Guatemala dominates at Central American Games Softball competition

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – After two complete days of competition, Guatemala continues their regional domination as both the men and women softball National Teams remain undefeated at the Managua 2017 Central American Games.

In the women’s competition, World’s No. 20 Guatemala picked up a pair of wins to remain in first place, while Panama and Nicaragua split their games to be tied for second place. El Salvador rounds out the competition field in fourth place.

On the men’s side, No. 18 Guatemala won their two games to remain in first place, but Panama is close behind in second with only one loss. There is a three-way tie for third place as Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador each have one win, while Costa Rica sits in sixth place.

WOMEN’S COMPETITION

The game of the day between Panama and El Salvador started the day off. The shoot-out required two extra innings before Panama escaped with the 8-7 win. Each team got on the scoreboard in the opening inning as both exchanged one run. El Salvador took the lead in the third, but Panama recovered in the fourth for a tied 2-2 ball game. The evenly matched teams then exchanged two runs each in the seventh and three more runs in the eighth to force the game to continue. But Panama came away with the win as Julissa Mendieta was game decider. Going 3-5 at the plate, including a double and 2 RBIs, she also earned the win, pitching a solid 3 innings. Katy Gáleas got the loss in 2 innings of work.

El Salvador must have used up all their energy as they were blown out by Guatemala 10-0 in the following game. Ximena Rivera pitched a complete game for the win, while Jacqueline Castellón received the loss. Ángela Alvarado led all batters for 2-4 with one RBI.

In the third game, Guatemala shut out Nicaragua 3-0 for their second win of the day scoring all their runs in the bottom of the sixth. Fernanda Santacruz was the hero of the game, going 1-2 with one RBI and one run scored. Josselline Monge recorded her third win in the competition, allowing only three hits in her complete game performance, while Kimberly Mayorga got the loss in 5.1 innings of work.

Nicaragua continued to excite the home crowd with another thriller to end the day with a 9-8 win over Panama. The game was scoreless through three innings before the offense came alive. Panama scored three runs in the top of the fourth while Nicaragua scored two in the bottom half for a 3-2 game. Then the bats got hot as both plated five runs in the fifth and sixth inning respectively. Down by one run heading into the bottom of the seventh, Nicaragua had their backs against the wall. However, Jennifer Castellón was the hero hitting the game winning single with two outs to give the hosts the 9-8 win. Ana Olivas earned the win, while Olaisa Pérez got the loss.

Tuesday – December 5th, 2017

Wednesday – December 6th, 2017

MEN’S COMPETITION

El Salvador earned their first win of the competition with a 1-0 win over Costa Rica. Cesar Rodríguez pitched the complete game, facing the minimum number of batters. Juan Guzmán received the loss. Jonathan Jovel led all batters going 3-3.

Trying to stage a seventh inning comeback, El Salvador lost to Panama 8-7 in the second game of the day. El Salvador had the bats going early, scoring four runs in the first inning. But Panama stayed in it to tie the game up at 6-6 in the fourth. Scoring one run in both the fifth and seventh inning, Panama extended their lead to 8-6. However, El Salvador caused a scare scoring one run before Panama closed the game out in their favor. Martin Solís was credited as the game decider with a timely double and two RBIs. The winning pitcher was Carlos Linares, while Carlos Rodríguez received the loss.

In the third game of the day, Panama went the distance defeating Honduras 10-4. The game started off slow as Panama scored the game’s first runs in the fourth inning. With the game 6-0 in Panama’s favor, Honduras rounded the bases four times in the fifth for a competitive game. But Panama shut the door quickly, scoring four more runs in the sixth to keep the lead and eventual win. Ricardo Lasso had a productive game at the plate going 1-2 with two RBIs and scoring twice. Joaquín Vargas earned the win pitching four innings, while Héctor Fernández received the loss.

Scoring five runs in the first inning and four runs in both the third and fourth, Guatemala easily cruised to a win over Costa Rica 13-3. Denis Hurtarte hit the game ending single in the bottom of the fourth, while Juan Orellan went 2-3 with a 2-RBI double and scoring three times. Jian Ferrari earned his first win of the competition striking out 8, while Pedro Diaz came in relief to receive the loss.

In the final game of the day, Guatemala blew out Nicaragua 18-2 but needed all seven innings to do so. With the score 6-0, Guatemala plated 12 runs in the seventh to record their fourth consecutive win. Luis Folgar hit two home runs, while Luis Villeda and Pedro Diéguez each hit one. Guillermo Ramos pitched the complete game for the win, while Kent McCloud received the loss in his two innings of work.

Tuesday – December 5th, 2017

Wednesday – December 6th, 2017