According to reports, the first Bahamas Baseball Federation (BBF) mini island tournament in Rock Sound, Eleuthera, this past weekend, turned out to be a smashing success. The 11-12 event was hosted by the Eleuthera Junior Baseball League through the efforts of its president, Larry Forbes.
Pastor Lincoln Young received the outstanding service award for his lifetime commitment to youth mentorship and youth baseball development on the island of Eleuthera. Four of the BBF membership programs, including the visiting Freedom Farm, Grand Bahama Little League and Spanish Wells Divers teams, played three games each on Saturday to determine the placement after the round-robin. After the round-robin was completed, the two powerhouses emerged to contest for the gold medal on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The final two games on Saturday was when all the excitement took place in front of the large crowd of family, friends and supporters at the Rock Sound Primary School baseball diamond. Both Freedom Farm and Grand Bahama were riding high coming into their final round-robin game with identical 2-0 win/loss records. Both had already punched their ticket to the gold medal game, so this game was to see who would remain with an unblemished record. Freedom Farm roared first with a monster home-run from their starting pitcher, big south paw Michael Rolle in the first Inning. Grand Bahama came right back with two out in their half of the first, and with a runner on second base.
Grand Bahama starting pitcher Brandon Russell showed his power with a two-run shot to right field. Grand Bahama added another run in the third to go ahead, 3-1. In the top of the fourth, the Farmers came roaring back with runners on second and third and the big south paw Rolle up to bat once again. Many of the spectators, seeing the offensive damage done by Rolle throughout the tournament and first base being open, thought Grand Bahama would walk him, but they pitched to him. On a 1-1 count, Rolle drove the next pitch off the right field fence to tie the game, 3-3. At the end of six innings, Freedom Farm had come from behind to defeat Grand Bahama, 6-3, and set the stage for a big battle in the gold medal game. The final game on Saturday saw the big Eleuthera match-up - Rock Sound vs. Spanish Wells.
Rock Sound led the entire game until the bottom of the sixth, as the Spanish Wells Divers kept knocking on the door until they completed the comeback with a walk-off base hit to win, 6-5. The bronze medal game got started at 10:30 a.m. with the Rock Sound community cheering on the home team against their next door neighbors, Spanish Wells. Rock Sound jumped on the Divers, taking an early 4-0 lead. They never looked back as they took revenge for their Saturday loss with a 7-3 win. Eleuthera Junior Baseball League President Larry Forbes also served as the Head Coach of the Rock Sound 11-12 team. His young boys picked up the bronze medal in their first tournament action.
The gold medal game did not disappoint as the powerhouses, Freedom Farm and Grand Bahama, clashed once again. Grand Bahama was looking to avenge their loss, and their ace pitcher Kanish Thomas was on his game as they got our to a strong start, and were ahead 5-2 going into the bottom of the fourth inning. Thomas, with seven strike-outs on the day, had a rough fourth inning with four walks and two critical errors inclusive of a two-out base hit by tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) Michael Rolle. When the inning was over, the Farmers had taken the wind out of Grand Bahama, and led, 7-5. The next two innings, Freedom Farm defense and pitching closed the door to gave the Farmers the gold medal in a come-from-behind fashion once again, in their second game against Grand Bahama. Now, the teams can't wait for the BBF Andre Rodgers Championships in June. The next BBF mini 9-10 tournament is set for Marsh Harbour, Abaco, May 11-13, 2012.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
