Lady Dolphins wraps perfect season with softball title

The Marianas High School Lady Dolphins swept the season and wrapped it up with a title after they defeated Saipan Southern High School Lady Manta Rays, 11-6, in the finals of the Inaugural SBL-PSS Interscholastic Girls High School Slow Pitch Softball League 2023-2024 last Saturday at the Dandan Softball Field.

MHS pitcher Daviann Sablan held down SSHS’ offense after two runs scored for the Lady Rays in the first inning. She then didn’t allow runs in the second and was backed by her offense as Direnalyn Castro, Vileene Norita, Ti’ana Mae Villanueva, Tamia Hix, and Sablan herself scored five runs for a 5-2 lead.

Lady Rays pitcher Draeshia Manglona, on the other hand, had a tough time finding the strike zone and walked multiple Lady Dolphins which caused them to capitalize and break the game wide open even more.

Only two runs scored for SSHS in the third by Rosie Saralu and Teneasha Diaz, as MHS scored two in the third and two more in the fourth. By the sixth inning, MHS had an 11-4 lead from runs contributed by the top to the bottom of their order.

In a last hoorah, SSHS tried to chip away at the lead and walk their way home, but Sablan put them away as she enticed outs from ground balls and allowed only two runs and ended the game, 11-6.

With Sablan, Castro, Norita, Villanueva, and Hix, on MHS’ roster were Hashly Acosta, Herminia Agulto, Reyna Agulto, Sheira Dela Rosa, Angelina George, Deivalyn Ham, Loraena Lucas, Pattylyn Mendiola, Jessica Merifel, Destiny Pangelinan, and Benicia Sablan.

SSHS’ roster along with Manglona, Saralu, and Diaz included Merceana Ada, Aiyishi Agulto, Giselle Bocago, Aleeza Castro, Kyrie Cepeda, Casey Cruz, Riana Jicko, Zoey Pangelinan, Jahsmin Ramon, Shyleen Santos, Mathilda Selepeo, Isabella Teigita, Yasmeen Younis, and Darlincia Masga.

MHS head coach Jared Ayuyu said after the awards ceremony that throughout the season, they fought out every game. “We never had anything easy. The girls were really good at listening and making sure they made the right plays at the right time. I’m just super happy that they all contributed to this win.”

As they were behind at the end of the first inning, Ayuyu said that they just left it all up to the girls to get back into the game. “We wanted them to hit. We wanted them to run. We just wanted to make it a fun and exciting game and we really didn’t want them to walk that much, but it is what it is, and that’s how we earned some points,” he said.

He added that all their games were great, but the championship game was “really exciting, nerve-racking and so much more, but I’m so happy that the girls pulled through.”

The team only has two or three seniors, so they’ll have a bulk of their championship team when the fast pitch season starts up next school year.

Ayuyu then thanked all his fellow coaches for their help. “We all helped each other to make sure that the girls had fun, had a ride, had food and drinks—but also a big thank you to the girls for playing their hearts out and believing in us coaches to help them succeed.”

Daviann Sablan, who carried them to the championship from the mound, said it was actually her first time playing softball. Even with that, she said that she learned quickly and that it was fun. As for the championship game against SSHS, she said, “I was actually really scared to challenge them. But they did a really good job and I’m proud of the sportsmanship that they had.”

In the regular season, the Lady Dolphins scorched through four opponents and won all their games, and in the championship tourney, they retained the top spot as they defeated Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Jr./Sr. High School and Kagman High School to gain a spot in the finals.