Eliminators, Buddz, and Bring It On bring home victories

Wednesday night action at the Oleai Sports Complex saw two undefeated teams extend their streak to stay in first place as Buddz and the Eliminators moved to a perfect 2-0 record, while the powerful Natibu dropped its first game to slip into a three-way tie for fifth place at 2-1 in the 2004 Men’s Island Wide Slow Pitch Softball League.

The softball triple-header was highlighted with a first place match up between Natibu and the Eliminators that featured more offense than the other two games combined. The Eliminators edged out Natibu 28-25 courtesy of two explosive innings and clutch outings from the defense, Bring It On brought it to Team Juan Santiago 8-7, and Buddz ousted the Outlaws 14-3.

Trailing 8-3 going into the top of the third inning, the Eliminators erupted for nine runs off of nine hits, two of them homeruns, to take the lead 12-8. As they went into the top of the fifth, the Eliminators were ahead 15-14 when they went Anatahan, racking up 11 runs off of 11 hits and smacking four dingers.

Roy Celis went 3-for-4 with a pair of homers and three ribbies, John Delos Santos went 3-for-4 with a homer and a pair of RBI’s, Jeff Cabrera went 3-for-5 with a couple of long-range bombs, but the man with a plan was Joe Palacios, going 4-for-5 with three round-trippers and eight runs batted in.

Bring It On had a 4-2 lead over Team JS after the first inning, upping it to 5-2 in the second, but the fightin’ Santiago’s rallied for five runs in the fourth inning to take the 7-5 lead. Bring It On tied the game at seven in the fifth and finally took the lead off of a throwing error by the Santiago centerfielder.

Audie Maratita provided plenty of offense for the B.I.O. squad, going 3-for-3 with a dinger and a trio of RBI’s while Hammerin’ Henry Litulumar had three base knocks to go 3-for-4 at the plate.

The shortest game of the night lasted just five innings, as Buddz wasn’t so friendly to the Outlaws, beating them 14-3 via the 10-run mercy rule. Buddz scored all of the runs that they would need in the first inning when they railed off five. They followed them up with three runs in the second, a pair in the fourth, and four in the fifth to finish the job.

Mike Palacios went 3-for-3 for Buddz, racking up three singles and a pair of RBI’s while teammate Tony Pangelinan went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles, a double, and scored three times.

There’s plenty of more softball action on the way, as Slow Pitch returns tonight, and every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday starting with the first game at 6:30pm. The Fast Pitch hits the diamond at the same time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you are interested in getting involved in the fast pitch or slow pitch leagues for this season, contact Robert A. Guerrero by calling 888-0215 or 235-1580.