By SHELDON LONGLEY, NG Sports Editor

It was billed as a match up between two undefeated teams yesterday, but as St. Augustine's College head coach Greg Burrows termed it, it turned out to be "a battle of the errors." Frustrated, he said: "This was one of the worst softball games that I have ever seen and I'm talking about on both sides, especially our side."

Burrows watched as his senior boys squad, which was once feared as a major power in high school softball, buckled under immense pressure yesterday afternoon. Playing on the road against the defending champions, St. Andrew's Hurricanes, they were stopped 15-5 in six innings via the 10-run mercy rule. The upstart Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) defending champs jumped out to a 3-1 lead after two innings, and after briefly giving up the lead by surrendering three runs in the top of the third, they countered for five runs in the bottom half of that stanza and never looked back.

Hurricanes starting pitcher Jared Higgs hurled a three-hitter and struck out five batters yesterday before giving way to Herman Maycock in the top of the sixth. Relief pitcher Maycock, who is more noted as the 'Canes starting point guard in basketball, got three outs in the top of the sixth inning to save the victory for Higgs. His infielders helped him out as they turned a double play in that inning.

"I think that this year we have a one-two knockout in our pitching so in the event that one guy does not perform, it gives us the confidence that we could bring in another guy who could step up with that same level of intensity," said Hurricanes' head coach Montgomery Nazon. "We have always been able to hit and field the ball and with those two great pitchers this year, I feel very comfortable in our ability to go out there and defend our title."

It didn't all go well for the Hurricanes yesterday though. They scattered eight hits on offense but at times, struggled in the field, and for the most part capitalized off the errors by the St. Augustine's College Big Red Machine for their 15 runs. Left fielder David Sweeting swung a potent bat, like he has been doing all season, with a 2-for-3 effort with two RBIs and a run scored. He blasted a solo home-run in the bottom of the third, adding to the two he had in their previous game against the St. John's College Giants.

Clean-up batter Marcus Farrington also finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Hurricanes. He crossed home plate three times. Maycock, who started the game in left field, and closed the door from the mound, was 2-for-3 and scored four times. Left fielder Ricardo Stubbs had two of the three hits for SAC, and losing pitcher Byron Ferguson had the other one.

"We just wanted to out-hit them," said Nazon. "Our game plan was just to hit the ball and force them to make plays on us. It was a big game but the tides have switched a bit to where instead of us worrying about SAC, people now come to us with the expectations that we had last year. We just have to be prepared because we are now the defending champions. SAC has always been one of the better teams in high school softball so we always expect a battle from them," he added.

SAC suffered their first loss of the season in three outings while the Hurricanes remained perfect at 4-0. Nazon feels comfortable with where his team is, at this point in the season, while Burrows knows that they will have to play much better if they are to have any chance of going to the playoffs much less winning the championship. Last year was the first year in a long time in which SAC senior boys didn't make the BAISS playoffs in softball. Burrows knows that they will have to turn it around quickly if they want to avoid that unfortunate circumstance this year.

"Well, we're still going after the championship - that's what we always go after. They know that. People come to play St. Augustine's and most guys get all psyched up to play us," he said. "There is no doubt that we have to play much better. There is light at the end of the tunnel because in our first two games, we didn't look too bad. I am still hopeful that we will be there and we will be able to compete for the championship - we just have to work hard," he added.

SAC was in the game up until the third inning yesterday. They led 4-3 going into the bottom of the third but then gave up five runs to the Hurricanes and never recovered. The Hurricanes scored two in the bottom of the fourth inning courtesy of a pass ball and a RBI grounder and after SAC got one of those two runs back in the top of the fifth, the 'Canes closed the door with four runs in the bottom half of that inning.

"We still have one or two areas that we have to work on but for the most part we are looking pretty good," said Nazon. "I think that we have a great chance of going back in the championship and defending our title," he added.

The Hurricanes got back-to-back doubles to start the bottom of the fifth inning yesterday, and they stretched their lead to 14-5 at the end of that inning. They still would have to wait until the sixth inning to put away the Machine via the 10-run mercy rule. Maycock got three outs in the top of the sixth and the Hurricanes quickly added one run in the bottom half of that inning to stop the contest early.

"I think that we gave them about nine of their 15 runs and I think that they gave us," said Burrows. "It seemed like it was going to be whoever gave up the most runs and we gave up more than them," said Burrows.

Burrows is hopeful that his team will have a chance to meet up with the Hurricanes again, where they will have an opportunity to avenge that loss.