Panama was not only the host site of the softball competition at the 9th Central American Games but their men’s and women’s teams came away as the gold medalists at the tournament that ended yesterday.
A quadrennial event, the Central American Games are yet another multi-sport event that softball is on the programme of. In this case, both men’s and women’s fast pitch are part of the Games. The 2010 edition took place at the Sport City of Kiwanis in the Clayton Area of Panama City.
The last time these Games were held (2006) Panama was also the winner in men’s softball. They did it this year by getting seven runs over the final two innings to defeat El Salvador, 7-2. The teams were scoreless after five innings before Panama put up four runs in the top of the sixth. The eventual silver medalists countered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of that inning but the host team would score three more times in the top of the seventh and hold El Salvador off the board in their final at-bat to seal the victory.
Honduras finished third by virtue of a 6-4 victory Nicaragua, marking an improvement from 2006 when Honduras came in fifth place. (This year’s fifth place finisher was Belize, while Costa Rica came in sixth.)
In women’s play, Panama was the one showing an improvement over the Games from four years ago, rising two spots themselves from a bronze medal finish in ’06 to gold this time around. They had to hold off a hard charging El Salvador team to do so though. The host team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning and then increased their lead by two more runs three innings later. But El Salvador chipped away, with two runs in each of the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, only to fall short, 5-4, and take the silver medals.
The winners had advanced to the gold medal game by virtue of a 7-4 triumph over Nicaragua, while El Salvador downed Belize, 7-3, to set up the showdown with Panama.
See the scores from all of the softball games on the official event website.
