Yankees, Brewers tied for SBL lead

A Yankees batter waits for the pitch during an earlier game against the Tigers in the 2014 Saipan Baseball League last month at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (ROSELYN B. MONROYO)

The Saipan Stevedore Yankees grabbed a share of the lead in the 2014 Saipan Baseball League, following a 16-5 win over the Tigers last Wednesday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield,
The Yankees tied the GSM Brewers for the top spot as they have identical 7-1 records. The Brewers gained their seventh win in eight games last Friday after a 15-2 demolition of the winless D-9ers, who went on to absorb their ninth loss in as many matches after being badly beaten by Fielders (5-5-), 22-5, last Monday night. The Northern Starz (4-4) completes the six-team field.

The 2012 champions Yankees won over the Tigers and forced a deadlock for the lead after a steady offense in the first three innings of the game. Brian Camacho, Kevin Kapileo, and Chris Camacho had RBI singles each to put the Yankees in the board at the top of the first inning. Camacho added another run, as his sacrifice fly drove Ben Jones home in the second inning. Then in the third, the Yankees got five more earned runs for a 9-2 advantage. Pat Alepuyo blasted a two-run single, while A.J. Lizama and Tom Joab nailed RBI singles, and Jones stole home.

The Tigers had only two runs in the exchange, getting an RBI single from John Santi in the second inning and another run off a fielder’s choice in the third. The Tigers never made a comeback in the last six innings to drop to a 3-6 record.

In last Monday’s game, the Fielders collected 16 earned runs to crush the D-9ers. Juan Tenorio Jr. and Nunu Kapileo had four RBIs each, while Jared Sablan chipped in three. Tenorio was 2-for-4 at bat and scored four runs, while Kapileo was perfect, going 2-for-2, and Sablan hit 4-for-5, making three runs.

Kapileo and Tenorio connected on two-RBI singles in the first inning to kick off the Fielders’ offense on a high gear as the team racked eight runs in the frame do take the early lead en route to the lopsided win.

The Brewers also cruised to victory over the D-9ers last Friday, as the former shut out the latter in the first five innings for a commanding 15-0 advantage.

Lenny Sablan pitched for the Brewers in the first five innings and allowed only three hits, while striking out six. Henry Nakamura closed out for the Brewers and gave up one hit and two runs. Ian Lizama scored the first run for the D-9ers, as he reached home off a Kyle Kaipat single in the sixth inning. The other was courtesy of Tim Deleon Guerrero, who stole home at the top of the seventh before Nakamura got two straight strikeouts to lift the Brewers to an early win via 10-run mercy rule.

John Taitano and Nokki Saralu had three RBIs each in the easy victory with the former hitting 3-for-3 and the latter going 2-for-3 and scoring two runs.