The Għajnsielem Redcoats put on a great performance to beat the Mellieħa Curves 10-6 on Sunday, in Għajnsielem, to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 Fastpitch National Championship Series.The Redcoats were very good at every department. Aggressive base running, timely defensive plays, clutch hitting and solid pitching. They build a commanding 10-2 lead in the first five innings and then made several changes to give an opportunity to the new members of their team to gain some experience.
On Sunday the Redcoats registered a season-high 13 hits. Estelle Scicluna contributed with 3 hits and 2 runs batted in (RBIs), Gianella Mallia, Dosithee Attard and Lara Buttigieg had 2 hits and an RBI each. The other hits came off the bats of Corinne Grima, Thea Sultana, Laragh Tabone, with an RBI each, and the very promising Cassidy Cordina.Redcoats starting pitcher Estelle Scicluna was once again instrumental for her team. She struck out 8 opponents and limited the Curves to a couple of runs through five innings. She found plenty of support from her defence with Corinne Grima making two outstanding plays to catch two pop-ups behind home plate. Courtney Attard, introduced at right field in the 4th inning, made another outstanding catch, as did Lara Buttigieg (2nd base) and Gianella Mallia (3rd base). Estelle also caught two pop-ups and registered 4 assists to help her own cause. Clarissa Camilleri (short stop), Laragh Tabone (1st base), Dosithee Attard (centre field), Thea Sultana (left field) and Shaniya Spiteri (right field) completed the starting line-up.
The steady improvement of the Mellieħa Curves should also be highlighted. Hitting improved significantly as did pitching. They are however, facing the most talented team the Redcoats ever had, with very athletic and fundamentally sound players at every position, along with a batting line-up that poses a threat from the lead-off hitter all the way down to the ninth batter.
Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday, 8 May, at 2pm in Għajnsielem in what is a must win situation for the Curves, while the Redcoats could clinch the National Championship with a victory.
