Central’s Gwen Liz girls and Nazarene High boys edge the South’s Independence High girls and boys, respectively, to win NSSSA softball championships
Four female and four male high school softball teams, champions of the four country zones, converged at King’s College in Lucky Strike Village, Belize District, to compete on Friday and Saturday, March 14-15, in the National Secondary Schools Sports Association (NSSSA) 2014 Softball Championship. The tournament followed a simple knockout format, with Friday’s losers playing for third place on Saturday, and Friday’s female (F) and male (M) winners meeting for the championship on Saturday. There were some exciting duels in this year’s Nationals, with both championship games ending in low scoring shutouts.
Representing their respective zones were:
NORTH – (Female) Belize Rural High School (BRHS); (Male) San Pedro High School (SPHS)
CENTRAL – (Female) Gwen Lizarraga High School (GLHS); (Male) Nazarene High School (NHS)
WEST – (Female) Alvin Young Nazarene High School (AYNHS); (Male) Belmopan Comprehensive High School (BCS)
SOUTH – (Female) Independence High School (InHS); (Male) Independence High School (InHS)
In first round games on Friday, it was (F) InHS, 12-10, over AYNHS; winning pitcher (WP) Camryn Linarez, and losing pitcher (LP) Shanaya Soberanis. (M) InHS shelled BCS, 18-1; WP – Gregory Almendarez, LP – Kyle Thomas. (F) GLH won, 6-2, over BRHS; WP – Ashley Lucas, LP – Sabrina Campos. And (M) NHS edged SPHS, 5-3; WP – Jerome Carr, LP – Damian Pollard.
On Saturday, in the female 3rd place game, BRHS won, 7-4, over AYNHS; WP – Sabrina Campos, LP – Shanaya Soberanis. And for the male 3rd place, SPH crushed BCS, 11-2; WP – Lester Alvarez, LP – Aaron Gamboa.
In the female championship game, Gwen Lizarraga High won, 2-0, over Independence High; WP – Ashley Lucas, LP – Camryn Linarez. And in the male championship game, it was Nazarene High, 3-0, over Independence High; WP – Jerome Carr, LP – Gregory Almendarez.
The Female MVP of the tournament was Gwen Liz pitcher Ashley Lucas, who had 13 strikeouts in the 2 games played; and the Male MVP was Nazarene High pitcher Jerome Carr, who recorded 11 strikeouts in the 2 games.