By BRENT STUBBS
Seenior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
WITH a little more depth added to their pitching staff, manager Perry Seymour said if they can tighten up on their defence, the men's national softball team should be able to perform very well at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Seymour, who will be assisted by coaches Haziel McDonald from Abaco and former national team ace pitcher Richard 'the Lion Heart' Johnson, will head the team that will be a part of the Bahamas Olympic Committee's delegation to the games, scheduled for July 19 to August 3 in Barranquilla, Colombia.
The men's softball team will comprise of Lyle Sawyer, Sherman Ferguson, Jeffrey Woodside, Richard Bain, Lamar Watkins, Martin Burrows, Thomas Davis, Garfield Bethel, Angelo Dillett, Winston Seymour Jr, Alcott Forbes, Desmond Russell, Leon Cooper, Austin Hanna and Wayne Johnson.
Most of the players are returning from the team that qualified for the games in the Dominican Republic last year as an English-speaking country after getting knocked out in the playoffs.
"We had some concerns at the last tournament about pitching, so we brought in Lyle Sawyer from Abaco," Seymour said. "He's been running and throwing the ball, but their league hasn't started, so he's not getting in the live games that he needs to keep him sharp. "If the pitching holds up with him joining Alcott Forbes, Thomas Davis and Jeffrey Woodside and we play fundamental softball, we should be okay."
Woodside, who can also play the outfield, has been added to the team as he replaces Courtney Smith, who recently signed a professional contract to play baseball and Seymour Jr will be replacing Philip Johnson Jr, who unfortunately can't get the time off from work to travel.
With a chance to qualify for the Pan American Games next year, Seymour said the stakes will be much higher for the Bahamas as they compete against the other teams in the tournament. The top four teams will automatically qualify.
"We have Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, so it's going to be tough," he said.
"We are going to have to play good defence and hope that our pitching holds up.
"That's what happened to us in a couple of the games in the last tournament. We made some early mistakes and actually got beat from them. The pitching was good last year, but with Lyles and Thomas not getting the full workout, we hope that we won't have to put too much pressure on Alcott."
Although the games will start this weekend, softball will not be played until next week so the team won't leave until July 25 and should reach just in time to play their first game on July 27.
In addition to the men's softball, the Bahamas will be represented by the men's basketball team. It's the first time that the country will have two major disciplines participating in team competition at the same games.
Also representing the Bahamas will be track and field, swimming, sailing, tennis, judo, fencing and boxing. With a contingent of 84, inclusive of 60 athletes, 21 coaches and three team officials, the Bahamas will assemble its largest team ever for the games, which is expected to feature 37 countries and 5,654 athletes in 470 events.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID