The San Pedro High School girls and boys won the Northern Secondary Schools Sports Association (NSSSA) softball championships hosted by Muffles College at the Peoples Stadium last Saturday.
MVP pitchers Sueny Vasquez and Julio Bardalez led their teams to back to back victories to win the title of Northern Regional champions, and the right to represent the North at the upcoming national championships to be hosted by Belmopan Comprehensive School on March 20-21.
SPHS Girls Dominate
In Game One, Vasquez struck out two batters, as the SPHS girls hammered the Belize Rural High School girls: 18-2 by mercy rule in 2 innings. The SPHS’ diamond made zero errors, and the BRHS girls left a runner on base; only Megan Munnings and Leann Pott scored for BRHS. Pitcher Alisha Talbert gave up seven hits and walked seven batters, while the BRHS diamond made seven errors. All nine SPHS batters scored in the first inning, as Karissa Vasquez, Caroline Sersland and Nizelle Figueroa crossed the plate twice. Stephany Usher, Emilie Roca, Sueny Vasquez, Bristind Ramirez, Dulce Leiva and Babee Lopez scored one run apiece, and Karissa, Caroline, Emilie, Sueny and Nizelle scored again in the second inning.
In Game Two, the Muffles College girls eliminated the girls of Escuela Secundaria Tecnica Mexico: 23-1 by mercy rule in two innings. In Game Three, the championship final, Vasquez shut out the Muffles College girls: 10-0, striking out 6 batters and giving up one hit, but Muffles left a runner on base and scored zero runs. Pitcher Amanda Jones gave up eight hits, and walked three batters, while the Muffles diamond made nine errors. Karissa Vasquez, Sueny Vasquez and Marcelie Humes scored two runs apiece, and Caroline Sersland, Emilie Roca, Dulce Leiva and Elyssa Crampton scored one run apiece.
SPHS Boys Swing to Victory!
The first game of the male competition saw the SPHS boys wallop the Orange Walk Technical High School boys: 19-4 by mercy rule in the second inning. SPHS pitcher Jorge Escalante struck out four batters, walked three and gave up three hits. The SPHS diamond made two errors, and OWTHS’ Johan Augustine, Hakeem Sheppard, Ian Alvarez and Osiel Lima scored a run apiece. OWTHS’ pitcher Osiel Lima walked three batters and gave up 13 hits, and the diamond made six errors. SPHS’ David Humes and Alan Ayala each crossed the plate thrice, while Escalante, Julio Bardalez, Haseim Valerio and Luis Casanova came home twice. Juan Diaz, Edwardo Ack, Collin Romsa and Armin Badillo score a run apiece.
In Game Two, the Belize Rural High School boys eliminated the Corozal Community College boys: 4-3.
In Game Three the championship final, the SPHS boys sent home the Belize Rural High School boys with a 6-2 win. MVP pitcher Julio Bardalez struck out 10 batters, giving up only one hit. The diamond committed one error, and BRHS left a runner on base. Only BRHS’ Jason Banner and Philip Sutherland scored, while their pitcher Gareth Banner walked three batters, gave up six hits, and struck out one batter. Valerio scored two runs, while Escalante, Bardalez, Humes and Romsa scored a run apiece.
After the games and NSSSA Northern Regional champions had been determined, Muffles College principal Maria Johnson presented team trophies and individual medals to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners during the awards ceremony. Sueny Vasquez and Julio Bardalez of San Pedro High School received the Most Valuable Player awards.
The San Pedro Sun joins the entire community in congratulating our young athletes, and we wish both teams the best of luck in the upcoming National Championships to be held on March 20th and 21st, in Belmopan City, Cayo District.