Haggan’s Jaylon Alvarez pitches the ball to Amigos’ Rayzor Quintanilla grabbing one of six strikeouts in the loss. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)
After a two-week break, the Chalan Pago Amigos dusted off the rust and beat Haggan 11-3 in a Guam Amateur Baseball Latte Spring League playoff game at the Okkodo field Monday night.
The rusty Amigos had a rough start, being that they were unable to get a hit off Haggan pitcher Jaylon Alvarez and could not pull away as Haggan tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the third.
“I was worried because we didn’t get our first hit until the second inning and with the rustiness of all the players, I was worried,” said Amigos manager, Mike Perez.
The Amigos were back in their groove at the bottom of the fifth, recording five runs to take a demanding 8-1 lead. The seventh and eighth runs were brought in on RBIs by Bruce San Nicolas and Zach Quintanilla.
Amigos’ Peter Quintanilla pitches the ball to Haggan’s P.J. Quintanilla in the top of the second inning. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)
“I knew it was a matter of time before we came back and started winning,” said Perez.
Chalan Pago furthered their lead in the bottom of the sixth when Brod Santos hit an RBI double deep into left field to bring in Alan Quintanilla, making the score 9-3. Pete Castro followed with a two-run homer for the final runs for the Amigos.
Haggan hit ten hits in throughout, but they were unable to capitalize on those opportunities.
“I tip my hat off to their pitcher; he did good tonight. He just struggled at the wrong point where we were able to come out with our hits and secure the lead.”
The Amigos will now go on to play the winner of Tuesday’s game between the No. 4 Agat Cardinals and the No. 5 Agat Mayor’s Office Cardinals.
“Going into the playoffs, everyone has to come in hitting, hot, and ready to play.”