Lady Blue Jays rally against BDE, 11-10

Team BDE’s Allana Sumang eyes and swings at a ball during their game in the 2023 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association League against the Lady Blue Jays last Sunday at the DanDan Softball Field.(LEIGH GASES)

The Lady Blue Jays stunned BDE as they rallied at the bottom of the last inning to win, 11-10, in the 2023 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association League last Sunday at the DanDan Softball Field.

As is the Lady Blue Jays’ modus operandi, it was a slow burn for the team amidst the wet and muddy field and they were behind in the count, 6-2 by the second inning. 

But, it was all-or-nothing for the Lady Blue Jays’ last at-bat in the bottom of the last inning—and they delivered. 

Keolani Rios slid safely into second base for a double, followed up by another double by Kianu Aldan which brought in Rios. Then, with two outs and their last chance, Rachel Salalila brought in Aldan and herself with an inside-the-park home run that snagged the W away from BDE, 11-10.

Earlier in the game, BDE’s Emy Oiterong started off the offensive and was brought in by pitcher Sonia Isaac. Their lineup continued the assault against the Lady Blue Jays’ pitcher and defense as they brought in four runs in the second inning off a couple of defensive errors.

Isaac had it locked down at the mound as she blitzed a series of strikeouts and easy outs against the Lady Blue Jays’ lineup—and when it seemed that the Ladies were just not in the game, Amy Cabrera and Rayna Deleon Guerrero made it on base and were brought in by Alannah Sablan and Keolani Rios in the second inning. 

The Lady Blue Jays’ Kiana Camacho then started off the third inning with an inside-the-park home run and brought the momentum into the fourth inning as the ladies started to get into the groove of their swing—bringing in four runs and were up by two, 8-6.

Lady Blue Jays pitcher Bert Camacho managed to shut down the BDE lineup for three consecutive innings, allowing her offense to catch up and capitalize—but in the sixth inning, a hit by BDE brought in Nikki Nakamura and it was one point away from a tied game, 8-7.

At the top of the last inning, BDE’s bats came alive once again and three runs made by Oiterong, Kyona Tudela, and Allana Sumang came in to lead, 10-8, but a rally by the Lady Blue Jays handed them the L.

In the earlier game against the Hotshots and Lady Sufa, the former blazed through a rainy day with a 25-3 final score.

The game ended in a run-mercy ruling as the Hotshots lineup burned the Lady Sufa’s new pitcher just in the first inning with 15 runs.

The Lady Sufa couldn’t get a grip on the ball and the bat as they weren’t able to make a comeback after being down 22-1 by the end of the second inning.

Lady Sufa’s Noreen Angui was the only one who dented Hotshots pitcher Janice Celis’ ERA as she belted an inside-the-park homerun, but it was too little too late as that was the extent of the damage and the game was called off early.

The Hotshots’ Nish Mario had a homerun of her own in the second inning and brought in four RBIs and teammate Janica Lizama also had four RBI’s.

The men’s masters league results will come out in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.