Sakisat cleans up at SSA awards

Weeks after the Men’s Island Wide Fast and Slow Pitch Softball Leagues came to a close with the Budweiser D-9ers and the Eliminators winning their respective championships, the Saipan Softball Association recognized the players, coaches, and sponsors for their efforts during the most recent campaign of what many regard as Saipan’s most popular sport.

Though SSA president Robert Guerrero was not able to attend the ceremonies, the man who has his finger on the pulse of the league took on the emcee duties, as league statistician Ray Palacios honored the teams and individuals.

While several softballers were recognized for their outstanding achievements throughout the season, none was awarded as often as all-star infielder Mel Sakisat.

Sakisat is one of the few players that stood out in both the fast and slow pitch leagues, and before he went home Thursday night he loaded nine individual awards in to his vehicle—including the regular season’s most valuable player for both leagues.

In the fast pitch league, Sakisat led all hitters with 28 runs scored, 14 doubles, 10 homeruns, 41 runs batted in, and tied Jester Garcia with six triples. The only category in which he lost out was the overall batting average, in which Jeff Cabrera rocked pitchers with a .643.

In the hitter-friendly slow pitch league, Sakisat tied Frank Camacho as the homerun champ with 24, but ran away with the lead in runs batted in with 75. The closest person to him was second place Payton Sakuma with 55. Sakisat finished third in the overall batting average race with a .821 behind batting champ John Reyes (.872) and runner-up JR Suel (.845), as well a taking second in the runs scored to Suel (40) by one with 39.

While the big hitter was the man in command of opposing pitchers, Leo Bobai was the man who stretched more singles into doubles with 11. Roque Camacho was also recognized for finishing atop the leagues category of speedy longball hitters with eight triples.

The regular season MVP gave way to the shinning stars of the league championships, as pitcher Henry Palacios of the Eliminators was dubbed as the player who was the most important part if the Eliminators’ success in the finals, and slugger Jerome Delos Santos was honored for his consistent hitting and clutch homeruns for the D-9ers in the season finale with the Saipancell/NMC Proa.

While the Proa (14-1) and the Master’s Construction Flyers (12-1) received accolades for winning the pennant in the fast and slow pitch leagues respectively, Kagman 1-2-3 and Team Juan Santiago, respectively, took the sportsmanship awards for their embodiment of the spirit of the game.

After the hitters received acclaim for consistency, it was the pitchers’ turn to receive a well-deserved pat on the back as well. Nobody had a lower earned run average than Ike Taitano, who maneuvered through the fast pitch league’s top hitters to emerge with a 2.10, and nobody came close to the hall of fame’s underhanded flamethrower Tony Satur, who fanned 67 batters.

The advantage shifted to the hitters in the slow pitch league, but cagey veteran Bob Coldeen managed to foil the most batters on average with a miniscule 1.87. Incidentally, Coldeen was the oldest player in the league’s history to win the award.

John Cepeda foiled the most hitters in the longball league by sending 16 disappointed would-be hitters back to their dugouts empty handed.