The San Pedro Junior College (SPJC) softball team represented the Central region and placed fourth at the Association of Tertiary Level Institutions of Belize (ATLIB) national softball championships hosted by Independence Junior College (IJC) at the 3D Softball Stadium in Independence on Saturday, February 24th.
In Game One, the hosts IJC had narrowly eliminated the University of Belize (UB) Black Jaguars from the championship final, as pitcher Daniel Godoy struck out five batters to lead IJC to a 13-12 win over UB. Beardall struck out four batters but walked two and gave up seven hits. The UB diamond also made five errors allowing IJC to score 13 runs.
In Game Two, the SPJC hitters collected five hits off pitcher Dale Centeno on the mound for the Northern regional champions – the Centro Escolar Mexico Junior College (CEMJC. The CEMJC diamond also made three errors allowing SPJC’s first base Andres Perez to cross the plate twice, while shortstop Aaliyah Pilgrim and pitcher Julio Bardalez each scored once.
Bardalez struck out nine batters, but walked four and gave up seven hits, allowing CEMJC to score six runs; led by Zenoemi Ek who scored twice, while Ian Alvarez, Alessandro Cawich and Ashari Zuniga each scored once. Centeno scored the winning run in the bottom of the 5th inning.
In Game Three, the consolation match for third place, the University of Belize Black Jaguars walloped seven hits off Bardalez’s pitching. Bardalez struck out two batters and walked one, but the SPJC diamond made 14 errors, allowing UB to score 12 runs, to win 12-2 by mercy rule in the bottom of the third inning. Pitcher Carlos Beardall led the attack scoring three runs, Zane Griffith hit a home run to cross the plate twice, and Kyra Gillett and Kyle Banner each scored two runs. Mario Vivas, Lee Ann Pott, and Kelsey Salazar each scored once. Beardall struck out four batters, walked one and only gave up two hits, limiting SPJC as only Perez and Bardalez scored a run apiece.
In Game Four, the championship final, IJC pitcher Tayshaun Cardinez struck out 6 batters and walked one to lead IJC to a five-four win over CEMJC. IJC collected nine hits off Dale Centeno’s pitching to score 5 runs, even as the CEMJC diamond forced them to leave two runners on base.
At the awards ceremony after the final, ATLIB president Faustino Yaxcal presented team trophies and individual medals to the first, second and third place winners.
