The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The pennant-winning Sunshine Auto Wildcats had a “wild response” from their watching fans as they shut out the Bommer G Lady Operators 23-0, but the Johnson’s Lady Truckers had theirs suffering “pins and needles” as they eliminated the defending champions Lady Stingers 5-4 as the New Providence Softball Association (NPSA) completed their reduced best-of-three playoff series in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

Now it’s on to the best-of-five championship series for the Wildcats and the Truckers this weekend at the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex with the winner advancing to represent the NPSA in the Bahamas Softball Federation’s National Round Robin Tournament.

• Here’s a summary of how the

two teams reached the final:

Lady Wildcats 23,

Lady Operators 0

Coming off the break in the playoffs because of the hurricane, Sunshine Auto wreaked havoc on Bommer G as ace Mary ‘Cruise’ Sweeting turned it up another notch, firing a one-hitter with six strikeouts on the mound. Sweeting was responsible for the only two Lady Operators to get on base when she issued a two strikeout walk to Jirah Sturrup in the second and came back in the fourth with two out again to walk Sophia Cartwright.

However, in both instances, Sweeting left the two runners stranded.

“I felt pretty good. I think the Wildcats waited until the second half to really push ourselves,” Sweeting said. “Right now we are gelling together. We have everything that we need, so I feel good about us winning this championship.”

Sweeting admitted that she “looked like the Mary of old” but it didn’t matter she didn’t come out with the perfect game. “We were up and they got on with two runners, but I wasn’t going to let them score,” she insisted. “This was basically a practice for us because we know that the next round will be more competitive. So we are just trying to work on our game plan. Right now, we don’t matter who we play. Trust me, the Wildcats will win this championship.”

It was also vintage Sweeting as she damaged offensively as well going a perfect 4-for-4 with four runs batted in, while scoring three times.

After scoring just one run on three hits in the first, the Wildcats went wild, exploding for 12 runs on nine hits in the second and 10 more runs on nine hits in the fourth. Each time they scored, sponsor Deanza ‘Sonny’ Cox led a cheering section in the stands bursting balloons.

What Sweeting did not do, second sacker Mechelle Moss and others did. Moss, the St Augustine’s College high school sensation, was 4-for-5 with three RBI and four runs scored and her mother, a teacher at SAC, was 3-for-4 with two RBI and four runs scored; talented shortstop Larikah Russell was 2-for-3 with two walks, driving in two and scoring three times; left fielder Antonia Simmons was 2-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored; and third sacker Shamica Smith scored twice despite not getting a hit in her four trips to the plate.

“It was a good win,” said Rebecca Moss. “It was kind of tiring coming off the hurricane. We had to build up our spirits to get into it, but we eventually did.”

And as they prepare for the championship, Moss predicted that Sunshine Auto will keep their fans rocking in the stands with “a lot of offence, good offence, good defence and good pitching.”

The youthful Lady Operators had wished they had come fully prepared. Losing pitcher Britney Clarke said they did the best they could with the team they had to work with.

“We could have done better, but it is what it is,” she reflected. “We have some injured players and some are off to school, so we did what we had to do. We played good team ball, even though we only had nine. We just need to work on our batting practice for next year and play better defence and we will be much better.”

Lady Truckers 5, Lady Stingers 4

Centre fielder Tonya Bowleg broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the fifth inning when she got on base on an error, reached third on a wild pitch and came home on shortstop Melinda Bastian’s run-producing single.

Johnson’s produced three runs in the first, highlighted by catcher Shevette Taylor’s RBI single that knocked in Bowleg, who had got on base on a single and advanced to second on an error that saw left fielder Khatrel Dorsette scored after she led of with a walk. Taylor scored the other run on a wild pitch.

Then in the third, Bastian used her speed to score on a one-out in-the-park home run to push the Lady Truckers’ lead to 4-0.

“The team performed to our highest and deepest capacity today,” Dorsette said. “We came here with our all and we laid it all out on the field.”

Dorsette said they wanted to play as well as they could defensively behind winning pitcher Marvelle Miller. They accomplished their goal and now they are into the final.

“We had to stand behind our pitcher, knocking everything down and we had a miraculous game,” she said.

As for the final, Dorsette said they are going to “come to the park and put it all on the line on the diamond and I know that the Lady Truckers will come out victorious.”

Miller gave up six hits, four as the Lady Stingers scored all four of their runs in the third.

“The team performed very well behind me. I must say I’m very proud of them,” Miller said. “They made me feel proud. What more could I do. All I can say is thanks. They did an awesome job playing between the white lines. That’s all I’m looking for when we play the Wildcats. As long as we stick together, cut down on the errors and hit the ball, I know we could do it.”

For the Lady Stingers, catcher Randell Cooper led off by getting on base on an error in the third and second sacker Atiya Deal singled before their scoring parade started. They got consecutive RBI singles from Lashanda Bethel, a RBI ground out from shortstop Vonetta Nairn, a RBI double from Thela Johnson and a RBI single from right fielder Lashantia Greenslade.

While Thela Johnson gave up just four hits with nine strike outs for the loss, the Lady Stingers also blew a couple of scoring opportunities in both the fifth and sixth, leaving manager Gary ‘Super’ Johnson shaking his head in disbelief.

“We had a lot of miscues and missed signs,” Johnson stressed. “We were stealing where we were not supposed to be stealing and trying to run the bases when we were not supposed to be running. We had some school house plays that we should have capitalised on, but we can’t coach that. We just didn’t execute.”

Johnson said hopefully the team can stay together, regroup and improve on their skills so they can be better next year.