D-9ers advance to fast pitch finals

After losing to the Saipancell/NMC Proa in the first round of the playoffs, the D-9ers bounced back to down the Verizon Sluggers, 14-7, Wednesday night to advance to the best-of-three championships of the Island Wide Fast Pitch League.

Led by the hot bat of second baseman Jerome Delos Santos, the D-9ers earned a rematch with the pennant champs in the finals by out-slugging the sluggers in seven innings at the Oleai Sports Complex with 15 hits and three homeruns.

Delos Santos led the charge with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate that included two long balls that cleared the left field fence and four runs batted in. Teammate Mel Sakisat hustled around the bases in the top of the seventh to score an inside-the-park homerun, and finished the night 2-for-5 with a double and two runs batted in.

Pitcher Jess Peterson had all the answers for the Sluggers bats, as he allowed seven runs throughout the seven-inning affair. Peterson recorded a pair of strikeouts and allowed eight hits, and his defense was almost impenetrable. Third baseman Dante Sablan was “Johnny on the spot” for the D-9ers, as he was always ready for the grounders that came his way.

The D-9ers got on the board early when a past ball allowed Mark Tenorio to score in the top of the first inning. Sablan made the score 2-0 when he streaked across the plate in the top of the second, but Verizon catcher Gloyd Martin cut the lead to 2-1 when he made it home in the bottom of the inning.

The pennant runner-ups created some distance from the Sluggers in the top of the third when they scored four runs off of four hits to take a 6-1 advantage. The D-9ers benefited from some heads up base running by Delos Santos and Tenorio, as they both advanced twice on wild pitches—including Delos Santos crossing home.

Martin scored again for the Sluggers in the bottom of the inning, but the D-9ers found a way to notch another run as well.

Every time the Sluggers scored a run, the D-9ers would answer back with a tally or two of their own. In the bottom of the fifth, the Sluggers scored two runs off of a pair of hits and a walk, but Roy Celis scored in the top of the sixth to lessen their rally.

In the bottom of the inning, Verizon scored three more runs to climb to within three runs of the D-9ers at 10-7, but the determined boys in blue cranked out four in the top of the seventh inning—including a moon shot by Delos Santos and the inside the parker by Sakisat.

The first game of the best-of-three championships between the D-9ers and Proa got underway last night, but as of press time the game was not complete. Game 2 will get started tonight at 6:30pm at the Oleai Sports Complex, with a Game 3 to follow, if necessary.