Tony Mark has been knocking at the door of softball glory and it could finally open for him.
Mark leads team HSBC into the division four/D championship in the Cayman Islands Little League 2012 Winter Adult Co-Ed Softball League. Taking place at George Town’s Field of Dreams, the match is slated for Thursday, 10 May, at 8.15pm on field two.
Mark, the cocaptain along with Jeff Pouchie and Marius Gaina, states the pressure is on to succeed.
“We’re very excited as we’ve had a perfect season so far,” Mark said. “A title would be a great way to end a perfect season. We all played really hard this season and it would be a letdown to lose. We deserve to win and we should have a chance to be number one. We’re looking forward to bringing home the title for HSBC.”
In 2012, HSBC earned the regular season crown with a 12-0 record. The only undefeated team in the league dominated on defence, as the likes of Daniela Ryan and Simon Gill allowed a league-low 43 runs. From there, sluggers like Andy Armstrong and Ashleigh Leeson pounded out 153 runs (tops in their division).
For Mark, a championship game appearance is personal. He was part of the PWC Scorpions and Billy Bones Jager Bombers teams that claimed regular season crowns in three successive seasons but fell short of the double in the playoffs. He states the pieces are there this time around to buck that trend.
“For three seasons we played as the number one team and we have choked each time. We hope to break that tradition. This is the first time we have all played together as we’re a combination of two teams (the old HSBC side featuring Gonzalo Jalles and Billy Bones). We’re gelling really well and we’re happy to be in the final. Next year we plan to move up and continue our winning ways.”
HSBC are slated to battle the Harbour House Marina Whalers, who booked their spot with a 13-4 upset of the PWC Scorpions in the semi-final. Harbour House, who were last in the division with a meagre 3-9 regular season mark, feature a number of noted anglers like Eric Rivers, Rob Jones and Al Parsons.
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