MHS gains second straight title

Marianas High School players and coaches pose with their championship trophy after beating Saipan Southern High School, 9-7, in the deciding Game 2 of their title match in the MISO girls fast-pitch softball league yesterday at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Marianas High School clinched the championship in the 2013-2014 Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization Girls Fast-pitch Softball League after a thrilling 9-7 win over Saipan Southern High School in the deciding Game 2 of the finals yesterday at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield.

Pitcher Florita Billy turned a disastrous wild pitch to game-saving tag outs to hand the Lady Dolphins back-to-back titles and a repeat of their finals victory against the Lady Rays last season.

Billy, who started out for MHS, but was relieved by Jayna Lizama in the sixth inning, returned at the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded and after the latter walked Krissa Deleon Guerrero. The MHS ace pitcher then threw a low ball to Jinky Kintaro on her first pitch before getting back-to-back strikes. In her fourth pitch, Billy had a wild heave with the ball going over the head of Kintaro. Lady Dolphins catcher Anna Canico rushed to pick up the ball, which headed to the fence past home plate and that scramble would have given runner Erin Mendiola enough time to score.

Mendiola was at third base when Billy committed the errant pitch, but instead of capitalizing on the opportunity, the former stopped in between third base and home plate, while Canico recovered the ball. Canico then threw to Billy, who ran after Mendiola for the tag and second out. Billy then had the presence of mind to chase Anna Lisa Blas, who left second base and ran to third, but was tagged out by the MHS pitcher on her way back to second for the third out. Ayana Ongelungel was earlier called for the first out with Lizama catching her line drive.

Southern had the mental lapses after scoring five runs at the bottom of the last inning and one player (Kintaro) from its top of the order going at-bat for the second time. The Lady Rays got two runs off RBI walks, one from a sacrifice fly, and two more from the Dolphins’ errors to move within two. Southern was once behind by seven, 7-0, as Billy shut down the Lady Rays in the first five innings, before Mendiola broke the team’s silence with her run at the bottom of the sixth off an MHS miscue. Blas also reached off another Lady Dolphins booboo on defense to move Southern within five, 2-7.

The Lady Dolphins got the two runs back at the top of the seventh with Billy and Sabrina Pangelinan scoring. However, Southern refused to bow down and mounted one final comeback bid at the bottom of the last inning. The five batters in the Lady Rays’ top of the order reached with Billy taking a seat in favor of Lizama and Southern boosted their chances to steal the rubber match with the bases loaded. However, Billy reported back for duty and spoiled Southern’s party with the two crucial defensive stops.

The Lady Dolphins managed to defend the title they won last season despite losing to Southern in the winner’s bracket semifinals, 8-9. The Lady Dolphins defeated Kagman in the loser’s bracket semis to earn a second crack at Southern, which wasted its twice-to-beat advantage in the finals after dropping Game 1 last Saturday, 2-13. With another loss in Game 2, Southern, which won the first three editions of the league, is now on a three-year drought. The Lady Rays missed a rare four-peat in the 2011-2012 season when they bowed to Kagman.