30 Mar 2016

Bears were crowned champions of the Easter Women’s Softball Tournament in Jwaneng over the Easter holidays.

The team walked away P25 000 richer after walloping Police IX 7-4 score in the finals, while the latter got P18 000 for second position. 

Bears players also scooped all the individual prizes worth P500 each.

Even though the hosts, Wells, managed to sail through the bracket stages to book themselves a place in the semi-finals, they were defeated by Bears, hence landing on position three followed by BDF.The final game between Bears and Police IX was an interesting one since it pitted two strong teams against each other with Bears having succumbed to a 3-1 defeat to Police IX at bracket stages. 

Like a wounded lion, Bears triumphed over Wells in the semi-finals to once again book an appointment with Police IX.

During the first innings, it was clear that the game would go either way with both teams displaying good performance but Bears managed to register a point by the end of the first inning. 

The top of the second inning saw Police IX coming from behind when they took advantage of the ball that was sent to the outfield to register their maiden point. 

They immediately took the lead through a highball to the centre field.However, their lead was short-lived as Bears equalised in the bottom of the second inning.

The fourth inning gave Police IX fans hope since they managed to create yet another two point margin before Bears took over in the bottom of the inning. It was in the same inning that the latter managed to close the margin and overtake their opponents after two consecutive runs. 

The seventh point was a nail in the coffin of the already defeated Police IX.

In a post-match interview, Bears coach Nnana Leboko said the tough bracket games prepared them for the fiercely contested final. 

She said Police IX was not a tough nut to crack at the bracket stages but her team gave the game away. 

This mistake, they learnt from and vowed to rectify in the following games which included the final.

Police IX coach, Gaolebale Isaac, attributed their loss to failure to adjust to slow pitching during the first innings of the game. 

He however said this was a learning curve for them as they prepare for other tournaments.

A representative of the Debswana Jwaneng mine, Tumelo Ntlhayakgosi applauded all the teams that participated in the tournament saying those who did not win should learn from Bears and strive to improve.

The tournament attracted a total of nine clubs and was sponsored to the tune of over P175 000. ENDS