BEING away from the diamond for quite sometime can cause a little bit of slow playing and rust upon returning to action. However, for the Chalan Pago Amigos, it didn’t take too long before returning to form in the Guam Amateur Baseball Latte Spring League playoffs. The Amigos, after being off for several weeks, took on the 8th-seeded Haggan. Using some late game rallies, Chalan Pago cruised to an easy 11-3 victory over their opponents on Monday night at the Okkodo High School baseball field.

A close game early on, Team Haggan sent Jaylon Alvarez to the mound with the Amigos starting Pete Quintanilla. Chalan Pago got on the board in the second inning with an unearned run against Alvarez to take an early 1-0 lead. After Ray Quintanilla reached base on a Haggan error, teammate Pete Castro Jr. hit a shot to right field for the RBI-double to bring in the game’s first run.

In their half of the third inning, Haggan answered back to equalize the game at 1-1. A Mike Gumataotao double quickly put a runner in scoring position for Haggan. Not too long after, Brian Santos was credited with a single that eventually allowed Gumataotao to cross home plate.

Haggan ran into some trouble in the fourth and fifth innings combined as Chalan Pago mustered seven runs to build a commanding 8-1 lead. Bruce San Nicolas took full advantage of having two teammates on base and stroked a two-RBI single that upped the Chalan Pago lead to 3-1 after four. The Amigos weren’t done offensively as they returned later in the fifth and sparked a five-run rally to build a sizable lead.

The Haggan deficit was trimmed in the sixth inning to keep within striking distance. Back-to-back singles by Keith Santos and Josh Cruz would set up the opportunity for Tony Borja to hit an RBI-fielder’s choice and narrow the Haggan deficit to 8-3. However, the Amigos stayed hot in the bottom half of the inning and added three more runs to their lead. Two straight doubles by Alan Quintanilla and Broad Santos scored the inning’s first run. Moments later, a towering two-run blast by Castro closed the door on Haggan’s playoff run.

Chalan Pago’s Broad Santos raised his league best average to .533 after going 2-for-3 from the plate, while teammate Castro was 2-for-4 with a homerun, a double and four RBIs.

Pete Quintanilla earned the win for the Amigos from the mound pitching five innings. Jaylon Alvarez suffered the loss for Haggan. Offensively, Donovan Santos was 2-for-4 and Josh Cruz went 2-for-3. With the victory, the Amigos advance to the semifinal round where they play the winner between both Agat teams.