The Spanish Wells Bulldogs senior boys and Queen's College Comets senior girls were crowned as champions of the 15th annual Austin "King Snake" Knowles National High School Softball Championships yesterday, finishing off their opponents at the Bankers Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex. The Bulldogs defeated the Prince William Falcons, 4-3, and in the girls' championship, the Comets turned back the St. Anne's Blue Waves 7-3.
The win by the Bulldogs over the Falcons was the second for them over that team in the tournament. The first game came down to hits, as no team was able to score a run in the pitcher's duel. Kaiden Roberts pitched a no-hitter for the Bulldogs that propelled his team to victory, and also the top spot in the division headed into the playoffs.
"This was probably the toughest game that we played so far, and will probably be the toughest one we will play," said Roberts after that game. "It's a good feeling being the top seed headed into the playoffs, and getting there on a no-hitter makes me feel awesome."
In the second game, the Falcons showed a lot more fight, and were in control for most of the game. They took a 3-0 lead into the third inning, but a late four-run surge in the bottom of the third inning allowed the Bulldogs to escape with the narrow victory and the championship.
"This was an amazing game for us," said Bulldogs' Head Coach Tony Symonette. "It's so sweet. We were down three runs and some of the guys looked like they wanted to give up, but I told them to cheer up and if you're going to look like this you might as well give up and go home. I told them that it's always sweeter when you come from behind and win it and that's what happened. It was an amazing game."
In the girls division, the Comets took down the Blue Waves 7-3.
Dawanya Pratt, who was the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP), finished the game with two runs scored. Charisma Taylor and India Sweeting added a run each for the Comets.
Brittney Rahming, Kristia Collie and Breanna Carey scored the runs for the Blue Waves.
Over the past few years the 'King Snake' tournament has seen a decline in the number of teams participating in the event, especially teams from New Providence. Although they chose to come down this year, Symonette said that it was a little discouraging, seeing that so many teams were absent.
"We have been coming down here for the past few years," he said. "It's usually an awesome tournament, but it's disappointing that so many team cancelled out, especially Nassau teams cause they're already home. It cost us thousands of dollars to get down here, and it's difficult when you only have a few teams to play. This used to be a tournament we looked forward to, so as far as next year is concerned, we'll just have to see how it goes."
Just five teams in each gender competed in this year's Austin 'King Snake' Knowles high school nationals.
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