Sultanes de Monterrey (15-9) ended the Mexican Softball League (Liga Mexicana de Softbol, LMS) regular season as the top seeded team, and will open the playoffs against El Aguila de Veracruz (12-12), fourth place finisher in the standings. The second semifinal will be played between Charros de Guadalajara (14-9) and Diablos de Mexico (14-10).
Softball fans outside Mexico can watch the first-ever LMS postseason on GameTime, the WBSC-owned streaming platform. For $4.99 dollars, fans will get access to all the playoff games, including the finals, called Serie de la Reina (Queen Series).
Each semifinal is a best-of-five series, with the first two games at the lower-seeded team’s park, and the other three (if necessary) at the higher-seeded team’s park. The series opens on Tuesday 5 March, with the two winners advancing to the Serie de la Reina.
The first two games of the Serie de la Reina are scheduled on 12 and 13 March with the three final games of the season (if necessary) on 15, 16 and 17 March.
Sultanes vs El Aguila
A solid .625 winning percentage gave Sultanes the top spot in the standings and will play all the postseason with home-field advantage. Yanina Treviño carried the team, leading the season with 11 wins, and finishing in the top three in ERA (1.95), strikeouts (94), complete games (8) and shutouts (8). Treviño is a two-time U-18 Women's Softball World Cup veteran and was member of the Mexican National Team during The World Games 2022.
In the semifinals, they will face El Aguila de Veracruz (with an even 12-12 record) and their ace, the cuban left-hander Yilian Tornes, who led the season in strikeouts (141) and complete games (11), finished second in ERA (1.83) and wins (9), and third in shutouts (2). Tornes is a member of the Cuban National Team who played the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup last year.
The series will open on Tuesday at Beto Avila Stadium in Veracruz, at 19:30 local time.
Charros vs Diablos
The two biggest cities in Mexico will see their LMS teams collide in the second semifinal of the league's inaugural season.
Charros de Guadalajara finished in second place with a 14-9 mark, behind a monster season by Yeraldine Carrion, who led the season in ERA (1.44) and shutouts (6), including the first two no-hitters in the history of the league. Carrion played for Mexico at the U-18 Women's Softball World Cup 2019, helping her team to a sixth place finish. The lineup is led by Venezuelan Olympian Yuruby Alicart, RBI-leader with 21.
Their rivals will be Diablos de Mexico, who will count with the Cuban starter Yamerki Guevara from the circle. The Cuban National Team pitcher finished the season fourth in wins (7), strikeouts (70) and shutouts (1).
Game 1 of the series is scheduled for Tuesday, 19:00 local time, at Estadio de Beisbol de Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City.
