VJC claim A Division girls’ softball title in extra-inning thriller

By Marvin Lowe

Kallang Softball Diamond, Monday, May 25, 2009 – In a thrilling finish to the girls’ A Division Softball Championship season, Victoria Junior College beat Raffles Institution 3-0 in extra innings.

In an earlier encounter in the preliminaries, Raffles beat VJC 17-5 and it seemed like RI would be the favorites.

However, it was staid affair in the first 5 regulation innings. Both teams pitched and fielded well to prevent anyone from scoring. The furthest any player got to was second base.

Both pitchers pitched a shut out game in regulation innings but it was now up to them to limit the damage in the extra inning.

VJC, the first team to bat, scored first off an error by the RI pitcher when she lost control of her pitch.

It was a her first real error of the game and it proved to be a costly one. Fatigue was beginning to set in and it affected her pitching. VJC also managed to get two more players on base.

The pivotal moment arrived when VJC’s catcher Joyce stepped up to the plate. She managed to hit the ball hard into the outfield, allowing two of her team mates to run home and score.

This was the icing on the cake and Raffles now faced the uphill task of scoring at least their runs in their extra inning.

Things did not start well for them. Their first batter went down quickly and was struck out on a good pitch by VJC’s pitcher, Kelly.

A glimmer of hope appeared when Amanda Ng managed to get a hit away and she advanced to first base while advancing another runner to third.

With a runner in scoring position, RI now had a chance to catch up. However, they failed to capitalized on this chance.

The next batter sent the ball high and it was caught easily while the final batter managed to lift the ball deep into the outfield, but the VJ outfielder took care of that as well.

VJC’s captain Cerigwen was very happy to have won.

“This victory is not possible without the hard work of everyone in this team. Everyone played their part to win today,” she said. “Also, our coaches and teachers who believed in us, they helped us tremendously as well.”

She was quick to single out her year one pitcher, Kelly, for pitching incredibly well under pressure. Kelly was humbled by the vote of confidence given by her captain and was quick to acknowledge her team mates for fielding well.

“It was a team effort. I was nervous but my team mates gave me the support I needed by making crucial catches. That really boosted my confidence,” said Kelly.

With a good number of the players in year one, VJC will look forward to defending their title next year.