Yankees crown Kings in comeback, 5-4

The pennant winning Northern Yankees took a big step toward advancing to the finals of the Saipan Major League championship on Wednesday night by downing the Budweiser Kings in extra innings, 5-4, at Francisco M. Palacios Field.

The pinstripers were anything but dominating in their return to the Oleai Sports Complex and dug themselves out of a three run hole to force extra innings before first baseman Tony Camacho delivered a walk-off single that scored Greg Camacho from second base to win the game in the bottom of the 10th.

The game winning RBI was Camacho’s third hit of the night, and by far his most important, but the big stick was in the hands of catcher Johnty Jones, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and three runs batted in. Jones was playing catcher in place of all-star Robert Bansil in a night full of absentees.

The Yankees went with veteran hurler Jonathan Tenorio on the mound to start the game as one of the finest arms in the league was away in Hawaii. With Jonathan Jones off-island, Tenorio went five innings for the Yankees allowing three runs off of five hits—all of which came in the top of the fifth when the Kings took a 3-1 lead.

Chris Camacho took the hill in the top of the sixth and allowed one run off of two hits the rest of the way—fanning five.

Camacho faltered a little in his second inning of work when his wild pitch in the top of the seventh gave Thomas Dela Cruz the green light to score from third. After he fanned Sonny Sablan to end the Kings at bat, Camacho and the Yankees found themselves trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom of the inning.

Right fielder Luis Iguel brought the Yankees to within two runs when he singled in Jones in the bottom of the seventh before Jones tied the game with one swing of the bat in the eighth when he singled in Mel Sakisat and Tony Camacho.

Sakisat finished the game with a solid 2-for-4 that included a pair of singles and two plate crossings, and Iguel notched a pair of hits and an RBI in his 2-for-3 outing.

The win put the Yankees in the driver’s seat in the best-of-three semi-final, but the scare from the SML’s youngest team should keep them on their toes during tonight’s Game 2. It’s a must-win scenario for the Kings as the teams return to Palacios Field tonight at 6:30pm.