HMS wallops FMS, 22-1, in fastpitch opener

Hopwood Middle School Hilitais walloped southside neighbor Francisco M. Sablan Middle School Napu Riders, 22-1, in the opening day of games of the PSS-NMI Softball Association Interscholastic Boys High School Fast Pitch Softball League 2024-2025 last Saturday at the Dandan Middle School softball field.

The Hilitais, who were last season’s inaugural slow pitch softball runner-up, started this fastpitch season strong. The first inning saw HMS cross home plate twice from runs by Jesse Santos and Paul Guerrero for a 2-0 lead.

The Napu Riders, on the other hand, struggled at the plate and fell out of the first inning with two strikeouts in a row. They also failed to produce at the bottom of the second despite leaving a runner in scoring position. As a result, they were still scoreless, while the Hilitais pummeled FMS’ pitcher with an eight-run second inning and led, 10-0 heading into the third.

The third inning was another explosion of offense by the Hilitais and after the dust settled, seven runs came in for a 17-0 game.

Finally, the Napu Riders pushed a run across home plate in the fourth from Ice Diapolus to get them on board, 1-17. But that was all they could do, while HMS tacked on three in the fourth and two more in the fifth from a homer by Santos for the 22-1 final. Santos collected four runs, three walks, one hit, and one homer, while Guerrero had two hits, two walks, and four runs.

HMS consists of Jesse Santos, Preston Santos, Ezekiel Camacho, Joaquin Delos Santos, Caleb Cabrera, Kevin Schardt, Josh Lizama, Paul Guerrero, Eric Palacios Jr., Franko Ray Tudela, Clyde Ramangmou, and Mijay Hayes.

In the first game of the day, Dandan Middle School Tottots flew past Mount Carmel School Knights, 12-4, and champions of last season’s inaugural slow pitch softball league, Tanapag Middle School, blew Chacha Ocean View Middle School Lancherus out of the field with a 25-0 bombing.

Games are played Saturdays and Mondays, with the championship series set for Dec. 12-14.