Hustlers, Pirates score convincing wins

The defending champion Hustlers topped the team from Tanapag 14-3 in the morning, while the Pirates pounded the D-9ers 18-2 in the afternoon as the hardballers of the Fall edition of the Saipan Major League made the most of the post-election day weather yesterday at the Kan Pacific Baseball Field in Marpi.

The crack from wooden bats, the sound of cheering fans, and crashing waves filled the air at Saipan’s northernmost diamond as the Hustlers gave Tanapag all they could handle in the early match up.

A.J. Allen put on a hitting clinic yesterday in the opener as the swinging shortstop went a perfect 4-for-4 with four singles for the Hustlers, and he could’ve hit another were it not for him getting a base on balls.

Allen was in a world of his own, but teammates Jerome Delos Santos and Pat Alepuyo put on solid performances as well. Designated hitter Delos Santos went 2-for-5 with a single, a double, and a pair of runs batted in while Alepuyo singled, doubled, and drove in a run.

Jonathan Camacho pitched a beauty through the first three innings before being replaced in the top of the fourth by Byron Kaipat, as the duo held Tanapag to three runs off of five hits in the mercy shortened seven inning affair.

Camacho allowed two of the hits, one of the runs, and fanned three during his stint on the hill, while Kaipat let two cross home plate struck out eight in the final four innings.

The game was close early on as the Hustlers held a narrow 2-1 though two and a half before erupting for eight runs off of eight hits in the bottom of the third to take a commanding 10-1 lead. They scored three more in the third and another in the sixth to put the Tanapag nine offline.

In the late game, the Pirates deposed the D-9ers 18-2 in a lopsided affair in which they also capitalized on an eight-run third inning to take control of the game. After both teams failed to score a run through the first two innings, the Pirates pounded out eight ruins off of eight hits.

Second baseman Jesus Iguel was a flawless 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of singles, a double, and a run batted in for the Pirates, while teammate Robert Bansil went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI singles.

The Pirates hitters took advantage of every opportunity to score, but their pitchers gave them the ability to swing freely as Josh Dela Cruz and James Kintol teamed up to throw a thriller.

Dela Cruz went seven innings atop the mound allowing one run off of three hits while fanning five and Kintol closed out the contest allowing one run off of a hit in the bottom of the seventh before umpires invoked the mercy rule.

After the Pirates eight-run outburst, they added another in the fourth before tacking on another three in the fifth to take a 12-0 lead. The D-9ers finally answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but it was too little too late, as the Pirates were well on their way to another win.