Immaculate Cardinals advance to finals

The immaculate season of the Cardinals has been extended as they have secured the last finals spot after defeating the Brewers, 7-4, in the 2023 Tan Holdings-Saipan Baseball League on Wednesday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

The Cardinals struck first and put up two runs quickly as Nokki Saralu hit a single, followed by a base on ball to Nate Camacho. They both came home on a two RBI base hit by Gerald Cabrera. Brian Camacho then hit a single but was left on base as three outs were made.

Two more runs by way of Pat Tenorio and Keoni Kaipat came in the second inning to make it a 4-0 game. 

At this point, the Brewers have yet to score as they left three batters on base with no result, and were consecutively shut down in the next three innings. The Cardinals added some insurance as they brought home two more runs for a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning.

The game wasn’t over yet though as the playoffs are a full nine innings and the Brewers finally put runs on the board as they closed the gap by just two runs 4-6. Franko Nakamura started their late break for runs as he hit a single, followed by an RBI single from Byron Kaipat. 

Kaipat then rounded the bases after an RBI base hit by Jerome Delos Santos and was brought home by Kaipo Dikito. Dikito made the fourth run before their fire was extinguished by the Cardinals pitcher.

The Cardinals had the last laugh, however, as their pitching staff proceeded to leave the Brewers scoreless until the end of the game. 

The undefeated Cardinals will try to finish off the season strong without a loss against the up-and-coming young guns of the Junior Nationals in a three-game championship series.

Catch the action next Monday, Aug. 7; Wednesday, Aug. 9; and Friday, Aug. 11, at 6:30pm at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.