Yankees bump Bud, 9-7
The Northern Yankees got a boost from their offense and a solid game on the mound from a cagey veteran as the pinstripers handed the Budweiser Kings their second loss of the season after hanging on to a narrow 9-7 victory at Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field in continuation of the Saipan Major League.
The Northern boys displayed some of the power that got them to the SML championships in the past three years running with a trio of talented tally-whackers that performed admirably at the plate.
Pat Camacho, John Reyes, and Robert Bansil each went 3-for-5 at the plate with six runs batted in combined, while well-known slugger Mel Sakisat put down the bat to pitch a complete-game win that lifted the Yankees to within a game of the first place Kings at 5-3.
Camacho hit three singles and drove in three runs, and swinging shortstopper Reyes smacked a pair of base hits and a two-run triple, while Bansil banged out a pair of base knocks and a three bagger. The Yankees powered out 14 hits before the sun went down, but Sakisat allowed a baker’s dozen to the Kings and fanned four.
The Yankees started off the game on the right foot by taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and added another tally in the third, but the first place Kings answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning to maintain a two-run gap.
Two innings later the Yanks hammered out three runs to take a 6-1 advantage, but the Kings answered with another single plate crossing in the bottom of the inning.
Down 6-2, the Kings started to rally in the bottom of the eighth inning and pulled to within a pair of run, but the Yankees added another three-run spurt in the top of the ninth for a 9-4 lead.
The Kings finally woke up their offense in the bottom of the ninth, but their three-run rally fell two runs shy of pushing the pinstripers to extra innings.
