SPORTS SECTION E
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
Miami Heat
Arrival, Page 2
BUDDY HIELD: ‘I HAVEN’T ESTABLISHED MYSELF YET IN THIS LEAGUE’ By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
NO MERCY: The Charles W Saunders Cougars senior boys defeated Kingsway Academy Saints 26-3 in the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ softball game yesterday. Playing on their home field, the Cougars took advantage of the lack of fence on the outfield to rout the Saints by hitting the long ball to push their undefeated record to 3-0. Photos by Tim Clarke/The Tribune
Cougars rout Saints, 26-3 By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
T
he Charles W Saunders Cougars didn’t have any mercy on the Kingsway Academy Saints in their Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ senior boys softball game yesterday. Playing on their home field, the Cougars took advantage of the lack of fence on the outfield to rout the Saints 26-3 by hitting the long ball to push their undefeated record to 3-0. “I’m proud of my team today. We came out and executed. Our game plan was to stop them by the mercy rule and get ready for our big game when we play SAC on Monday,” said Shorn Davis. “Hopefully we will be ready for that game when it comes and we can come out of that game victorious.” Charles W Saunders, coached by Brad Wood, is hoping that they can avenge their exit in the playoffs to the Big Red Machine when the two square off at St Augustine’s College. Against the Saints, the Cou-
CHARLES W SAUNDERS SENIOR BOYS SHOW NO MERCY AGAINST KINGSWAY ACADEMY gars rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the first inning to plate 11 runs on the scoreboard. They added 15 more in the second and it was just a matter of what the final score would be after Kingsway Academy tried to add a few more runs to the other one they picked up in the second. But Cougars’ pitcher Nat Ferguson got all the help he needed from his field behind him to preserve the abbreviated victory. His teammates had already given him enough runs to work with after batting around the clock in both innings. In the 11-run first inning, third baseman Khawan Dames blasted a three-run home run, Taneir McKinney had a run-producing single, centre fielder Van Woods followed with a three-run double, Davis contributed with a RBI triple and Dames ended the rally with a RBI sacrifice fly.
Then in the second, Nacassin Pinder led off another potent offensive attack with a two-run single, Shantano Watkins and Shorn Davis had back-to-back RBI singles, Khawan Dames had a tworun double, Kristin Fulford and Taneir McKinney consecutive RBI singles and Nitro Dean a RBI single. The only thing the Cougars didn’t do was bat around the clock for a second time in the rally. “We are off to a great start and we’re looking forward to playing even better this year,” Davis said. “The only thing we want to do is get past SAC on Monday and we should be alright.” The Saints, on the other hand, opened the game with a two-run homer from Zachary Sweeting and in the second inning, Veron Marshall led off with a walk and with two-out, caught a ride home
on Cameron Turner’s RBI single. The loss dropped Kingsway Academy to 1-2, but coach Rico Seymour said there was a legitimate reason for his team’s dismal performance. “We had four guys out of position today,” Seymour said. “The pitcher didn’t show up, the second baseman didn’t show up, the shortstop didn’t show up and the right fielder didn’t show up.” Seymour, who has added the senior boys team to his duty this year as the returning coach of the junior boys, credited Aaron Gibson, who did his best on the mound to try and hold Charles W Saunders at bay. But he said it was just not their day. “No fault to Charles W Saunders, it is what it is,” he said. “So we go back to the drawing board on Wednesday and get ready for St Anne’s.”
NBA training camps get underway this week and fans had their first opportunity to see rookie guard Buddy Hield and this season’s New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans hosted media day last weekend and the development of Hield in his rookie campaign was one of the major talking points for members of the organisation. Hield talked about his interaction with the veterans and what he expects to learn in training camp. “You have to pick their brains,” he said. “If you don’t ask questions, you’re not going to learn much. And if you don’t ask them questions, you think you know it all. You don’t know it all. I ask guys, ‘What did you do in this situation?’ I’m talking to coaches, learning and watching film. I haven’t established myself yet in this league to where I can do everything I want.” In his brief practice experiences thus far, Hield has already established a reputation as a hard worker that he became known for during his career at Oklahoma. It was reported that Hield routinely arrives at 7:45am for 10am practices. “I’m an early-morning person. I have to be one of the first guys in the gym. I can’t just come to practice and hope I have a good shooting day. How my mind works, I’ve got to be early,” he said. “I’m a scorer, man. You want to look for the ball. I’m just learning how spacing is very important in this league. I have to wait for my opportunity. I’m too anxious, but I’m a rookie. It’s good.” On draft night, Hield immediately foreshadowed his anticipation of life in New Orleans. He said he was now ready to embrace the culture of a new home. “The big thing is the transition from being in college to playing all man-to-man and the speed of the game and fighting over screens and things like that, which will all come with experience. You can’t do anything about it except put him out there and give him some experience in those areas,” he said. “Everybody’s great in the NBA, so you’re not going to win every battle. That’s the reality, because everybody is good. You are going to lose some battles, but you just have to try to contain them as much as you can and make them hit tough shots or make tough plays.”
Seminoles’ Mavin Saunders gets more minutes against USF By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net LAST weekend’s win was a bounce back game for the Florida State Seminoles and provided the first opportunity for Bahamian tight end Mavin Saunders to have an impact on the field. Saunders caught a 12-yard reception, his first of the season, in the No.13 ranked Seminoles’ 55-35 win over the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium. The win improved the Seminoles to 3-1 and got them back in the win column after a 63-23 upset on the road against the Louisville Cardinals. After seeing action sparingly in the first three games of the season, Saunders saw increased minutes against USF, but remains second on the depth chart behind Ryan Izzo. Midway through the third quarter, Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois connected with Saunders on a second down play
to give FSU a first Roll. down. They would The Orlando Seneventually score a tinel’s Brendan Sontouchdown on the 10none outlined the play, 95-yard drive to impact he expects go ahead 45-14. Saunders to have on Saunders was the the Seminoles and its only FSU tight end tight end group this with a reception, and season. Francois completed “Saunders’ developjust 11-19 passes on a ment should be fun to day dominated by the watch, simply because Seminoles’ rushing any improvement he attack. makes should be noFlorida State was ticeable given how raw SAUNDERS dominant on the he is. Coach Jimbo ground against USF Fisher is very high on and finished with 478 yards on 63 Saunders and thinks he can evolve carries led by Dalvin Cook’s ca- into a dynamic receiving threat. reer-high 267 yards. Cook also set “As productive as Nick O’Leary a career-high with 329 total yards. was for FSU, he wasn’t a true The Seminoles return home to downfield threat, but Saunders’ face the North Carolina Tar Heels athleticism could enable him to on October 1, in a game broadcast be a matchup nightmare all over live on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. the field,” he said. “Working on Saunders, headed into his red- becoming a more polished blockshirt sophomore season with the er is going to be big for Saunders Florida State Seminoles this fall, so the staff can feel comfortable was named to the Atlantic Coast using him in every situation. On Conference’s Academic Honour top of that, he must also come
down with more 50-50 passes and take full advantage of his athletic gifts.” Saunders, the 6’5” 258-pound redshirt freshman tight end and Bimini native, has appeared in six games last season before being relegated to the sidelines due to a nagging back injury. In the season opener, he caught a single pass for five yards. His best game of the season was the first start of his collegiate career, when he finished with three receptions for 26 yards – both career highs – in the Seminoles’ 29-24 win over in-state rival, the University of Miami Hurricanes. In other Division I football highlights from the weekend, other Bahamian players saw their teams emerge with wins in their respective conferences. Kato Fawkes and his Idaho Vandals scored a 33-27 win over the UNLV Rebels, one that Vandals head coach Paul Petrino called one of the most special of his career. “Just where this programme is,
where we need to get. That’s as proud of a group of guys as I’ve ever been around,” he said. Fawkes, now in his post graduate season, appears in a reserve role for the Vandals behind starting guards Noah Johnson and Mason Woods. The 6’4” 303-pound guard, a native of Freeport, Grand Bahama, graduated in May while he saw his first official game time as a member of the Vandals. In the 2014 season, he was sidelined with an injury and redshirted. The Vandals completed the three-game road trip at Washington, at Washington State and at UNLV, before returning to the Kibbie Dome for Homecoming against Troy on October 1. In the American Athletic Conference, Chris Ferguson and the Cincinnati Bearcats improved to 3-1 with a 27-20 win over Miami (Ohio). In the Colonial Athletic Association, Rondre KnowlesTener and the James Madison Dukes won 31-20 over Maine Black Bears.