ISLANDERS ELIMINATE SHARKS, SET UP FINALS WITH COUGARS

By Cole Kim

The JFK Islanders made a championship game bid on Saturday morning, after a win over the Sanchez Sharks in the third place game of the IIAAG softball playoffs. The score was 14-11, JFK winning.

The Sharks started the game with a sense of purpose, earning four runs. These runs came from an RBI double from Sablan, and an RBI single hit by Joseph. This scored three out of the four runs. The fourth run was scored when Sablan later stole home plate after a bad pitch from Erynn Blaz. The score at the end of the top of the first inning was 4-0, Sharks with a dominant lead.

At the bottom of the first inning, the JFK offense got heated up, scoring six runs. The first run came from an RBI double hit by Isabel Itliong-Cruz, who was later batted in from a sacrifice hit from Olivia Iriarte. The next run was scored by Vianka Leon Guerrero, after hitting an RBI single.The next two runs were also scored from an RBI, hit by Kiyoni Yamaguchi. The last run came from Emani Gutierrez, an RBI single. This surge of power put the Islanders ahead, 6-4.

JFK had another high powered offensive effort in the bottom of the second inning, Scoring four runs. One of these runs were from an RBI single hit by Erynn Blaz. The Other three were batted in when Jaeda Aguon hit an in the park triple homer. This made the score 10-4, Islanders looking strong.

This is when JFK changed pitchers. Pillar George took the pitcher’s mound after spending two innings in left field.

In the top of the fourth inning, Sanchez scored a single run. This lone run came from an RBI single hit by Bumlanglag. The score is now 10-5.

The Islanders scored three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, all of which came from RBIs, one of which was hit by Yamaguchi. This made the score 13-5.

Two more Sanchez runs were scored in the top of the fifth. These runs came from RBI single. The other was scored when Torre hit a sacrifice groundball. The score is now 13-7, Islanders still ahead.

The last Islander run was achieved in the Bottom of the fifth inning, when Narissa Blaz hit an RBI triple.

The final Sanchez runs were scored in the seventh inning. The score was 14-11.

“My girls worked hard, maybe we can beat Academy twice this year, we had good team chemistry,” said JFK after the win, “we need to continue being focused and get them to believe in themselves.”

The JFK Islanders and Academy Cougars will face off in the title game, while the Sanchez Sharks won third place in the IIAAG softball conference. The final score was 14-11.