By William Ysaguirre (Freelance Writer)
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Sept. 1, 2025
The Beacon girls won their 4th consecutive championship in the 33rd National Women’s Softball Championships organized by the Belize Softball Federation (BSF) at the “home of softball” at the Rogers Stadium over the weekend from Friday to Sunday, August 29-31.
In Game 16, the championship final on Sunday evening, Beacon outlasted the 2025 Belize City champions – the E-Kyash Bulldogs in a nailbiter, 3-2. Beacon collected 4 hits off Ashley Lucas, who struck out 5 batters and walked 2. However, the Bulldogs made 4 costly errors, allowing Arneek Baptist to score in the 1st inning, Sherlene Humphreys scored in the 2nd, and MVP Rebecca Nicholson scored in the bottom of the 6th. The Bulldogs collected 6 hits off pitcher Jasany Westby who struck out 3 batters. The Beacon diamond made only one error, forcing the Bulldogs to leave 4 runners on base, as only Barbara Lanza scored in the top of the 2nd inning, and pitcher Ashley Lucas scored in the 7th.
In Game 15, the consolation match for 3rd place, the Roaring Creek Steela Girls won by a similar 3-2 score over the Esperanza Wolverines, led by pitcher Leandra Guy who gave up 4 hits, struck out 5 batters and walked 2. The Steela’s diamond made 6 errors but still forced the Wolverines to leave 5 runners on base, and only Rose Vernon and Vaylene Lambert scored for the Wolverines. The Steela Girls collected 8 hits off Ronicia Vernon, who struck out 2 batters and walked 3. The Steela’s left 8 runners on base, but Janel Pelayo crossed the plate twice, and Shadene Salazar scored 1 run.
Eight teams came to the Nationals, 2 teams each from Belize City, Belize Rural, Cayo and Orange Walk districts. They played in 2 groups, with each group having 1 team from each of the 4 associations. Each group played a single round robin of 6 games, for 12 games total in the first round, with the top 2 teams from each group advancing to the semifinals on Sunday morning.
In Game 1 on Friday evening, Leandra Guy struck out 8 batters, walked one, and gave up one hit; as she led the Steela Girls to a 5-0 win over the Beverly Hills Flames of Lords Bank. The Steela’s collected 5 hits off Karen Hilton, who struck out 1 batter and walked 2. The Flames made 6 errors and forced the Steela’s to leave 6 runners on base, but Jeneve Salazar scored 2 runs, and Karlee Armstrong, Dominga Tut and Shanae Williams scored a run each.
In Game 2, Jasany Westby pitched a 2-inning no-hitter to lead Beacon to their first win, 12-0, over Double Head Cabbage Unity. Rebecca Nicholson led the attack, hitting an inside-the-park home run to score 2 runs, as Beacon collected 13 hits off Unity’s pitcher, Herlett Bull. The Unity diamond made 10 errors, allowing Beacon to score 12 runs.
In Game 3, Friday’s nightcap, Ashley Lucas struck out 5 batters, walked one and gave up one hit, as she led the Bulldogs to a 7-0 win over the Double-G Defenders of Guinea Grass, Orange Walk. The Bulldogs collected 5 hits off Shalina Canul, who struck out 3 batters but walked 3. The Defenders made 4 errors, allowing the Bulldogs to score 7 runs.
In Game 4 on Saturday morning, pitcher Ronicia Vernon struck out 3 batters and gave up 2 hits, as she led the Esperanza Wolverines to their first win, 2-0, over the Palmar Jaguars of San Jose Palmar, Orange Walk. The Wolverines collected 1 hit off Palmar’s pitcher, Janel Baptist; but the Palmar diamond made 4 errors, allowing 2 runs to score.
In Game 5, Leandra Guy gave up 3 hits and struck out 3 batters, but walked 2, as she led the Steela Girls to their 2nd win, 6-3, over the Double-G Defenders. They collected 6 hits off pitcher Odette Leslie, who struck out one batter and walked 3. The Defenders’ diamond made 8 errors, allowing 6 runs to score. The Steela’s made 5 errors, allowing 3 runs to score.
In Game 6, Renisha Richards struck out 6 batters, giving up only one hit, as she led the Bulldogs to their 2nd win, 10-0, over the Beverly Hills Flames. The Bulldogs collected 12 hits off Karen Hilton, who struck out 3 batters, and walked one. The Flames forced the Bulldogs to leave 6 runners on base, but they made 6 errors, and Greta Davis led the attack hitting an in- the-park homer as she scored 2 runs. The Flames left one runner on base, and scored no runs.
In Game 7, Shadalee Ho struck out 4 batters, walked one and gave up no hits, as she led Beacon to their 2nd win, 12-1, over the Wolverines. Beacon collected 9 hits off Ronicia Vernon, who struck out one batter. The Wolverines made 5 errors, allowing 12 runs to score.
In Game 8, Janel Baptist struck out 3 batters and gave up 3 hits, as she led the Palmar Jaguars to their first win, 4-3, over D.H.C. Unity. The Jaguars collected 6 hits off Herlett Bull, who struck out 3 batters. The Unity diamond made 4 errors, allowing the Jaguars to score 4 runs. The Jaguars’ diamond made 2 errors, and Jacey Flowers led the Unity attack, scoring 2 runs.
In Game 9, Ashley Lucas struck out 6 batters, walked one, and gave up 6 hits, as she led the Bulldogs to their 3rd win, 8-1, over the Steela Girls. They collected 10 hits off Leandra Guy, who struck out 4 batters and walked 4. They Steela’s diamond made 5 errors, allowing the Bulldogs to score 8 runs. The Bulldogs made only one error, and only Keisha Garbutt scored for the Steela Girls.
In Game 10, Karen Hilton struck out 2 batters, walked one and gave up 3 hits, as she led the Flames of Lords Bank to their first win, 3-2, over the Double-G Defenders of Guinea Grass. The Flames collected 4 hits off Odette Leslie, who struck out 4 batters and walked 2. The Flames left 5 runners on base, but Defenders made 5 errors, allowing the Flames to score 3 runs. The Defenders left 6 runners on base and scored only 2 runs.
In Game 11, Anique Hernandez struck out 3 batters, walked 4 and gave up 2 hits, as she led Beacon to their 3rd win on Saturday night, 10-3, over the Palmar Jaguars. They collected 8 hits off Janel Baptist, who struck out 2 batters and walked 2. Mardy Nicholson led the Beacon attack scoring 3 runs, while Molly Coye scored twice. The Jaguars made 7 errors, and Arneek Roland, Kristy Terry, MVP Rebecca Nicholson and Charlene Humphreys each scored a run.
In Game 12, Saturday’s nightcap, Ronicia Vernon struck out 2 batters, walked 2, and gave up one hit, as she led the Wolverines to their 2nd win, 12-0, over DHC Unity. They collected 8 hits off Herlett Bull, who struck out one batter. The Unity diamond made 7 errors, allowing Hadie Vernon, Loraine Crawford, Aleisha Obando and Kishawn Thomas to each score 2 runs.
Thus, undefeated Beacon led their group with 3 wins, and in Game 13, the first of the semifinals on Sunday morning, Shadalee Ho struck out 2 batters, walked 2 and gave up 4 hits, as she led Beacon to their 4th win, 5-4, over the Steela Girls. They collected 7 hits off Leandra Guy, who struck out 2 batters and walked 3. The Steela’s diamond obliged Beacon to leave 5 runners on base, but Mardy Nicholson, Shadalee, Westby, Humphreys and Frances “Fanny” Coye each scored a run. The Beacon diamond made 2 errors, allowing the Steela’s to make a late comeback, as Shadine Salazar, Shanelly Ho, Lesandra Guy and Kristen Armstrong scored a run each in the top of the 7th inning, but failed to tie the score.
The undefeated Bulldogs also led their group with 3 wins, and in Game 14, the other semifinal on Sunday afternoon, Renisha Richards struck out 2 batters, giving up 4 hits, as she led the Bulldogs to their 4th win, 11-4, over the Wolverines. They collected 14 hits off Ronicia Vernon, and Janeka “Tootsie” Hilton, Jolene Davis and Raven Card each scored 2 runs, while Marsha Wills, Greta Davis, Cindy Joseph, Babsy Lanza, and Richards scored a run each. The Bulldogs made 10 errors, but still forced the Wolverines to leave 5 runners on base. Only Kishawn Thomas, Ronicia Vernon, Niesha Obando and Eden Gentle scored for Esperanza.
Veteran 1974 gold medalist Beverly Rhamdas joined BSF president Marconi Leal, Jr. in presenting the team trophies and individual medals to the 4-times champions, the sub-champions and the 3rd Place winners at the closing ceremonies.
Individual awards: Most Valuable Player – Rebecca Nicholson (Beacon); Best Batting Average (0.690) – Greta Davis (Bulldogs); Most Runs Batted In (8 RBIs) – Greta Davis (Bulldogs); Best Defensive Player – Rebecca Nicholson (Beacon); Most Strikeouts (22) – Leyandra Guy (Steela Girls); Most Home Runs (2-way tie) – Greta Davis (Bulldogs) and Rebecca Nicholson (Beacon). The family of the late softball legend Pat Bennett, also sponsored a prize of a bicycle to the Most Valuable Player – Rebecca Nicholson, which was presented by Leslie Rogers
