Lady Blue Jays clinch women’s division pennant

In this file photo, Kiana “Kianu” Aldan looks up to grab a flyball during one of their games in the 2023 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association League at the DanDan Softball Field. (LEIGH GASES)

The Lady Blue Jays clinched the women’s division pennant of the 2023 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association League last Sunday at the DanDan Softball Field.

They faced off against Lady Legals and beat them, 8-3, for an undefeated eight wins heading into the playoffs next Sunday.

Lady Blue Jays’ Rachel Salalila started their offense with a lead-off homerun in the second inning after a quiet first inning. 

Christy Aldan reached base on a fielding error and was brought home by Rayna Deleon Guerrero’s base hit, who then came home with Keolani Rios’ triple also off errors.

After a scoreless third inning for both teams, it was a 3-1 game after Lady Legals brought in a run in the first inning.

The Lady Blue Jays found their way home again in the fourth inning with one run, then added two more in the fifth inning after Destiny Pangelinan hit an RBI single followed by an RBI double off the bat of Kiana Camacho.

The Lady Legals retaliated and put two on the board after a two-RBI homer by Almina Deleon Guerrero, but at this point, the Lady Blue Jays had a three-run lead, 6-3.

The Lady Blue Jays added two more runs for good measure in the last inning but it was more than enough to seal their undefeated record as the Lady Legals failed to make contact in their last at-bat.

In the first game of the afternoon, BDE slipped past Lady Sufa, 14-13.

Lady Sufa drew first blood and had a four-run first inning off multiple base hits, a double by Sheena Maratita, and from BDE fielding errors.

Lady Sufa added two more in the third and were in the lead after BDE scored only three runs in the second, but BDE’s bats erupted in the third inning and brought in seven runs for a change of the tide, 10-6. BDE added one more run in the fourth inning, while Lady Sufa put up goose eggs.

Then, Lady Sufa bounced back and scored six runs in the fifth inning, thanks to an RBI double by Ashley Angui, and back-to-back RBI singles by Kayla Reyes, Tori Pangelinan, and Jaylina Borja.

The game was a nail-biter as Lady Sufa now led, 12-11. In their last at-bat, Lady Sufa only brought in one run and with one more chance for BDE at the bottom of the last inning, scored the three winning runs to kick Lady Sufa out of playoff contention.

For now, next Sunday’s playoff game scheduled games are as follows: 10am, No. 1 seed Lady Blue Jays versus No. 4 seed BDE; and 1pm, No. 2 seed Hot Shots versus No. 3 seed Lady Legals.

Results of the men’s games will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.