Take a one-game lead in best-of-three championship series

THE championship series in the Guam Amateur Baseball Latte Spring League got underway Wednesday night. The Agana Heights King Car Chiefs and Chalan Pago Amigos battled one another in game one of their best-of-three series. Both teams gave everyone in attendance a lot to cheer about. However, at the end of the night, only one team could prevail as the victors. When it was all said and done, the Amigos managed to pick up a slim 5-4 margin of victory to take the early series lead.

Chalan Pago was first to strike and posted runs early in the game. In their half of the first inning, a two-RBI single by James Quintanilla allowed the Amigos to build a quick 2-0 lead.

However, the Chiefs proved why they were the other team in the finals and answered immediately in the top of the second. Back-to-back RBI-doubles by Frank Johnson and Derrick Cruz pushed two runs across home plate to equalize the game.

Before the Amigos retired the side, Agana Heights’ Vic Villagomez was credited with an RBI-single that brought in Johnson to give their team a slight 3-2 lead.

The seesaw battle between two good teams continued in the bottom of the second inning after the Amigos managed to add a run to their tally to tie the game once again. With Ray Jay Aromin in scoring position, a passed ball by the Chiefs allowed Aromin to touch home plate to make it a 3-3 game. It was from that point where things came to a halt, as neither team was able to produce any offense in the third through fifth innings.

Not wanting to keep the game knotted any longer, Chalan Pago went right back to work in the bottom of the sixth. An error by Agana Heights gave the Amigos’ Ryan Castro an opportunity to cruise in for the game’s tie-breaking run. Just before the inning came to an end, another costly error by the Chiefs allowed an Amigos runner to score making it a 5-3 ballgame.

In the final inning, the Chiefs were facing a losing situation unless they could produce at least two runs. Early in the inning, a Shane McDonald RBI-single drove in teammate Mike Blas to bring the Chiefs within a run of tying the game. Agana Heights had its opportunities as they had a runner in scoring position. However, the Amigos were able to record the final out of the game to preserve their lead, giving them the one-run victory, and more importantly a one-game lead in the series.

Game two of the series will be held Monday, Aug. 6, 7 p.m. at the Okkodo Baseball Field.