Hustlers, Pirates raid the Fall League

The Hustlers and Pirates continued their rein of terror in the Fall edition of the Saipan Major League yesterday as they scored convincing wins over the Tanapag No Zone and D-9ers in their respective contests at the Kan-Pacific Baseball Field in Marpi.

While both squads continued to soar toward next weekend’s regular season finale, the Pirates scored the bigger win of the day as they dumped the D-9ers for a 12-5 loss in the morning before the Hustlers lollygagged to a 6-4 sleeper over Tanapag.

The Pirates wasted no time taking advantage of their big lineup as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning off of four hits. Pitcher Jonathan Villagomez kept the D-9ers in the dumps all day by allowing just four runs off of eight hits that were sprinkled over the course of his six innings on the hill, while J.P. Sablan and Jess Iguel teamed up to clean up the rest of the way.

Iguel also had a lot to do with the win on the offensive side of the ball as he went 3-for-4 with three singles and three scores, but his performance was overshadowed by that of teammate Dwight Quitano, who went 5-for-6 with three singles, a double, a triple, and a run batted in.

The only one who came close to that was Sablan, who went 4-for-6 with a pair of singles, doubles, and RBIs to bolster the batting average. It was no coincidence that the trio was also the top of the Pirates’ lineup for the game, and they look to continue their hit fest next week against their rivals.

Hustlers 6, Tanapag 4

The Hustlers followed up their three-run inning in the bottom of the first with another in the bottom of the second to take a 6-3 over the Tanapag No Zone and held on to remain in a first place tie with the Pirates with a 6-4 win.

Pitcher Ben Sablan earned his first win on the mound in his first outing as a starter by allowing four runs off of eight hits and fanning one through six innings under the Saipan sun before A.J. Allen finished the job.

Sablan got off to a shaky start by giving up three singles and a double to his first four hitters, but the youngster shook of the butterflies and settled in for a solid game the rest of the way.

While Allen had his back from the seventh inning, his hitters tried to give it to him the entire game as they piled on six runs off of eight hits. When they couldn’t generate the offense with hits, they took advantage of No Zone miscues by converting two walks into runs scored.

Jerome Delos Santos went 1-for-3 for the Hustlers with an RBI double and a pair of stolen bases, while Allen went 1-for-3 with a single and three stolen bases—the last of which came across home plate.

New third baseman Manny Sablan finished the day 1-for-2 with an RBI single and flashed the speed with a pair of stolen bases to put the Hustlers in the pennant showdown with the Pirates next week.