The Tribune

PEMPROKE PINES, Florida - The University of The Bahamas women’s softball team dropped the team’s first four games in Mingoes history against The St Thomas University Bobcats and the Florida Memorial University Lions over the weekend.

Head Coach Shane Albury said the squad should be proud of the historic showing over the weekend despite the losses.

“This team really played hard in those games and should be proud of being so competitive against those teams,” he said.

The Mingoes lost to St Thomas University 5-0 in the first game and 11-0 (five innings) in the second game Thursday. The squad came back for a second double-header Friday against Florida Memorial University and lost both games—7-3 in the first and 14-3 (five innings) in the second.

“I told the ladies that I’m extremely proud of their play,” Albury said. “This is the first time for many of them to play internationally. We were short-handed but they came out and played tremendous ball. We lost all four games but we were able to put runs on the board against Florida Memorial.”

He added the team’s chemistry is much improved after the tour because the squad was able interact more. “We have learned some of the characteristics of several of the players in a productive way,” he said. “The players have really opened up to each other and were giving into the team concept which will go a long way for us. I am pleased with the level of play over the two days and it’s a good measuring stick of what we have and where we have to go.”

UB 3, FMU 7 (Friday)

UB 3, FMU 11 (Friday)

The Mingoes scored the programme’s first ever run and homerun against The FMU Lions in the doubleheader Friday at Pembroke Lakes Optimist Park in Pemproke Pines, Florida.

Despite the stronger offensive and defensive production, the team just could not get enough runs on the board and lost both games. “We came out more aggressive and were able to put the bat on the ball and we got runners in scoring position and we scored a few runs,” Albury said.

“We now know we need to work on defence and our pitching staff after this but we had a good showing nonetheless.”

Ramona Hanna was tagged with the loss in the first game with 4 strikeouts and Adonya Rolle got the loss for the second game with 2 strikeouts.

Co-Captain Sophia Cartwright scored the first run from third base on a wild pitch in the top of the first inning of the first game. Adonya Rolle scored the first homerun for the program in the second game: an infield homerun in the top of third inning of the second game.

UB 0 , St. Thomas 5 (Thursday)

UB 0, St. Thomas 11 (Thursday)

The Mingoes held the Bobcats to only two runs in the first two innings of the first game. A slew of errors from The Mingoes in the bottom of the fourth inning though allowed the Bobcats to extend the lead to 5-0 - with all three runs scored with two outs. “We were right in the game and I told the ladies to keep their heads up,” Albury said.

“We lost 5 to nothing but those runs came off a ton of errors we were able to put the bat on the ball and got a few runners in scoring position but just were not able to get them home.”

Ramona Hanna was tagged with the loss going all seven innings for the Mingoes. She had three strikeouts on the night.

She also went 1-2 for the squad. Cynetese Cooper went 1-3 for UB.

Albury said he liked the team’s effort despite committing seven errors. “We competed and we competed from the beginning of the game right to the end of the game and that was something that I was preaching to them. “As long as we compete we would stay in the game. Their spirits are still up and they are ready to keep on being competitive.”

Adonya Rolle picked up the loss in the second game and Albury said the team knows it needs to sure up the personnel on the mound. “Overall our pitching was pretty good but we just have to reduce those errors moving forward,” he said. “We need more experience out there but this team has the heart to play against those ladies.”