Down to Final Four in men’s division

Sufa’s Paul Salalila went 2-for-4 at bat in their game against Momma Charu in the men’s division of the 2022 Budweiser Belau Softball Association League last Sunday at the Dandan Softball Field.(LEIGH GASES)

Sufa, Tokahao, Asahi, and Hagu La’mun were on fire and kept the runs coming to secure their spot in the semifinals of the 2022 Budweiser Belau Softball Association League in another searing hot Sunday at the Dandan Softball Field.

In the first men’s game of the day, Sufa bested Momma Charu, 10-6; then, Tokahao rallied against Peleliu, 16-11; Asahi slipped past Man Amigos, 11-9; and Hagu La’mun run-ruled Ngaraard Redmen, 15-5.

The semifinals are this Sunday, Dec. 11, with a showdown between Sufa and Asahi and with a game between Tokahao and La’mun Hagu right after. The winners of those games will face off in the finals on Dec. 18.

Sufa 10,
Momma Charu 6
Sufa’s Audie Maratita almost completed the cycle as he led his team once again to victory, 10-6, over Momma Charu and is the first team to make it into the semifinals.

Maratita went 3-for-4 at bat in which he scored a home run, hit a triple and a double, and collected two RBIs.

However, until the fourth inning, Momma Charu was in the lead by one run after back-to-back-to-back runs scored in the second inning by Oscar Sablan, Ben Kileleman, and Ezekiel Fitial, for a 5-4 lead. 

Then, in the fourth inning, Sufa pitcher Tom Camacho said no more to Momma Charu’s lineup as he shut them down in the next three innings, allowing only one run. Meanwhile, his offense backed him up with runs to take the lead and the win, kicking out Momma Charu from the race for the championships.

In the end, Ben Mesa, Mike Cruz, and Camacho himself had one RBI each.

Tokahao 16, Peleliu 11
Tokahao rallied against Peleliu to win, 16-11, nudging last year’s defending champs out of the race.

The game started off in favor of Peleliu as they scored consecutive runs—three in the first and three in the second with one home run made by Joe Lizama. But the tide changed in the third inning as Tokahao finally made contact with the ball.

Tokahao’s Manny Villagomez started off their rally with a three-run home run at the top of the third inning, which avalanched into more runs in the next innings. Teammate Robert Bansil scored two home runs himself in the sixth and seventh, bringing in five RBIs.

At this point in the fifth inning, Peleliu had already scored all their runs—11—and came up empty in the next three innings, allowing Tokahao to swoop the victory from their clutches.

Asahi 11,
Man Amigos 9
Asahi managed to slip past Man Amigos in the last inning in a close 11-9 game.

Asahi’s bats came alive in the last inning for a five-run inning, coming back from four scoreless ones.

Man Amigos laid to waste their three-run lead in the fourth inning and Manny Sablan’s home run, as Asahi pitcher Dominic Hideo didn’t allow them any more runs toward the end of the game.

Hagu La’mun 15, Redmen 5
In the last men’s division game of the day, Hagu La’mun run-ruled the Ngaraard Redmen, 15-5.

From the get-go, Hagu La’mun rumbled through Redmen pitcher Joe Celis’ pitches, scoring seven runs in the first inning. It was an entirely different story for Redmen batters as they couldn’t connect with the ball as only two runs scored in the first couple of innings, then three in the fourth.

Hagu La’mun’s onslaught of runs didn’t stop, with three more runs in the next couple of innings, then five in the last inning. John Acosta had two RBIs while teammates Tim Wesley, Celis, Glen Camacho, Mitch Aaron, Rodney Camacho, and Henry Lizama had one each.

The women’s division playoff results will be posted in the next edition of Saipan Tribune.