The Harbour House Marina Whalers are unlikely champions in co-ed softball.
After a last-place finish in the regular season, the Whalers caught fire to win the division four/D championship in the Cayman Islands Little League 2012 Winter Adult Co-ed Softball League.
Stephanie Arch was among the female talents on the team and states the only regret was their disappointing form early on.
“It felt great to win,” Arch said. “It’s just too bad we couldn’t have done better in the season so it didn’t seem like such a shock that the underdogs would beat the top team.”
Harbour House, behind angler Eric Rivers and pitcher Alfredo Challenger, would beat team HSBC 12-5 in the championship game this month at the Field of Dreams facility in George Town. The Whalers went into the contest after finishing 3-9 during the regular season, fourth in the standings behind the PWC Scorpions, G-Force (both were 4-7-1) and 12-0 HSBC.
The defeat adds further insult and injury for HSBC star pitcher Tony Mark. The team cocaptain, along with Jeff Pouchie and Marius Gaina, has fallen short of a title four straight seasons. He previously claimed regular season crowns with the Scorpions and Billy Bones Jager Bombers.
Mark seemed on track to buck that trend after 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).
Arch says all were outdone by a couple of fishermen.
“The whole team played really well on a whole, but some worth mentioning are Mark Bothwell with his amazing fielding and Rob Jones with his grand slam that sealed our victory. I took a strike out for the team in that inning to keep the bases loaded.”
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