Sox rock Matrix, 8-4

The Red Sox scored another win in their first week back from the Easter break as they doubled up on the Matrix for an 8-4 victory at Tan Ge Field on Saturday despite being out hit by the competition.

Pitcher Lincom Ingram went the distance got the Sox allowing seven hits and fanning five through six innings on the hill, but the tale of the tape came when his teammates rallied from a 1-0 deficit with five runs in the top of the third to wrest control of the contest.

Palmerson Monkeya drove in a run and racked up nearly half of the Red Sox hit total with a single and a double to finish 2-for-4 on the day while Joseph Atalig went 1-for-2 with a base hit RBI and a stolen base.

Shortstopper Anthony Deleon Guerrero went 1-for-4 with an RBI double, but most of the offense was generated by their opponent’s defense as the Matrix walked six batters—four of whom scored.

Unfortunately for the players and fans who made their way to the Oleai Sports Complex on Saturday, the Red Sox-Matrix match was the only complete game at Tan Ge Field as Mother Nature soiled an otherwise perfect day with a double dose of rain that left the field unplayable.

The Pirates and McDonald’s tried to get the morning started, but they got rained out before taking the field. The break in the action may be just what the little nuggets needed too, as they have been caught in a two-game slide for the past couple of weeks.

After the Sox and Matrix wrapped up their competition, Mother Nature showed again, but despite the best intentions of league coordinators, the contest between the Hustlers and Kagman 1-2-3 was called just five batters into the game.

With a slippery mound, a muddy batter’s box, and a baseball that was as hard to handle as a greased pig, officials put an end to the game when Marvin Ngeskebei was plunked in the head by mistake.

JUNIOR LEAGUE

Hustlers 7, Dan Dan Jets 5

Justin Alexander continued his development in the Junior League as the second-year star showed his stuff on the mound to help lead the Hustlers to a 7-5 win over the Dan Dan Jets at Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field on Saturday morning.

The pitcher threw to all but three batters as Alexander fanned 11 and allowed five runs off of four hits through six and a third innings before Tony Rogolifoi came in to close out the game.

Despite racking up seven runs, the Hustlers only managed five hits in the game, as shortstop Phillip Manalo went 1-for-3 with a double, catcher Nokki Lizama went 1-for-4 with an RBI single, and utility man John Pangelinan went 1-for-3 with an RBI double.

Alexander had it easy as the Hustlers took a commanding five run lead in the top of the first inning and added a run in both the second and third before the Jets managed a pair of scores in the bottom of the third.

The Jets continued to close in on the Hustlers by chipping away with a run in the fifth and coming to within two runs of their opponents with a pair in the seventh, but that’s as far as they were able to get.

SENIOR LEAGUE

Kagman Aztecs 12, Fielders 2
The homesteaders made the most of their trip to the Oleai Sports Complex on Saturday as the Aztecs from Kagman scored runs in each of their six innings to fillet the Fielders, 12-2, at Palacios field in continuation of Senior League action.

Nicolas San Nicolas put on a pitching clinic as he fanned 10 and allowed the Fielders just a pair of runs off of five hits through six innings to pick up a complete-game win. His confidence on the mound was high as his hitters provided plenty of padding all the way with a plethora of runs along the way.

His main man led the way as catcher Smith Regis went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs for the ‘Tecs, while teammate Lawrence Dikito went 2-for-3 with a pair of base knocks and a run batted in, and third baseman Joey Togawa drove in two runs with two singles.

The Fielders hung tight in the early going, but the Aztecs scored a pair of runs in the first and second innings, added a tally in the third, put up another deuce in the fourth, scored another in the fifth, and opened up the flood gates with four in the sixth. The umpires finally had enough when the Fielders failed to score a run in the bottom of the sixth and invoked the 10-run mercy rule.