Latin America opens with win over West

Latin America (Maunabo, Puerto Rico) had their day off on Sunday, but didn’t appear rusty at all in their 5-3 win over a game West (Tuscon, Ariz.) team on Monday, Aug. 9.

The West opened the scoring in the bottom of the second. Cynthia Pelayo led off the game with a walk-off of Latin America pitcher Dayanne Solivan. She came around to score, went a bloop off the bat of Brianna Urbina, fell between fielders in the outfield, and the West had a quick 1-0 lead.

Latin America didn’t take long to get that run back. In the top of the third, Dayanira Figueroa drew a walk off Urbina, and she eventually came around to score on a throwing error. Latin America was able to load the bases with two outs, but new West pitcher Alexis Ayala came in and closed the door.

The game remained tied until the top of the sixth. Dayana Franco reached on a single, and was pushed around to third following back-to back singles by Anabel Sanchez and Solivan.

Linda Tirado grounded into a fielder’s choice, which scored Franco and gave Latin America a 2-1 lead. Figueroa singled in another run, and Tirado came around to score on an errant throw by the catcher on a stolen base attempt, extending their lead to 4-1. Marie Cruz Sanches led off the top of the seventh with a towering homerun to left field to push the lead to 5-1.

Things got interesting for a while in the bottom of the seventh, though.

Alexis Espinoza led off the inning with a sharp single to left, and she came around to score on a homerun to center field by Ayala. With one out and the score 5-3, the crowd began to stir a bit at the park. But Sanchez was able to get out the next two batters in order to preserve the win.