Queens Village achieved what some thought was beyond their grasps in 2009 – win a Triple Crown in the West Indian Softball Association. They did it with little or no expectation, at least not from their competitors. The only Triple Crown talk in 2009 came from the much heralded Cornered Tigers Cricket Club who failed to win a single competition in 2009. They were WISA 2008 Triple Crown Champions.
West Indian Softball Association triple crown champions Queens Village with their awards.
Queens Village narrowly edged out Ocean’s XI by six runs to win the WISA 20 Over Competition last Sunday at Dr. Charles Drew Park at Van Wyck and 115 Ave. That nerve wracking win allow them to complete the hat-trick of championships in 2009. Their first championship came at the expense of Sandals XI in early June. In that game, they crushed Sandals XI by 9 wickets to win the Div II 25 Over Championship. They followed that up with an upset of the ages by trashing their rival – Archer by 72 runs to take the Div I 30 Over Championship.
How did the boys from Queens Village managed to accomplish their feat? Was it because they were under the radar for much of the season? Was it because no one expected anything of them? Was their competition not up to par? It had to be a combination of all and even more because none of the village boys wanted to comment. All they wanted to do was enjoy the moment and prepare for the competition in 2010.
In the game played on Sunday Nov 15, 2009, Queens Village batted first and amassed a whopping 155 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs in blustery conditions. Their skipper D. Morgan top scored with 63 not out batting at number four. He was nicely supported by Haseeb Ally with 36. Bowling for Ocean’s XI, L Mohan (Jr) grabbed four of the five wickets that fell for twelve runs. The other wicket fell via the run out route.
Asked to score at almost eight runs an over, Ocean’s XI had their work cut out for them. Nothing short of spectacular was required by Ocean’s XI to deny Queens Village CC a bid to win their first triple crown.
Ocean’s XI started briskly but lost wickets in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th overs before their captain L. Mohan and C. Rajbally brought some resistance to Queens Village’s bowlers. With the score at 30 for three at the end of four overs, Mohan and Rajbally played with a balance of caution and aggression. They took the score to 107 before Rajbally was out for 23 in the eleventh over. All Ocean’s XI needed to do from there was score 49 runs in eight overs with six wickets in hand.
With some questionable gamesmanship from the village boys (not giving a runner to Mohan) and the ability to take wickets, Queens Village managed to bowl out Ocean’s XI for 149 in 18 overs, hence making them WISA 2009 Triple Crown Champions. L. Mohan who played like thee star he is top scored with 56. Ravi Parbhudial and R. Singh grabbed 3 for 27 and 3 for 24 respectively.
Congratulations to Queens Village CC.