Much maligned Masters fall to Yankees

The Northern Yankees earned a share of first place in the Saipan Major League standings on Friday night as they shot down the Freedom Air Masters, 11-0, at Francisco M. Palacios baseball field in Oleai.

Pitchers George Castro and Jonathan Jones combined to hold the Masters to four hits through seven scoreless innings before the umpires instituted the SML’s 10-run mercy rule.

Castro fanned five Masters and allowed just three hits in four innings atop the mound while Jones surrendered a single in the seventh and fanned five in his three innings on the hill for the pinstripers.

The Yankees hitters provided the necessary power to ensure an early night for the pitchers as they tallied 11 runs off of 15 hits—including Mel Sakisat’s lead-off triple in the top of the second inning.

Sakisat’s shot to the gap between center and right was the first hit of the night for the Yankees, and got the ball rolling on a five-run six-hit inning that gave them all of the runs that they would need, and hits than the Masters would score all game.

The imposing third baseman finished the night 2-for-3 at the plate with an additional single in the fifth and a stolen base before being replaced by Ricky Sakisat in the top of the sixth.

Shortstop John Reyes drove in three runs with a single and a double in his four at bats, and crossed home plate twice while designated hitter Chris Camacho went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and an RBI to drop the Masters into a 1-7 tie with the San Antonio Mets.

After the first inning ended in a scoreless tie, the Yankees sent eight of their nine batter line-up to face Masters’ hurler Ben Dueñas during the five-run second inning, and added another pair of runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-0 lead over the senior statesmen.

Despite stringing a walk and a couple of hits together in their next at bats, the Masters were unable to break the goose egg on their side of the scoreboard. Shortstop Ben Mesa’s team leading 2-for-3 performance was not enough to spark any offense for the cagey veterans, as they watched the Yankees score runs in the fifth and sixth innings before Reyes hit a two-run single in the seventh to increase the lead to 10-0.

With the win, the Northern Yankees pulled even with the Ford Rangers at 6-1 atop the league standings with only a handful of games remaining before the playoffs. The teams have yet to face each other thus far due to Mother Nature, and anticipation is building among players, coaches, and fans for their rare weekend match-up on Saturday, June 4, at Tan Ko field at 6:30pm.