Patriots beat the heat and the Braves, 14-2

After the Saipan Little League Baseball Association’s Saturday action was spoiled by Mother Nature, the Patriots stormed onto the field to continue their march to perfection as they trounced the Tanapag Braves, 14-2, on Sunday at Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Field.

There was little doubt that the Patriots are the little kings of the Little League as they turned a close 5-2 game into a massacre by scalping the Braves with a nine-run fifth inning.

Pitcher Brian Camacho fanned 11 through five innings and sprinkled eight hits harmlessly through five innings before his teammates ran up the score to force the umpires to end the game prematurely with the 10-run mercy rule.

Polan Masaharu was the most patriotic hitter as the slugger went 3-for-3 with a single, a two-run double, and an RBI triple to finish the day with three ribbies, and catcher Anthony Salas did him one better by driving in four runs off of a pair of singles and a double to go 3-for-4.

The Braves took the lead early with a run in the bottom of the first, but that was all their time to shine was ended abruptly when the Patriots scored two runs in the third and three more in the fourth before letting loose a ridiculous niner in the fifth.

TWINS 4, OL’ACES 3

The As Matuis Twins used a pair of pitchers to put sad faces on the Ol’Aces as starter Steve Limes and J. J. Geter combined to hold the Oleai boys to three hits through six innings.

Limes lasted only two innings before handing off the ball to Geter, and the reliever fanned nine and gave up a pair of runs off of two hits in the final four innings to lead the “Terrible T’s” to another win.

Shortstop Ben Lizama smacked a pair of singles to finish 2-for-3 in the morning game and catcher Diego Camacho’s lone connection resulted in an RBI triple, while Mr. Infield Vince Castro went 1-for-3 with a single.

HUSTLERS 11, RED SOX 1

The call to Boston for Curt Schilling went unanswered on Sunday as the Little League Red Sox failed to stop the Hustlers at the plate, but they got some relief at the end of the fourth inning when the umpires finally halted the Hustlers by invoking the 10-run mercy rule.

A day after getting plunked in the head, catcher Marvin Ngeskebei returned to Tan Ge Field for his best outing of the season by smacking three singles and driving in two runs to finish a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate.

A.J. Lizama was also flawless as the infielder drove in a run and hit a pair of singles to finish 2-for-2 on a day when his pitchers were deadly on both sides of the ball. Starting pitcher Dayline Joseph fanned three and surrendered a run off of one his through three innings, but she also went 2-for-3 with a single and a two-bagger.

Reliever Anthony Manalo wasn’t too shabby either, as he fanned one to close out the final inning from the mound and picked up the bat to drive in three runs off of a single and a pair of double to go 3-for-3 on the day.

JUNIOR LEAGUE

OL’ACES 11, COMETS 1

There was little that the Comets could do to stymie the Ol’Aces offense on Sunday as the red, white, and blue crew hammered out 11 runs in five innings before the umpires called it quits by invoking the Junior League’s 10-run mercy rule to send everyone home early.

Pitcher Dane Lisua enjoyed a comfortable lead throughout the game and gave up one run off of three hits and fanned nine to earn the complete-game win, and the cushion was provided by a trio of teammates who attacked everything that came their way.

Shortstop Juan Iguel went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and a stolen bag, third baseman Dave Camacho went 2-for-3 with an RBI single and a three bagger, and outstanding outfielder Chris Meyers went 2-for-3 with a single and a two-run double to power the Ol’Aces to a convincing win at Tan Ko Field.

SENIOR LEAGUE

FALCONS 7, HUSTLERS 4

After getting shelled in his last outing, Marley Techur returned to the mound on a mission as he led the Falcons to a 7-4 victory over the Hustlers with a potent mix of pitches that perplexed the plate-side perpetrators at Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field on Saturday afternoon.

Though temperatures soared on Sunday, spectators didn’t run for the aircon because Techur kept them cool by fanning 16 batters in seven innings of work on Saipan’s biggest stage at the Oleai Sports Complex.

The recently redeemed hurler allowed just four runs off of five hits and delivered a single on the other side of the plate, but he received plenty of offense from his teammates under the sun as Ryan Ada and Juan Tenorio Jr. had solid days with the swat stick.

Ada drove in a run and went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and Tenorio smacked in a pair of runs off of a base hit and a triple for the Falcons.

The dirty birds wasted no time taking control of the game as they flew out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first and followed with tallies in the third, fourth, and sixth while Techur kept the Hustlers at bay.