JOSEPH ODOEKWU
The Nigeria baseball5 youth team who suffered a defeat in their opener against Ghana on Saturday rose from that defeat to beat Benin Republic 2-0.
The game which started at exactly 15:07 WAT saw Nigeria secure 2 runs within the first two minutes of play to boost their hope of a win over their west African neigbours and were more tactical in the game.
There was also massive home support for Nigeria in this encounter courtesy of younger players from the Lagos State Baseball team who cheered them to their first victory in the championship.
The first set ended at exactly 03:07pm WAT with Nigeria finishing with 13 runs against Benin Republic who had 1 run before the break was observed.
The second set which started at exactly 03:45 WAT and ended at 04:25pm gave some inspiration to both sides but Nigeria triumphed again with a 13-3 victory where Benin recorded their highest runs.
In the fourth and final game of the day, defending champions Ghana failed to find their rhythm against a determined Tunisia when the first set of the game started by 4:55pm and Tunisia winning by 2-0.
Their game could be best described as the final before the final as tactical battle emanating from both benches resulted in several calls on umpires by managers and the atmosphere becoming heated as tempers rose.
In the bid to avoid any tendency that could lead to rancour as the game was becoming rowdy, the umpires had to call managers of both sides together for a pep talk at the end of the first set where they held a meeting. Tunisia however won the first set with 19 runs while Ghana had 5 runs before the break.
The five minutes break observed resumed at 5:35pm WAT and Tunisia continued their dominance in the game taking an early 2 runs lead within a space of five minutes. Ghana’s effort to comeback did not yield any result as Tunisia won again with 8-3 to ensure the game did not go into a third set.
The competition continues on Sunday which is the final day at 9:00am WAT, with Ghana facing Benin Republic, while the second game before the play-off will be by 10:30 as the North Africans confront Nigeria.
