Antilles Hurricanes Win Elementary Baseball Championship

It was a long time coming as championship day for the St. Thomas/St. John Interscholastic Athletic Association (IAA) elementary baseball league was scheduled and rescheduled multiple times. But on Saturday, the day finally arrived and the fans at the Alvin McBean Ballpark saw the Hurricanes of Antilles School (7-1) defeat the Panthers of Ulla F. Muller Elementary School (7-1) by the score of 12-2.

The extra time meant both aces would be available to pitch for their respective team, Malakai Nieboer for the Hurricanes and the return of Kayden Archibald for the Panthers. Kayden sustained a broken arm midway through the season and was back on the field for the big game.

Antilles won the coin flip and elected to take the field first. After retiring the first three batters of the game, the Hurricanes played small to manufacture the first run of the game. Lead-off batter Jerome Boschulte Jr. bunted his way on base. He then proceeded to steal second and third before scampering home courtesy of a wild pitch.

Control issues hurt Nieboer in the top of the second as he hit two batters, allowing the Panthers’ Le’Jonte Davis to score, knotting the game at 1-1.