June 30, 2024
WESTMINSTER, Colo. — Delailah Lopez remained at the ready on third base, waiting for her opportunity to strike at Mexico in the bottom of the seventh inning. The winner of Central America/Panama’s game with Mexico on Saturday would decide who would advance to the second round of the Triple Crown International Challenge 16u championship.
The catcher wasted no time sprinting toward home plate when her teammate, Amaris Ruiz, hit a hard ball that bounced off the top of Mexico’s first baseman’s glove. The rest of the team ran onto the diamond in jubilation after claiming a 2-1 victory and having successfully held off a late scare from its opponent at Christopher Fields.
Lopez, a Californian whose parents are both Salvadorian, scored both of Central America’s runs. Her first came off of a triple followed by a wild pitch in the bottom of the second, when once again she relied on her jets to take her home.
“I was taking a lead off and I knew going through my motion, my lead off, that if it got past her, if I saw a ball going in the dirt, I was going to go because I trust my speed and I trust myself to know whether the ball is going to come back to the catcher or not,” Lopez said. "I executed it, thankfully, and when I saw her coming back at me, I just thought no matter what, I have to get to the (plate) for my team and get that run for us.”
Central America held onto that early 1-0 lead by an ever-thinning thread, even as pitcher Maggie Cahueque held steady from the circle. She finished her afternoon with 10 hits, five strikeouts and just one earned run, but came in extra clutch in the top of the fourth. Mexico loaded the bases with one out down, so she proceeded to strike out the next batter, then pitch into a groundout to second.
“I trust my defense a lot. I knew they had my back. I trusted my pitches and what really got me through was my catcher, Deli. She's calling amazing pitches and I trusted her with that, so it just made it go smooth,” said Cahueque, who was born in Guatemala and now lives in California. “With a win, having high hopes, with our energy up now and knowing our next game plan, I think we got it.”
Mexico gave her and the rest of the Central American team quite the scare in the top of the seventh, when Eliana Meza bunted the ball to bring Mia Cortez home. The umps decided that she stepped out of the batter’s box before making contact with the ball, called her out and sent Cortez back to third base.
Julyssa Jimenez made up for the misstep on the next at-bat, leaving no doubt with a hard hit down the first-base line to tie the game up and keep Mexico alive. Central America, deciding it wasn’t keen on going into extras, responded in the bottom of that frame with a hard base hit from Lopez down the middle, a double from Sarah Delgado, and that final walk-off swing from Ruiz.
Central America, now 2-2 on the weekend, advanced to the semifinals of the eight-team tournament, and will play Polynesia on Sunday at noon. Polynesia dominated their earlier Saturday contest, defeating Central America 19-8.
“Mexico and all these Central American countries have a huge rivalry when it comes to soccer and other sports and the Pan American Games, so it's just very ironic,” head coach Rafael Guzmán said. “This is awesome. This is fun.
“I think we could compete with anybody. We had a tough break against Polynesia. That team hits, but we were in every single game. We played well defensively, we moved some things around and gave an opportunity for everybody to play. I think they're super confident, super motivated going into that next game tomorrow, and I think they're going to make a little bit of a run.”
