By Frederick Halley

TORONTO, Canada – Mercenary and Carr Tec shared top honours when the Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) held its spectacular 24th annual presentation, dinner and dance at the East Town Banquet Hall, Scarborough here last Saturday night.

Among those gracing the auspicious occasion was Guyana’s Consul General to Toronto, Anyin Choo.

Mercenary were crowned Division One playoff and regular season champions, copping the Oil Changers trophy in the process while they also added the Paul & Son Restoration 15-over crown to their collection.

It was also a grand night of celebration for Carr Tec players, who swept both the regular season (Conference A) and Division Two playoffs championship titles, winning the Norman Sue Bakery trophy and the Paul & Son’s for their 15-over triumph.

Incidentally, both Mercenary and Carr Tec failed in their bid for a complete sweep, the former beaten by Rems in the T10 semi-final while Enmore upstaged Carr Tec in the T10 Division Two final.

Apart from winning the Division One T10 final where they carted off the DTE Industries/Nirad Lall trophy, Rems were runners-up in the playoffs and in the 15-over knockout tournament.

Good Success finished as winners of Conference B in Division Two but had to settle for the runners-up spot in the playoffs championship, bowing out to Carr Tec.

The 15-over consolation trophy winners were Rebels, who got a walkover from GT Bannas in Division One and Bacchus Ruff Ryders, who whipped Ramblers in Division Two, which was sponsored by Paul & Son.

Rebels also had to settle for the DTE Industries/Nirad Lall T10 consolation Division One title, with Sensation/Better Hope being the runners-up while Wakenaam took the Division Two crown, defeating Ramblers in the process.

Former Guyana National player Trevon Garraway of GT Bannas, with 206 runs, led Division One with the most runs while Krishna Deosarran (Rems) and Surujpaul Deosaran (Rems) were second and third respectively, with 164 and 158..

In Division Two, former Guyana youth player Rovendra Mandolall (Carr Tec) led the way with a phenomenal 528 runs – the most by any player – and he was followed by Hemnarine Chattergoon (Wakenaam) and Unis Yussuf  (Bacchus Ruff Ryders) with 335 and 314 respectively.

The three top bowlers in Division One were Davendra Ramkissoon (Sensation/Better Hope) Yoodhanlall Sukhlall (Rems) and Ishree (Andy) Persaud (Mercenary) with 23, 20, and 14 wickets respectively.

The Division Two saw Mohan Singh (Canadian Legends) top the bowling with 16 wickets, one more than his teammate Walley Bacchus, Surendra Beepat (Wakenaam) and Ron Etwaroo (Ramblers) while Rakesh Dyal (Carr Tec) took 14.

Among the Most Valuable Player (MVP) recipients were Mercenary’s Daryl Narine and Rems’ Chien Gittens in the Division One playoffs final; Fizul Haniff (Carr Tec) and Sheikh Parsram (Good Success) in the Conference B playoff final; Aftab Shamsudeen (Mercenary), Chien Gittens (Rems), Rovendra Mandolall (Carr Tec), Shiv Persaud (Enmore) Jaybalack Panday (Bacchus Ruff Ryders) and Patrick Shivrattan (Ramblers) in the Paul & Son-sponsored 15-over tournament.

The DTE Industries/Nirad Lall-sponsored 10-over MVPs were Surujpaul Deosaran (Rems) Nathan Persaud (GT Bannas), Troy Gonsalves (Rebels), Richard Narine (Sensation/Better Hope) Abdool Azeez (Enmore), Shazam Baksh (Carr Tec), Shablall Sha Mahabir (Wakenaam) and Rofel Boodhu (Ramblers).

Centuries were recorded by former Guyana players Mandolall (123), Krishna Arjune (Leguan Warriors) and Harrienarine Chattergoon (Good Success) who had scores of 120 and 106 respectively while there were hat-tricks for Kenny Ramsaywack (Smashers), Imtiaz Moursalien (Rebels), Shadeek Khan (Carr Tec), Rabindra Diaram (Mercenary) and Gansham Mahadeo (Canadian Legands).

The annual Independence Cup, sponsored by Trophy Stall (Guyana), was won by Rebel Masters with Chien Gittens emerging as the MVP. Jaguars, comprising players from Division Two carted off the All Stars trophy, sponsored by Heman Misir and Mohan Singh, with the MVPs being Ramo Malone and Yoodhanlall Sukhlall.