Lady Blue Jays, Hotshots blast past softball foes

Lady Blue Jays outfielder Rayna Deleon Guerrero goes for the pop-up in a close collision with teammate Rachel Salalila during their win against BDE in the 2023 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association League last Sunday at the DanDan Softball Field. (LEIGH GASES)

The Lady Blue Jays and Hotshots blasted past their foes in the 2023 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association League last Sunday at the DanDan Softball Field.

The Lady Blue Jays rallied in the last couple of innings to win against BDE, 7-5, while the Hotshots stung Lady Sufa 12-2.

BDE’s Allana Sumang and Keina Rogopes were brought home in the fourth inning by Sonia Isaac to make it a 4-3 game after the Lady Blue Jays had a fiery first inning led by Kiana “Baby K” Camacho’s two-run triple and Allanah Sablan’s RBI single.

However, the Lady Blue Jays were shut out in four consecutive innings as high pop-ups to center and right field were caught by BDE’s outfielders who were anticipating strong hits by their batters.

The Lady Blue Jays corrected their hitting strategy and instead went for line drives down the middle to finally seal in two runs in the sixth inning that brought home Camacho and Rachel Salalila.

BDE retaliated with a big solo home run by Sumang in the sixth inning on two outs. When it seemed like BDE were going to blow the game wide open, Lady Blue Jays pitcher Angel Deleon Guerrero struck out the side before they could do anymore damage.

In the last inning, the Lady Blue Jays battled and scored in two runs before they were retired and with one more shot at the bat, BDE were denied anymore hits as the Lady Blue Jays’ defense came in clutch and shut them out for a close 7-5 game.

In the Hotshots-Lady Sufa game, the former were on fire from their first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning. A double by Janica Lizama brought in Rosie Saralu, while Nish Mario had an RBI single of her own.
Three more runs came in for the Hotshots in the second for a 5-0 lead over Lady Sufa. One run then came in the third inning off a triple by Stacy Eno who then crossed home plate from a sacrifice hit by Kayla Reyes.

Lady Sufa’s deficit then increased in the third inning when a two-run home run by Mario made it a 7-1 game. The inning wasn’t over the Hotshots as three more runs came in after Mario’s long shot.

Only one more run was made by Lady Sufa on account of a fielding error by the Hotshots, but they were then shut down in the last inning as the Hotshots put up two more runs for a 12-2 lopsided win.

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