The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT was the second straight lopsided victory for the Queen’s College Comets, but their senior girls’ softball team still feel they have not yet produced their best efforts so far in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools 2022 season.

The Comets, coming off a rout over the Kingsway Academy Saints in their season opener on Tuesday, pulled off their second abbreviated victory with a 13-1 decision over the St Andrew’s Hurricanes yesterday at their home field at Queen’s College.

“We played as well as we could, but I felt we could have played better,” said catcher Jada Wallace, who batted fourth in the line-up for Queen’s College. “Our opponents got a lead on us, but I felt we could have made better plays in coming back for the win. I just think we could have done better than we did today.”

St Andrew’s struck first in the top of the first inning when M Mayard got on base on the first hit of the game and scored on A Clarke’s run-producing single for a 1-0 lead.

Shortstop Ciara Bowe, batting third, ripped a two-run single to plate second sacker Raashi Lyons and first sacker Shanaz Demeritte. Bowe then scored on Wallace’s grounder down the third base line. Wallace then stole second and third before she came home on an error for a 4-1 lead. The Comets went on to score five more runs to put the game out of reach at the end of the inning.

After turning a double play to stop the Hurricanes from scoring in the second, third sacker G’Shan Brown came through with a fly ball to centre field for a lead off in-the-park home run. The Comets would go on to score three more runs to extend their lead to 13-1.

Left fielder Jasmine Smith joined Lyons, Brown and Bain in scoring two runs apiece.

Right fielder Atony Taylor and centre fielder Presconique Cooper also made their contribution by scoring a run. “We played good, but we just had a few funny hits here and there,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, we could have done better. But it’s still a good team. We will go back to practice and work on our mistakes.”

With only one run on their ledger going into the third inning, the Hurricanes left two runners stranded on base as the Comets came up with the defensive stopper to halt the game via another 10-run rule.

Mickiela Bain, who picked up the win on the mound, echoed the same sentiments as her team-mates.

“Our team performed okay, but it wasn’t to the best of our ability today,” Bain said. “Some of our players were a bit shaky because of some mistakes we made at the beginning. Next week at NAC (Nassau Christian Academy) we hope to play much better.”

Yiorgo Coyle, the head coach of St Andrew’s, said despite suffering their second straight loss, he was pleased to see some improvements from their opener against the St Anne’s Blue Waves on Tuesday. “This is a teaching year, not a coaching year,” Coyle said. “Two weeks ago, we were learning which hand to put the gloves on. This is quite positive. We had about six ladies on base and we scored a run in the first inning. It was positive.”

Against the Blue Waves, Coyle said they faced a really good pitcher, but against the Comets, they had to deal with a well-rounded defensive team that put up a lot of runs.

Riner Smith was the losing pitcher, but her batterymate Sara Claire had her share of problems, using the catcher’s shin guards that kept coming loose throughout the game.

Coyle acknowledged that while they have some work to do, his team is just happy to be playing softball again. He noted that they were so excited that they were even taking team photos after the game.