Jan. 11, 2007 — Trailing 19-7 entering the fifth inning, Speak the Word Ministries erupted for 14 runs in the top of the inning to defeat 40 Caliber, 21-19, in a time-shortened five-inning game. According to league statistician, George Fachette, it was biggest last-at-bat comeback in league history.
40 Caliber players were stunned, but it was their plethora of errors in that final inning that sealed their fate.
Three teams — Wyatt Heat, Speak the Word and 40 Caliber — came into Thursday night’s Bob Owens slow pitch softball league action tied for first with identical 7-2 records. Wyatt Heat, playing in the first game of the night, easily took care of the Divi Carina Bay Dolphins, 18-7, to assure them of staying in first place for at least another night. The other two first-place teams, 40 Caliber and Speak the Word, then squared off in the feature game for the right to join the Heat in first place.
Batting first, Speak the Word got two runs on a two-run shot off the bat of Kareem Dennis in the top of the inning to open the scoring for the game. 40 Caliber came out blasting in the bottom of the inning, erupting for seven runs, including a solo shot by leadoff hitter Wayne Scott, a two-run blast by Angel Torres, a three-run bomb by Sylvester Blake and an error on Speak the Word's first baseman to take a 7-2 lead at the end of one inning.
Speak the Word got one back in the top of the second on an error by the 40 Caliber shortstop, to close the gap to 7-3. But 40 Caliber answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning on two two-run home runs off the bat of Robert Ramsingh and Blake to extend their lead to 11-3 after two innings. At this point, they looked well on their way to an easy victory.
A three-run homerun by Dexter Skepple and a solo shot by Martin Charles in the top of the third gave Speak the Word some life, as they closed the gap to four once again at 11-7, but 40 Caliber erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the inning to take an 18-7 lead. The game now looked all but over.
After Speak the Word failed to score in the top of the fourth, 40 Caliber got one in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Torres to extend its lead to 12 at 19-7.
It all then fell apart for 40 Caliber in the top of the fifth, where Speak the Word staged its historical comeback.
Speak the Word scored their 14 runs on RBI singles by Dennis, and Kyron DeGrasse, two RBI singles in the inning by Skepple and Ray Johannes, two-run singles by Pickering and Todd Donahue, a solo shot by Pickering, and three runs on 40 Caliber errors to take a 21-19 lead, which they never relinquished. 40 Caliber came up empty in their last at bat and they left the field wondering what just happened.
Ian Lewis pitched the win for Speak the Word, while Steve Nisky got the loss. Leading the way at the plate for Speak the Word were Skepple (3-for-3, with a home run and five RBIs), Dennis (4-for-4, with a home run and three RBIs), and Pickering (3-for-3, with a homerun and three RBIs).
For 40 Caliber, the offensive leaders were Blake (3-for-4, with three home runs eight RBIs), Torres (3-for-4, with a home run and four RBIs) and Scott (2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI).
