It’s not over yet as Sunshine auto will now defend their title in the Bahamas Softball Federation’s National Round Robin Tournament that will be played between the Family Islands during the first weekend in November.

“I don’t see nobody beating us right now,” Bullard projected. “I see us getting some good games from the team coming in from Freeport, but I don’t see anybody out there beating us.”

The Lady Johnson’s tried. They won game two of the series. But Jireh Sturrup said they had too many mistakes that resulted in their downfall when it counted the most in the rest of the series and, in particular, the clincher last night.

“I believe we played our best with the best we had, but we could have cut down on the defensive mistakes that we made,” she insisted. “We made too many simple errors that hurt us.”

Sturrup, a second year player in the league, admitted that they went into the series shorthanded after some of their starters had to go back to school in the United States. “But we did the best we could with the team that we had,” she pointed out.