Typhoon, Cyclones successful in Masters debut

The 2005 Masters Baseball League got underway yesterday at the Kan Pacific Baseball Field, with Typhoon and Cyclones making impressive debuts.

In the season opener, Dave Kapileo connected for a two-run home run and spearheaded a sixth inning explosion to lead Typhoon to a 7-1 victory over the Hurricanes.

The game was tightly fought before the late eruption as the Hurricanes were able to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning.

The score would remain that way until the sixth as Lt. Gov. Diego Benavente started up a rally with a sharp single before showing off his wheels by stealing second. Benavente didn’t have to huff and puff his way home as the mighty bat of Kapileo came calling and delivered a towering shot that cleared the fences to give Typhoon a 2-1 advantage.

Unfortunately for the Hurricanes was that the homer was just a taste of things to come as the Typhoon sluggers heated up their bats and went berserk to score five more runs to pull away.

Lefty Paul Camacho kept the drive alive with a single, Ed Kapileo and Jess Castro followed with consecutive doubles, Bob Lizama singled, and Ivan Igitol doubled before the third out was finally recorded.

Typhoon closed on a high note as Tony Benavente then took the mound and closed the game without any trouble.

Dave Kapileo finished with a triple shy of hitting for the cycle as the center fielder smacked a double and a single in his first two at bats. Diego Benavente also had a solid outing, going 3-for-4 with a run and a stolen base while Ed Kapileo bruised the ball for a couple of doubles.

In the second game, the Cyclones leaned on the arm of Ben Duenas and cruised to a 14-3 victory over the Tornadoes.

Duenas lasted the entire game, giving up just seven hits while sending down six batters via strike out for the win.

He had plenty of run support as the Cyclones batters got to work early and had three runners cross home plate in the top of the first inning.

The Tornadoes managed to cut the deficit as Ed Santos singled and scored on a single by Jess Stein, and followed strong in the second inning with another run to cut the lead, 2-3.

That wasn’t enough to rattle the Cyclones, though, as the team increased the lead with two runs in the third inning and another three in the fourth to take a comfortable 8-2 lead.

The Tornadoes managed to add another run in the fifth inning, but were soon left in the dust as the Cyclones erupted for six runs in their last at bat to seal the deal.

Manny Tenorio was on target with his swings and led the Cyclones after connecting for singles in four of his five at bats while Mel Sakisat scored three runs, hit a triple, drew two base on balls, and stole two bases.

Action continues next Saturday, with league coordinator Tony Rogolifoi announcing the schedule in the coming days.