ESPERANZA VILLAGE, Cayo District, Mon. Nov. 7, 2016–Three teams only participated, and El Salvador emerged the winner of the 13th Central American Women’s U-22 Softball Championship, which took place over the weekend, November 5-6, at the Joan Garbutt Stadium in Esperanza, Cayo District. The tournament was originally planned to be held at Rogers Stadium in Belize City, but was later moved west due to inclement weather in the coastal areas.
The tournament followed a double round-robin format. In games on Saturday, El Salvador won, 21-5, over Costa Rica; Belize defeated Costa Rica, 14-6; and El Salvador edged Belize, 5-3. And on Sunday, Belize dropped Costa Rica, 11-3; El Salvador crushed Costa Rica, 10-1; and El Salvador again beat Belize, 6-1.
The standings at the end of the round-robins showed El Salvador with a (4-0) won-lost record, Belize (2-2) and Costa Rica (0-4). The Gold Medal game therefore featured El Salvador vs Belize, and again El Salvador prevailed, 4-1, over Belize, for the championship. Belize settled for second place, and Costa Rica was third.
Individual awards
Batting:
Most Hits – Kelsey Robinson (Belize) 7
Most Home Runs – Karla Seremeno (El Salvador) 2
Most Runs Batted In – Karla Seremeno (El Salvador) 9
Highest Batting Average – Kelsey Robinson (Belize) .500 (14-7) and Karla Seremeno (El Salvador) .500 (12-6).
Pitching:
Most Strikeouts – Ashley Lucas (Belize) 16.
Most Wins – Karla Seremeno (El Salvador) 2-0 and Ashley Lucas (Belize (2-1).
Most Valuable Player – Karla Seremeno (El Salvador).
(Information courtesy Jude T. Lizama, Tournament Director)