Taisacan, Sakisat lead Rangers past D-9ers

Mel Sakisat was his usual best on the mound, while Ben Taisacan did his magic from the plate to lead Ford Rangers to a 14-7 win over San Roque D-9ers in Wednesday night’s action in the 2008 Budweiser Saipan Major League.

Sakisat pitched seven innings and registered seven strikeouts in outplaying the trio of D-9ers pitchers brought to face him and the rest of the Rangers’ batters.

Taisacan, meanwhile, was simply spectacular from the batter’s box, turning the game around with four RBIs in the third and fourth innings on back-to-back triples that essentially handed the game to the Joeten Motors-sponsored team.

After a 1-1 first inning, Rangers moved ahead when Clifton Silil’s triple brought home Sakisat to give their team a 2-1 lead.

D-9ers, however, answered with three runs in the third, as Chris Camacho made it 2-2 on a single by Ton Camacho. John Acosta then drove in Camacho on an error and Acosta himself crossed the plate on a single by Pat Alepeyu to make the score 4-2 in favor of the team from San Roque.

Rangers would quickly counter though in the next inning, as Taisacan victimized starting pitcher Lee Roy Dela Cruz with a triple that scored Robert Bansil and Flores Franco.

After Ton Camacho drove in another run in the top of the fourth to make it 5-4 for the D-9ers, Taisacan was again back to do damage from the plate.

This time, however, he was not alone, as Pete Tomokane and Flores drove in two runs for the Rangers to give them back the lead, 6-5.

Taisacan then made sure that the Rangers stayed in the driver’s seat, as the hard-hitting first baseman befuddled relief pitcher Derik Babauta with yet another triple that allowed Bansil and Flores to return home, giving them an 8-5 spread.

While the Rangers would score six more runs in the next three innings as against one by the D-9ers, the game was essentially won in the fourth when the latter seized momentum.

Taisacan went on to finish 2-of-4 from the plate with four RBIs. Franco and Silil were also brilliant in support as the duo combined for 5-of-11 from the batter’s box with four RBIs. Ton Camacho shone in the loss for D-9ers, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

The win allowed Rangers to move up to solo second behind spotless Rock Steady (9-0) with a 6-3 mark. The loss, meanwhile, dropped D-9ers to a tie with Korean Dreams in fourth to fifth places with a 5-4 record.

On Tuesday, Komoro defeated Kabur, 8-5. The match saw the season’s first over-the-fence homerun as Jang Jun Hyuk let it fly out to the direction of Marianas High School for Komoro.

Last May 23, Koran Dreams defanged the Tigers, 8-5. Rock Steady, meanwhile, notched its ninth win as against no loss after dismantling Kabur, 10-4, in their May 21 game.