The face-off between the Ford Winstars and Kuwait Ladies proved to be a tremendous crowd pleaser in the final of the Ford-sponsored Middle East Softball Championship (MESC) yesterday.
Both teams went bat-for-bat and play-for-play right down to the final tie breaking inning. Kuwait's Mikki Manning brought in the winning run to finish off the game for Kuwait 11-10 in the Ladies A Bracket.
Thursday morning saw another battle between the Ford Winstars and Kuwait Ladies.
After a gallant effort by the Winstars, Kuwait managed to squeak out a win which put them into the finals.
The Dhahran Cruzers cruised their way past local team Allied Diagnostic Angels only to meet up again with the Ford Winstars who turned up the heat on Cruzers and left them behind to move into the final against their arch rivals.
In the Ladies B Bracket, Riyadh Orbits came out early with the bats as Abu Dhabi was stalled for most of the game.
The sixth inning saw Abu Dhabi come back with some runs but not enough to go ahead. The Orbits took first place.
A day earlier, Abu Dhabi Sands Hotel tore apart the Orbits to secure a spot in the Ladies B finals. Local team Somji Strikers not only beat Kuwait Misfits but the sandstorm with a massive 26-5 win.
To finish off the Ladies B, the Orbits would run rings around the Strikers to put them into the finals against Abu Dhabi Sands Hotel.
The Men's A Bracket was another crowd-pleaser in which the Riyadh Raiders clashed with the Kharafi Kings. The game went into the eighth inning which the Raiders clinched by a single run to win 27-26.
The semifinals saw Jubail Flyers fling past Dhahran Express 23-13 only to have their wings clipped by both the Riyadh Raiders 6-23 and the Kharafi Kings 10-22. The Raiders then beat Kharafi Kings 22-18 to move into the finals.
Dynacorp Hornets came on strong in the first few innings against Dhahran Express but in the end the Express sailed past the Hornets into the next meeting with the Kharafi Kings.
The Kings were unstoppable as they totally upset the Dhahran Express with a huge win 25-7 to take them into the finals.
The Al Jomaih Sharks finally shut down the GAC Gladiators to take the Men's B first place.
Earlier, the Aljomaih Sharks began with a 10-7 triumph over the Al Khobar Bulldogs. The red-hot GAC Gladiators stormed past the Sharks with a 22-10 victory.
In the Men's C Bracket, Team Miller had to go two games back-to-back against Kuwait Rough Riders before walking away with the winners' trophy.