Bansil hits 1st homer; Efraim, Tenorio lead Masters League

Dodgers main catcher Robert Bansil is in a league of his own as he hit the first home run of the 2023 Tan Holdings-SBL Masters League during their game against the Blue Jays last Friday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

He led his team to victory with his two-run home run, along with a perfect two-for-two at-bats, three runs scored, and two RBIs. Bansil is also tied with the most doubles at two as of Jan 8. Alvin Takai, Cris George, Ed Manibusan, Eric Palacios, J-Boy Deleon Guerrero, Jun Salalila, Shine Tenorio, and Tony Pangelinan are tied with him, while Audie Maratita leads with four.

The league leaders are the Reds’ Hector Efraim with the highest batting average among all sluggers with .818, from nine hits out of 11 plate appearances. Second is the Dodgers’ Glen Camacho at .714, from 10 out of 14 at-bats, and third is Pirates’ Maratita with a .625 average from 10 out of 16 at-bats.

Maratita also leads the sluggers with 14 RBIs; Palacios and Pete Tomokane are at nine each; Richard Quitugua and Shine Tenorio have eight each; Bruce Norita, Jess Mesa, and John Acosta hit seven each; and Camacho hit six.

James Benavente leads the runs scored column with 14; Derek Aguon is at 12; Takai and Cartfield Sablan have 11 each; Jerome Delos Santos and Tomokane have 10 each; and Camacho and Manibusan have nine each.

Cartfield Sablan and Quitugua have the most triples with two; and Dennis Cruz, Manibusan, Eric Tudela, James Benavente, Jeff Cruz, Mario Aguon, Myron Sablan, Pete Tomokane, Jason Reyes, and Mike Techur hit one each.

Pirates’ Dung Tenorio is still the pitching leader with less than one ERA at .78 from three games and nine innings pitched, and one ER from eight hits. Second is Dodgers’ Jeff Cruz with a .89 ERA. He has pitched eight innings in two games and has one ER with two hits. Pirates’ Pete Sablan completes the Top 3 pitchers with a little over one ERA at 1.56. He pitched nine innings in three games and has two ER with nine hits.

The strikeout king is Kelvin Kapileo with 20. Far behind him are pitchers Pete Sablan with 13; Jeff Cruz is at 12; Tony Flores has nine; Bill Camacho, Dung Tenorio, and Joe Kapileo have eight each; Takai collected seven; Clint Quitugua and Tony Benavente threw six; and Cris Pangelinan, Dominic Hideo, and Joe Terlaje have five each.