D-9ers and Proa continue their

The D-9ers and Proa are wasting no time defining themselves as the teams to beat, as they easily dispatched their competition in continuation of the Saipan Softball Association’s 2004 Men’s Island Wide Fast Pitch Softball League at the Oleai Sports Complex.

The pummeling powers of Proa pounced on the Islanders 12-3 to maintain first place in the standings while the defending champion D-9ers squashed the Seabees Four 14-3, in just five innings of play.

Proa received another fine outing from their ace pitcher Tony Satur who went the distance in the win. Satur struck out eight Islanders in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings en route to an 11 K performance in which he allowed three runs off of four hits.

“The only problem with the Islanders is that they aren’t getting the hits when they need them,” said Mr. Statistician Ray Palacios.

It also doesn’t help when a team works against itself. At the end of three innings of play, the game was all tied at three runs apiece. The Islander committed 11 errors over the next four innings to aid Proa in scoring their nine unanswered runs.

Palacios traded in his score sheet for a spot in the field as he filled in for the missing umpire during the second game between the D-9ers and Seabees Four.

The 9ers took the lead in the first inning and never looked back, scoring in each of the five innings until the game was ended via the league’s 10-run mercy rule. Tony Camacho went 1-for-4 at the plate, but the one time he connected was for a grand slam. Bob Guerrero went 2-for-3 with a trio of singles and an RBI, but the story of the night was Mel Sakisat.

Sakisat was a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of homers, two base knocks, three ribbies, and four plate crossings. It was a great night for Mel, but in his first three games he has hit 10-for-12 for a batting average of .833. Sakisat has hit four dingers, two doubles, a triple, racked up 14 runs batted in, and crossed the plate 10 times.

“He’s on fire, and (with a .833 BA) for fast pitch, that’s awesome,” said Palacios

At 3-0, both the D-9ers and Proa are ahead of the competition this season, followed by Verizon (2-1), the Islanders (1-2), Seabees Four (1-3), and Kagman 1-2-3 (0-4).

The D-9ers have now scored a combined 48 runs in their first three games, while Proa has kept pace with 42 runs in their three contests. All eyes are turned to the last day of the month as these juggernauts are scheduled to play each other in a clash of the titans on Tuesday night, August 31.

The idle Verizon remained in third place, and is not scheduled to play until Tuesday, August 17 against Proa. Seabees Four slipped to 1-3 while the Islanders slid to 1-2. Next Tuesday these teams will go head to head at 6:30pm

There’s plenty of more softball action on the way, as Slow Pitch plays every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with the first game starting at 6:30pm. The Fast Pitch hits the diamond at the same time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you are interested in getting involved in the fast pitch or slow pitch leagues for this season, contact Robert A. Guerrero by calling 888-0215 or 235-1580.