3 men’s teams vie for lead in BASA pennant

A Tokahoa player makes it safely to first base after a wild throw from the defense during one of their games in the 2022 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association League at the Dandan Softball Field. (LEIGH GASES)

In the always competitive 2022 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association League, Sufa, Man Amigos, and Tokahao bested their respective foes to stay atop of the men’s leaderboard last Sunday at the Dandan Softball Field Sufa, with their win against Hagu La’mun, 19-7, is currently on top of the standings with a 13-4 card, while Man Amigos improved to 12-4 after beating Momma Charo, 19-1; and Tokahao is right behind with a 12-5 record after beating Aimeliik, 18-5.

Audie Maratita and Paul Salalila from Sufa always deliver as they manage to hit a home run in almost every game, with the duo hitting one each against Hagu La’mun pitcher John Acosta. In a turn of events though, as Sufa always seemed to be able to score in every inning, in this game, they went scoreless for three innings, only rallying in the last inning when they scored 13 runs.

In Man Amigos’ game, pitcher Derron Flores shut down the opposition for a run-ruled mercy game, with Momma Charo rounding the bases just once.

In just three innings, Man Amigos scored six runs in the first, four in the second, and nine in the third inning. Manny Sablan scored the lone home run for Man Amigos in the last inning and brought in four RBI’s.

In the Tokahao and Aimeliik game, the former bested the latter, 11-5.

George David, Alvin Takai, and Jerome Delos Santos scored a home run each to extend their lead over Aimeliik.

Tokahao pitcher Ken Kaipat did his duty and helped his team to shut down Aimeliik in three innings, giving Tokahao the opportunity to run away with the win. 

Asahi 16, Salty Boys 6
Asahi postponed another win for the Salty Boys as they defeated them, 16-6.
Darwin Masaharu and a teammate slammed a home run each for Asahi, while Salty Boys’ Jack Cepeda hit one himself.

However, the Salty Boys were overpowered once again as they fell into three scoreless innings, with a last-minute effort to put runs on the board in the last inning. It wasn’t enough as Asahi already secured the win in the fourth inning after putting up seven more runs.

With the win, Asahi is at 9-8, while the Salty Boys have lost 17 consecutive games.

Ngaraard Redmen 18, Peleliu 8
Ngaraard Redmen defeated Peleliu, 18-8, to boost their win total to 10 in the standings. Peleliu dug deeper into the trenches with their 7-9 record.

John Diaz of the Redmen kept Peleliu at bay even after giving up a home run to Alvin Salas who brought in four RBIs. Diaz managed to keep the damage to a minimum as Peleliu went scoreless against him in two innings.

Meanwhile, Diaz’s offense had his back as they pelted Peleliu with run after run. In the fourth inning, the Redmen brought in eight runs and five in the next inning, with a home run from John Taitano.