The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THERE’S an old adage that says good hitting stops good hitting and Ramona Hanna did just that as the youthful Platinum Pool Lady Sharks pulled off a 7-0 walk-off-the field victory over the Lady Hitters in the first of two ladies’ games played last night.

In the New Providence Softball Association last night in the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex, the abbreviated affair came to an abrupt end in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded and first sacker Sari Albury got a RBI walk to plate second sacker Alex Gabriel with their third straight run, forcing the Lady Hitters to walk off the field after they got stopped via the seven-run rule.

Hanna, in one of the season’s best performances, fired a two-hitter, striking out three as she controlled the bats of the Lady Hitters, who are known for hitting the ball.

It was one of the best showings by Platinum Pool and it was obvious that manager Stephen ‘Bishop’ Beneby was quite thrilled by what he saw.

“It was a much better played game,” said Beneby as his Lady Sharks improved to 12-5 to remain in second place in the standings.

“We just need to get a practice in and I know that the girls can do it. The problem is I have five of the girls on the team going to the University (of the Bahamas) and they have classes until 7-7:30, but they try to get here by 7:15.

“I also had seven players who went off to school so right now we are in a dilemma. We play next week Tuesday again and hopefully they will be able to get out early so that we can continue to play the way that we did tonight.”

Beneby, who was assisted by coaches Shane Albury and D’Kyle Rolle, said he was quite impressed by Hanna’s performance on the mound.

“Ramona Hanna pitched exceptionally well and the girls played defence behind her,” he said.

“Our centre fielder (Dorneisha Woodside) also made a couple of great catches. I told her that she just needs to keep her head up high. If I had to do it all over again, I would build my team around her. That’s the best center fielder in this league right now.”

While Woodside snagged down a fly out for the first out in both the fifth and sixth inning, the Lady Sharks only had one bad inning in the first when Nadia Thompson led of the first inning with a single. They eventually got the bases loaded with two out, but on Lashantae Greenslade’s fielder’s choice, Thela Johnson was tagged out going to third to kill the Lady Hitters’ best chance to score.

Thompson, the lead of batter, opened the third with a single and the fifth on a one-out single for her 3-for-3 plate appearance, but she was left stranded on both trips as the Lady Sharks tightened up on their defense.

Platinum Pool, on the other hand, took control of the game from the first inning scoring two unearned runs. They added two more in the third before closing out their account with three more in the sixth. They did it all with just five hits, including three back-to-back hits to start the sixth.

Sari Albury. Brandia Ferguson, Keisha Moncur, Mia Turner and Alex Gabriel all had a hit and scored a run for the Lady Sharks. The other two runs came from Dorneisha Woodside and Shawnee Whylly in the first.

In suffering the loss, Thela Johnson struck out five batters.

The Lady Hitters are sitting in fourth place at 6-12, but manager Darren Stevens said he’s confident that they will put it all together when it count the most in the playoffs.

“It was one of those games where we just didn’t hit the ball at all,” said Stevens, who was assisted by coach Tim Clarke. “I thought Thela pitched a hell of game, but we had a few costly errors that hurt us. We just need more at bats and tighten up on our defense and we should be okay.”

The feature game last night wasp played between the front running Bommer Gee Lady Truckers and the Sunshine Auto Wildcats. No score was available at press time.

The NPSA will be back in action on Saturday night with another ladies’ opener as the men won’t resume play until next week when the regular season start to wind down. The men were on a break due to the men’s national team traveling to the Dominican Republic where they qualified for both the Central American and Caribbean Games as well as the Pan American Games.