Local softball resumes play this month and a trio of clubs will look for repeat glory.
KM Ltd, the Glovernauts and The Security Centre Safes were the 2011 Cayman Islands Little League Fall Adult Co-ed Softball League winners. KM claimed the A league title with the Glovernauts nabbing the B league and the Safes earning the C league championship.
All are confident in another successful season, which is slated to start next Monday, 16 January, at the Field of Dreams in George Town. Players like KM’s Charlie O’Neill are focusing on what they did well.
“If KM keeps last year’s core group of players together for this season, it can only spell trouble for the rest of the league once again,” O’Neill said. “On defence we finished well. This was contributed by several factors. David Nielson, the most feared pitcher in the league, has such a high arc on the ball. Dale Stoudt, at first base, scooped up everything thrown his way. There was also stellar infield play led by (sponsor) Brent McComb and Norlan Duarte.
“By far the biggest difference this year is the improvement of the girls. Their contributions on both offence and defence was game changing. Led by Samantha McField and Samantha Ebanks, several games were decided by their outstanding performances. Colleen Williams’ bat also caught fire late to help lift them through the playoffs.”
O’Neill and the KM side earned their first title thanks to a 17-15 extra inning win over the PWC Legion of Boom. PWC went into the match-up as the top A team with a 10-2 regular season record. KM were not far off at 8-4.
By contrast, the Glovernauts were a huge surprise. After a 7-5 season, the side would produce a pair of upsets before defeating the 6-6 Maples Sluggers by a score of 11-8 in extra innings. Tarrah Crowley was the hero with a game-winning grand-slam. Team stalwart Jon Pump states the side can replicate that success.
“Hopefully with a sponsor we’ll be back for next season trying to defend the title,” Pump said. “They usually bump the winner of the B league up to A but rumour has it there will be a new A minus division. Teams like ours, who are just out for a good time and a run around, don’t have to compete against a few of the current A league teams who are a little more serious and would likely wipe the field with us.
“I think we’ve had a team together under a couple different names since 2005 – so with two leagues a year we’ve been around 14 seasons. Doghouse, who had been the sponsor since 2008, dropped off last year so we were only the Glovernauts – currently without sponsor and taking offers!”
The Safes completed a repeat by downing the Billy Bones Jager Bombers 19-7 for their second straight championship. The Security Centre had a decent 6-6 mark while Billy Bones were the regular season frontrunners at 10-2. Team captain Brad Watts states their titles boil down to fundamentals.
“Our season was up and down as we started off winning a few, then losing a few,” Watts said. “We have always known that we weren’t unbeatable. We knew we had our work cut out for us as Billy Bones had beaten us three of four games. Tony Mark from Billy Bones is a great pitcher and they still deserve a lot of credit for making it to the ‘final dance.’ Nonetheless, we are happy to be back-to-back champions.
“I always preach the fundamentals of softball to my players. That is to have the outfield get the ball to the infield as quick as possible and the infield to hold runners to as few bases as possible. We did exactly that and coupled with our hit parade, that is what won for us. I am very proud of my players and how much they have grown as a team. We have a lot of fun on the field and that is also key to our team’s chemistry.”
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