The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE the fact that the Eleuthera Softball Association withdrew its men’s team, the Bahamas Softball Federation completed its 43rd National Softball Round Robin Tournament over the weekend with both the men and women titles remaining in New Providence.

The first year Lady Stingers stunned the Grand Bahama’s Lady Wolverines 10-4 to clinch the ladies’ title before the Commando Security Truckers regained national prominence by dethroning the two-time defending champions 5 Star AG & Tuff Bulldogs from Abaco 4-1 to secure the men’s crown in the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex on Sunday.

The Brokell Construction Cougars from Andros and the Eleuthera’s Lady Stitchers had to settle for the men’s and ladies’ third place respectively.

The tournament turned out to be the first for the newly elected administration headed by Ted Miller and in the process, he lost Eleuthera Softball Association’s president Rommel ‘Fish’ Knowles, who subsequently resigned his position as an executive of the BSF because he felt the Jets were treated unfairly.

Miller, however, said he felt the tournament was still a success.

“If we measure it by the position that we met it going in, I think it was a huge success,” said Miller, who served as the previous first vice president under the former administration led by Burkett Dorsett.

“Nobody saw what was happening before we started the tournament. So if we look at it from that point, it was a huge success.

“But it was a success in general because anytime you can get a tournament off and you don’t have no serious injuries and you can crown champions at the end of the tournament, it has to be a success. I think the level of the federation might be much more from the outside for people looking in.”

Miller said it was disappointing that the ERA decided to pull their team after it was disclosed during the technical meeting on Thursday that their request to allow pitcher Alcott Forbes to be a part of their roster was denied. Forbes apparently didn’t meet the resident clause in the constitution which allowed him to compete for Eleuthera, considering the fact that he lives in New Providence.

“Eleuthera brings a certain level of stigma to the tournament because they’re called the capital of softball, but their absence didn’t change the level of play or the enthusiasm. In my opinion, it was minimum because we still had some competitive games that the fans had a chance to enjoy throughout the tournament.”

However, in moving forward, Miller said if the ERA can garner sufficient support from the other membership teams, then they can bring a motion to the BSF to amend the residency clause at a special called meeting or at the next general assembly between February and March to have it addressed.

“If they think they have the wherewithal to change it, then they can put it to the board,” he said. “It’s not Ted Miller who wants to keep it the same. We have a board and we have some rules and regulations that we have to abide by. But we are always looking at ways to change the game to make it better for everybody involved.”

Based on what he saw, Miller said there was parity in all of the teams during the round robin. But he noted that the Truckers and the Lady Stingers just wanted it a little more and they prevailed as the champions at the end of the tournament.

Miller said the federation was disappointed that they were not able to hold the annual Austin Knowles National High School Tournament this year because of the timing as the country was dealing with the devastation of islands such as Long Island as a result of hurricane Joaquin.

But he assured their membership that they will be looking at hosting the event earlier than it is normally held next year so that they can allow the high school players to display their skills.

At the end of the tournament, the federation distributed its individual awards to the players for their performances over the four days of competition. The winners were as follows:

Ladies’ division

Batting champion - Madison Fiacaccio (Grand Bahama) 7-for-9 for .778 average

Most hits - Thela Johnson (New Providence), Madison Fiacsccio (Grand Bahama) and Ranica Russell (Grand Bahama), all with seven

Most runs - Thela Johnson (New Providence) 11

Most RBI - Thela Johnson (New Providence) 8

Most strike outs - Thela Johnson (New Providence) 13

Best earned run (ERA) - Salaika Williams (Grand Bahama) 3.27 in 8 innings or more pitched

Most wins - Salaika Williams (Grand Bahama), Thela Johnson (New Providence) and Brandi Perry (Eleuthera), all with 3

Round Robin most valuable player MVP - Thela Johnson (New Providence) - most hits - 7, most runs - 11, most RBI - 8, most strike outs - 13 and most wins - 3.

All-Tournamrnt team

Pitcher - Thela Johnson (New Providence); catcher - Randell Cooper (New Providence); 1st base - Claudette Scott (Andros); 2n base - Madison Fiacaccio (Grand Bahama); 3rd base - Kelly Smith (New Providence); shortstop - Larikah Russell (Grand Bahama); leftfield - Tamika Davis (Grand Bahama); centerfield - Ranica Russell (Grand Bahama) and right field - Nanasjah Hield (Grand Bahama) and utility player - Gwen Symonette-Pinder (Grand Bahama)

Championship MVP - Keisha Pratt

Men’s Division

Batting champion - Teran Wood (New Providence) 5-for-8 for .625 average

Most hits - Teran Wood (New Providence) 5

Most runs - Teran Wood (New Providence) 5

Most RBI - Teran Wood (New Providence) 4

Most strike outs - Christopher Russell (Andros) 14

Best ERA - Christopher Russell (Andros) 2.18 (8 innings or more pitched)

Most wins - 6 players tied

Round Robin MVP - Teran Wood - batting champion 5-for-8 for .625 average; most hits - 5; most runs - 5; most RBI - 4 and most home runs - 3

All-Tournament Team

Pitcher - Christopher Russell (Andros); catcher - Kareem Stuart (Grand Bahama); 1st base - Tristan Russell (Abaco); 2nd base - Olando McPhee (New Providence); 3rd base - Johnathan Scott (Andros); shortstop - Daniel Scott (Andros); leftfield - Ramon Storr (New Providence); centerfield - Charles Williams (Grand Bahama); rightfield - Teran Wood (New Providence) and utility player - Einston Seymour (New Providence).

Championship MVP - Thomas Davis (New Providence)