MEN'S ROUND ROBIN CONCLUDES IN SLOW PITCH WORLD CUP

The Bahamas Beaches came back to outslug Great Britain II, 24-20 in MEN’S play. Trailing 9-5, the Beaches team blew the game open with 14 runs in the bottom of the third inning. Every player except one scored a run that inning, with four crossing the plate twice. Thomas Williams hit for the cycle and scored four runs for the winners. Pete Nightingale hit two homers for Great Britain.

Another game saw the same two countries tangle, this time with the reverse outcome. Great Britain I beat the Bahamas Lucayans 18-15, also in MEN’S play. The Lucayans opened the game with nine runs in the top of the first, but didn’t score more than one run in an inning again until the final inning. The big frame for Great Britain was the fourth when they scored nine times. Right fielder Shawn Findlay went 4-for-5 and scored four times to lead the victory.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Batters Choice/Mizuno (MEN’S) team, who arrived in town from Richmond, Virginia too late on Thursday night to begin playing, made their SPWC debut, winning a slugfest with the Bahamas Junkanoos, 21-17. The U.S. team opened the game with eight runs in the top of the first, with their first seven batters all getting base hits. The Junkanoos had five home runs – including two by catcher Keith Moss – to the U.S. team’s four. Not to be outdone though, Batters Choice/Mizuno first baseman Alec "Icky" Sorrell hit three round trippers. He also had a single.

Two games were on the schedule for 10:00, also from the MEN’S bracket.

The U.S. Batters Choice/Mizuno team got right back to work and this time scored one more run, thumping the Bahamas Lucayans, 22-2. The Lucayans actually led 2-0 after one complete inning, but then the roof fell in. The U.S. team shut them out 3-0 in the second inning, and 2-0 in the third, then forced the umpire to invoke the mercy rule when it had scored 17 runs in the bottom of the fourth and still only two outs. The 17 runs came despite “only” two home runs during the onslaught. Brian Covington went 3-for-3 in the win.

The Bahamas Beaches, who scored 24 runs in their first game of the day, this time allowed that same total as they were crushed by the Bahamas Junkanoo team, 24-4. The winners scored runs in every inning except the third when they actually went three-and-out. Dwayne Mackey went 5-for-5 with three singles, a triple, and a homer to pace the win. The Beaches went three up and three down in both the second and third innings. The team had to be scratching their heads when their first batter in the fourth inning also made an out.

Three more MEN’S games got underway as the clock moved to 11:30.

The Bahamas Junkanoo went right back to work and reversed their performance from the loss to the Beaches, trouncing Great Britain II, 24-6. The winners scored runs in all but the fifth inning. The Junkanoo hit four home runs. Right fielder Nat Porter turned in a 3-for-4 performance. After the first two batters in the bottom of the first inning, the next 14 Great Britain players made outs, with that drought ending only because of a walk.

The U.S. Batters Choice/Mizuno squared off in its third straight game, continuing to increase their run total each game. The team dumped Great Britain I, 28-12. This game saw runs scored in the top and bottom halves of every inning. In the top of the fourth, after the first batter began with an out, the next seven Batters Choice/Mizuno players all registered a base hit. Only one player didn’t have a plate appearance that half-inning. All eleven made a trip to the plate in the top of the fifth, while the team logged 14 trips to the batter’s box in the top of the sixth. Andy Wicker was perfect with the bat, going 5-for-5 in his team’s third straight win. With a (greater than) 15-run differential on the scoreboard, the game was called “official” after Great Britain’s final out in the bottom of the fifth. The offense was spread around for GB I, with eight different players scoring at least one run.

The Beaches tried to keep pace with the U.S. team by also winning for the third time in as many games Friday morning. They had to hold off a comeback to do so, however, getting by the Bahamas Lucayans 14-12. The Beaches led 14-8 after five and a half innings, with the Lucayans notching one run in the bottom half of the inning and three in the bottom of the seventh after holding the Beaches to three-and-out in the top half, but it wasn’t enough, keeping them winless through their first three Friday morning games. The difference in the game may have been four straight Beaches batters drawing walks in the top of the second, with each of them eventually coming around to score.

The afternoon opened with the U.S. Batters Choice/Mizuno team continuing its roll. The Bahamas Beaches could muster only four hits in dropping their first game of the day after three straight wins, being blanked 21-0. Under the rule that makes a game official if the “home” team is winning by 20 runs after four innings, the contest ended following the Beaches’ three up, three down showing in the top of the fourth. The winners scored twice in the bottom of the first, then ran away with it with 13 runs in the bottom of the second. The first twelve plate appearances that half inning were base hits. Both Brian Covington and Sonny Burton went 3-for-3 in the team’s fourth straight win of the day. The Beaches still finished as the second seed after a 3-2 record in round robin play (holding the tiebreaker over the Bahamas Junkanoo).

Also on the 1:00 slate of games in MEN’S play was the Bahamas Junkanoo taking on Great Britain I. The Junkanoo pulled away from a 6-5 lead after two and a half innings with six runs in the bottom of the third, en route to an 18-13 win. The Bahamas reached the maximum under the “five home run rule” in the bottom of the fourth. Centerfielder Phillip Culmer and catcher Keith Moss each belted two. First baseman Denzil Clark went 4-for-4 in the win.

Meanwhile, another Bahamas team was posting a win over one from Great Britain. In a game which saw 18 runs over the final three innings and four lead changes, the Bahamas Lucayans (MEN’S) won their final game of the day, 13-12. It was the team’s only win in five round robin games. Great Britain scored six runs in the top of the seventh to make it close.

COED play resumed at 2:30 p.m. The Bahamas Arawaks, despite nine hits, couldn’t crack the scoreboard, falling 5-0 to the Bahamas Goombay. The winners got two in the top of the first and three in the top of the sixth to account for their entire run production. Left fielder Dawn Sears went 3-for-3 in the win, which was the Goombay’s first game of the tournament.

MEN’S round robin play concluded with a game at the same time as the above. An 11-run third inning propelled the U.S. Batters Choice/Mizuno to a 26-8 win over Great Britain II and a perfect 5-0 record in and the first seed after round robin play – all in a row on Friday. Great Britain II, meanwhile, finished as the sixth seed (1-4). Batters Choice/Mizuno’s third inning fireworks came on twelve hits. They finished with 32, and that was after only five innings when the game was called (“official”) (15-run differential after five innings). Glen Burge was a perfect 4-for-4 for the U.S. team.

The two scheduled 4:00 – COED – games were played, with Great Britain I improving its record to 2-0 with an 8-3 win over Bahamas Goombay, and the Bahamas Arawaks beating the Bahamas Sunshine, 17-8, but there wouldn’t be much more action after that.

Play was barely underway in the 5:30 games when the rains came again. This time they were heavy and long enough to force those and the remainder of the night’s games to be postponed. Tomorrow’s schedule will be adjusted to ensure that those games all get played. The schedule for the men’s play will continue as originally planned.

FINAL MEN’S ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS
U.S. Batters Choice/Mizuno (5-0)
Bahamas Junkanoos (3-2)
Bahamas Beaches (2-3)
Great Britain I (1-4)
Bahamas Lucayans (1-4)
Great Britain II (1-4)

SATURDAY MEN’S SCHEDULE
1:00 Bahamas Beaches vs. Great Britain II
1:00 Great Britain I vs. Bahamas Lucayans
2:30 U.S. Batters Choice/Mizuno vs. winner of Beaches-GB II game
2:30 Bahamas Junkanoos vs. winner of GB I-Lucayans game

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