The Queens of Diamonds pose for a photo after winning the women’s division title of the 2022 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball League on Sunday at the Dandan baseball field.
Queens of Diamonds third baseman Destiny Pangelinan extends to catch the throw for the out during the women’s division championship game of the 2022 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball League Sunday at the Dandan baseball field.
THE Queens of Diamonds claimed the women’s division championship of the 2022 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball League by besting the Hot Shots in a best-of-three series Sunday at the Dandan baseball field.
In the third and final game of the series, the Queens of Diamonds allowed the Hot Shots only one run in the opening inning before going on an offensive rampage with a total of eight runs with nearly everyone in the lineup earning an RBI.
Down 1-8, the Hot Shots struggled with only one run made in the top of the second inning while the Queens continued to move further out of reach by notching four runs that were highlighted by Bong Babauta’s two-run homer for a 12-2 lead.
But in the third inning, the Hot Shots staged a comeback. With the bases filled, Ash Aguon broke the silence with a two-RBI double while three more runs were added thanks to the Queens’ errors. Two more runs were then delivered by the Hot Shots’ Erica Tenorio to cut the Queens’ lead, 9-12.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Hot Shots continued to trim the deficit with a solo run in the top of the fifth to make it 10-12.
However, the Queens went on another scoring spree led by Rachel Salalila’s three-run homer and Amy Cabrera’s two-RBI in-the-park homerun to score 11 runs for a more comfortable lead, 23-10.
The Hot Shots still had some fight left in them, clinching a run in the seventh and final inning, but it wasn’t enough as the Queens bagged the three outs needed to secure the win and the championship.
The Queens won the first game, 7-6, and had the chance to sweep the series but were bested by the Hot Shots in game two, 12-15.
After losing game 2, Queens Coach Camacho said, “We needed to recuperate. So put our heads together to do what we had to do to take game 3.”
He said the Hot Shots are “strong — they put their heart out so it was their chance to gain momentum….”
He added, “I want to thank my girls that played today, our fans and family and Coach Manny Sablan.”
When asked about their near-perfect record Coach Camacho said, “It’s an impressive record. We thought we would almost have a perfect record. It’s also our first time to compete here.”
Team captain Bert Camacho said “there was a lot of teamwork — I am thankful to Ferland Camacho, Manny Sablan and Paul Salalila for coaching this team all the way to the top. We made a lot of errors in game two but came back in game 3. I told the girls, ‘Play hard but let’s have fun.’”
