Asahi players pose with the championship trophy of the 2024 Belau Amateur Softball Association League after defeating SUFA in their best-of-three championship series at the Dandan baseball field on Sunday.
ASAHI won the 2024 Belau Amateur Softball Association League championship after defeating SUFA twice in a row to sweep the best-of-three championship series at the Dandan baseball field on Sunday.
It was in game 2 when Asahi sealed the deal with a powerful performance.
Asahi entered the top of the opening inning swinging with Marino Hiroichi and Paython Rdiall contributing an RBI single each. SUFA, on the other end, kept up with the tempo and even took over the lead, 3-2, as they answered with a solo homerun courtesy of Pat Deleon Guerrero followed by two more runs.
Asahi kept the momentum flowing throughout the top of the second inning with four more runs led by Taylor Germance’s solo homerun while SUFA were met with three consecutive outs in the bottom half to fall further behind, 3-6.
Ashai’s bombardment continued in the third inning with four additional runs, this time with Germance and Anson Jones connecting a pair of two-run homers. But SUFA’s JJ Cabrera managed to strike back with a two-run homer to shed some hope for his team, which was still down, 5-10.
The fourth inning secured Asahi’s win as they exploded with a 12-run onslaught highlighted by Dom Hideo’s three-run homer while SUFA fired back with six runs to stay in the fight.
In the top of the seventh and final inning, Asahi squeezed in six more runs while SUFA scored eight runs before Asahi bagged the final out to secure the championship trophy, 30-19.
In game 1 SUFA was in the lead when Asahi staged a blistering rally in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run RBI single walk-off by Anson Jones to notch the win, 11-10.
Asahi will be returning next season with the same roster.
“We feel good man,” Asahi Coach McQueen Masaharu said. “We won. Everyone played hard and had fun. We were trailing but started to feel out swings and took over the first game and then just completely took over the second game. We did have two losses but still managed to get the pennant as well.”
Masaharu, who is also BASA vice president, thanked the league officers, volunteers, sponsors and everyone else involved for a great turnout and season.
