Hustlers win Little League title

After trailing 1-0 through two complete innings, the UMDA Hustlers rallied to score seven runs in the top of the third and scored a couple more in the clutch to hold on to edge the Tanapag Braves 11-8 for the championship of the Major Division of the Saipan Little League Baseball Association on Saturday morning at Tan Ge field in Oleai.

With the 7-1 lead in hand, starting pitcher Jonathan Tydingco did his best to stifle the Braves, while the Hustlers piled on a pair of runs in each of the final two innings to put the icing on the cake.

“I told you guys we’d be back. We had fun, we had a lot of energy, and the kids were ready to play,” said Hustlers manager Joan Aldan.

Tydingco pitched five strong innings atop the mound and allowed eight runs off of 10 hits, while striking out six before Nokkie Lizama came in to close the game in the top of the sixth inning.

“Nokkie pitched five innings last weekend so he could only go one inning today, so that was our plan all along—to use him as our closer in the finals,” said Aldan.

The plan worked, but started off shaky as Lizama walked Chris Meyers to give the Braves a lead off runner. The league’s double threat redeemed himself by fanning the next batter, and while fans were cheering the out, Lizama picked off Meyers for the second out.

The Hustlers’ fans went bonkers, and with only one out remaining, Lizama fanned Kani Sablan to end the game in dramatic fashion.

Aside from picking up the save in the championship game, 2005 batting champ Lizama went 2-for-4 to lead the Hustlers on the day with a pair of singles, a run batted in, and a run scored.

Fellow pitcher and clutch hitter Tydingco’s RBI single in the top of the fifth inning drove in Anthony Manalo proved to be the game winner, as the Braves continued to chop away at the lead. Tydingco finished 1-for-1 with a walk and a run scored, while Manalo rounded out the day 1-for-3 with an RBI double and a run scored.

The seven runs that the Hustlers scored in the top of the third saved the day for the silver and black, as starting pitcher Josh Jones was looking good early, but the Braves allowed the rampage of runs to be score off of just one hit. Six of the runs scored reached base successfully as a result of a bean ball, a pair of walks, and three errors. The Tanapag squad that had been a solid unit during the season succumbed to a flurry of mistakes. Be that as it may, the Braves started a comeback that got them back into the game when they scored three runs in the bottom of the third, and a pair in the bottom of the fourth to pull to within one run, at 7-6. Each team scored a pair in the fifth inning, but the Hustlers scored two more in the top of the sixth before the climax of the final three outs.