By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Kingsway Academy Saints rolled into Charles W Saunders High School and marched out with a 15-10 victory over the Cougars in their Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools senior girls’ softball game yesterday.

It was the first game for both teams, but for the Saints, who were coming off their rained out game on Tuesday against the Comets at Queen’s College, head coach Marco Lighbourne said they are off to the start of the season they expected.

“These girls showed that they have heart,” Lightbourne said. “We got down in the first inning, giving up three runs, but really came forth and started doing what we’re supposed to do.”

The Saints, who produced three runs in the first inning, went on a scoring rampage in the second as they added another 12 runs to their ledger to put the game out of reach. 

Jaliyah Mackey scored three runs, while Lakalah Brown, Hailey Josey and Taliyah Bowe all came home with a pair of runs. 

After giving up three runs in the top of the first inning, the Cougars delighted their fans by doubling up the score to go up 6-3. They added two more in the second and the third respectively, but it wasn’t enough to secure the win.

Lightbourne even intentionally walked a couple of the Cougars’ batters in the third, but they were not able to take advantage of the free passes in the third to get any closer to the score. 

With the team he has to work with, Lightbourne said he’s confident that Kingsway Academy will be a force to reckon with, just as their senior boys, who got off to an impressive start in their baseball competition on Monday.

“I believe in my girls. I believe we will come forth just like the boys,” he stated. “So I think we can win two championships this year.”

But there’s always that caution going into the rest of the season and Lightbourne said it is their ability or inability to improve on every facet of the game.

“We have to work on the basics, hitting, fielding and running,” he stated. “Everything is just continuous for us, but we will take it one game at a time.”

For the Cougars, head coach Foster Dorsett said no one likes to get beat on their home field.

“But a lot of these girls are just trying to understand the game,” he pointed out. “We just want them to learn the game and the most important thing in doing it is to have fun.

“Although we got beat by five, I think they were enthused and they played well. We just have to get ready for our next game.”

If there’s any area for concern, Dorsett said it’s their offensive attack.

“The fielding wasn’t that bad,” he insisted. “We just have to learn how to bat. It’s like they are afraid of the ball and they don’t know how to run after the ball.

“They are rookies, so we just have to work with them. They can field the ball, they can catch and they can throw. But it’s our hitting that seems to be our weakness.”

The senior girls will not play again until Tuesday, along with the junior boys’ baseball. But today, there will be a few matches for the senior boys in baseball to wrap up the first week of play. The junior girls will start play on Monday.