A CRAZY SEMIFINAL TUESDAY

By Robert Balajadia

The 2nd quarter sports will come to a close this week, but no day may be more hectic than Semifinal Tuesday with the three major sports in the quarter set to play their semifinals. Every regoin of Guam will be used as a site for some great games in baseball, soccer, and girls basketball.

Kicking off the semifinals are the baseball teams, followed by the boys soccer squads, finishing off the evening with the ladies.

Baseball

#1 FD vs. #5 GW @ Paseo 4 pm
Regular Season Meeting: FD 19, GW 2 – FD 9, GW 8

Friars Bryton Cepeda is coming off a perfect game pitching against the Guam High Panthers. (GSPN file photo)

The Friars will have the MVP on their side in Napu San Miguel, but the feisty GW Geckos are coming off a huge throttling of the Sanchez Sharks and are ready to give the top seeded Friars runs for their money, pun intended.

The Geckos may have dropped both games in the regular season, but as everyone is well aware, the playoffs are a completely different story and Tuesday’s tip off the bat will officially kick off the crazy Tuesday.

#2 Southern vs. #3 Okkodo @ GW 4 pm
Regular Season Meeting: Southern 15, Okkodo 10 – Okkodo 9, Southern 6

Bulldogs Jeremy Flores rounds the bases after an error. (GSPN file photo)

The defending champions aren’t planning on giving up their title anytime soon, though the Okkodo Bulldogs have proven to be a team strong enough to keep up with anyone. Bulldogs big time batter Jeremy Flores will be aiming to test the Dolphin defense led by shortstop Nicolas Sablan.

The game will be played at a neutral site, so it may just come down to whomever is more comfortable playing at the Geckos field. From opposite ends of the island, the Bulldogs and Dolphins will settle their differences on the diamond.

Boys Soccer

#1 Harvest vs. #4 FD @ GFA 5 pm
Regular Season Meeting: Harvest 2, FD 1

FD’s Keita Yoshida was able to deflect an inbound pass away from a Guam High defender. (GSPN file photo)

The Harvest Eagles were a game away from ending the season unbeaten, until falling to the GW Geckos in the regular season finale. The loss has sure left a bad taste in the Eagles mouths, but they quickly got back to top-seed form after netting 11 goals against the Tiyan Titans.

FD’s Jestin Escobar took the league MVP title, but the Friars are a dangerous scoring threat all around outside of Escobar as well. FD came close to becoming the Eagles first loss, but a hardy second half allowed the Eagles to stay perfect. GFA will be rocking with one of these teams destined to fly to the finals, but whether it will be an Eagle or a Phoenix Friar has yet to be determined.

#2 JFK vs. #3 GW @ GFA 7 pm
Regular Season Meeting: 2-2 Tie

Ryo Sakane calls to his teammate for a cross which would result in the Islanders third goal of the game in the second half of play. (GSPN file photo)

After tying in their regular season meeting, the JFK Islanders and GW Geckos are ready to settle the score. You can either be optimistic or pessimistic about a tie ball game, but with the last spot to the finals on the line, expect none of these teams to settle for even a close game.

The Geckos were the only team to beat the Harvest Eagles, which happened to be the first team to beat the JFK Islanders. The Islanders haven’t beaten any of the remaining teams in the playoffs, also tying with FD, so they are ready to fix those mistakes come Tuesday night, the last official game of the evening.

Girls Basketball

#2 Southern vs. #3 JFK @ Southern 6 pm
Regular Season Meeting: Southern 60, JFK 49

Dolphins April “Speedy” Talledo drives past to basket for two of her 33 points. (GSPN file photo)

The JFK Islanders were haunted by their horrific start against the Southern Dolphins, leading to their eventual loss. JFK is a strong defensive team, but Dolphins’ guard April “Speedy” Talledo scored a game high 33 points to put the Islanders away.

The game plan will obviously be to try and slow down the defending champion Talledo, but many have tried and no one has yet to succeed. JFK will rely on seniors Alison “E-Racer” Bowman and Rufina Royster to control the offense, though trying to handle Talledo will be the real key.

#1 Okkodo vs. #5 Academy 6 pm
Regular Season Meeting: Academy 56, Okkodo 50

The Academy Cougars were the only team to best the Okkodo Bulldogs led by Kali “Special K” Benavente. (GSPN file photo)

The only loss of the season for the Bulldogs came at the hands of the Cougars in the season opener. Academy played strong in front of their home crowd, with a healthy Kali “Speical K” Benavente at the helm. Benavente has been a little banged up since, and now the Bulldogs will be the hosts for the evening.

Felicia “Fearless” Borja is coming off her best season as a Bulldog, leading them to their best record in school history. Having such a high seed comes with a bunch of expectations and Borja will do everything in her power to go out in her senior year on top. Benavente has yet to miss a girls basketball finals and the junior guard isn’t planning on breaking that streak.

Check back with us Tuesday night as GSPN will have all the latest from the semifinals.