The C.C. Sweeting Cobras senior boys had the defending champs right where they wanted them yesterday, but couldn't close the door in the season opener for both teams at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex. The C.R. Walker Knights scored 11 of their 21 runs in the top of the sixth inning, to stop the Cobras short, 21-13, in Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) softball action. The Cobras actually took a 12-10 lead into the sixth, but that is when everything fell apart for them. The Knights connected for five hits that inning, but it was six errors by the Cobras that really contributed to their demise.

With a runner on first base, and the Cobras ahead, 12-11, Cobras' center fielder Anfernee Rolle committed a crucial three-base error on a routine single up the middle. He allowed the ball to go right under his glove, and with no one backing him up, the Knights batter circled the bases and scored the go ahead run. The Knights took a 13-12 lead at that point, and never looked back. The Cobras committed three more critical errors that inning. "We just didn't play any defense," said Cobras' clean-up batter Adrian Ferguson who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored for his team. "It wasn't that they out-hit us - we just committed too many errors today. We fell apart. It's like we got scared at the worst time.

The game is made up of hits, runs and errors, and errors is what really killed us today." Quincy McKenzie went the distance for the Knights and got the win. Dewhone Murray, who was throwing lob, suffered the loss for the Cobras. At the plate, Clint Johnson, Keith Moss and Gee Bethel had big days for the Knights. Anfernee Rolle finished 2-for-3 for the Cobras, and Fritzgerald Davis scored three times. "We just weren't listening to the coach early in the game - we were doing our own thing," said McKenzie. "At the end, we started to come around and it finally paid off. We just have to remember that it's a team sport and just continue to work together.

You can't win this game by yourself... you have to work together to get wins." The Knights got out of the gates quickly as they scored six runs in the first inning, and led, 9-8, after two innings, but they managed just one run over the next three frames. The Cobras took a 12-10 lead into the sixth and seemed poised to pull off the upset over the defending champs. It was the Knights who knocked them out in the single elimination playoff game last year. "We just got too relaxed," said Ferguson. "We were up by two runs and figured that we would probably win the game because there was only two more innings to go. We just couldn't make any plays in that sixth inning, and that turned out to be the game.

We feel like we could bounce back. Last year, we fell apart too, but we are more experienced now. We'll be able to bounce back." The Knights prevailed in a three-game series with the C.V. Bethel Stingrays for the GSSSA senior boys championship last year. This year, they are relying heavily on their 11th grade pitcher, McKenzie. He is confident that once they come ready to play, they will be able to repeat as champions. "Well, last year C.V. Bethel beat us one game in the championship and they should be back strong again. We'll be alright though. I just have to concentrate on throwing strikes, and as a team, we have to play better defense. Once we do that, we'll be okay. We could definitely win the championship again," he said. The Knights will play the Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves in their next game next week Tuesday, while the Cobras are scheduled to play the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins on Monday October 22.

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