Rock Steady still perfect, Kabur near cellar

Rock Steady was solid in its outing against the Tanapag Falcons, 7-4, while Kabur remained near the cellar following a 9-5 loss to the Ford Rangers as the 2008 Budweiser Saipan Major League continued Wednesday and Thursday at the Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field.

Going up against the defending champions last Wednesday, Rock Steady charged right out of the gates by scoring four runs in the very first inning, highlighted by rightfielder Roy Celis’ two RBI single that brought home Manny Sablan and Byron Kaipat.

Starting pitcher Nick San Nicolas, meanwhile, was solid from the mound, shutting out the Falcons in the first two innings with 1-2-3 outings in the first and second innings before giving up two singles to J.D. Dikito and Henry Iguel in the third with the latter scoring on an RBI by the former.

The Falcons tucked in one more run in the fifth when Dustin Quitano scored Dikito to peg the score at 4-2, still in favor of Rock Steady.

That two-run margin would not last long though as Dane Lizama drove in Tyrone Omar and Lizama crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly by Celis to make it 6-2 in favor of the Rangers.

San Nicolas, who played his last game for Rock Steady to fulfill his commitment to the Saipan Big League All-Stars, would then hold his own against the Tanapag hitters the rest of the game.

He would limit the Falcons to three singles the rest of the way while registering five strikeouts to affirm his reputation as one of the islands’ best pitching prospects.

If not for an error by catcher Manny Sablan in the sixth and a miscue by Lizama from his shortstop position in the eighth, the Falcons would have stayed nailed at two runs.

Oliver Secharmidal and Byron Kaipat conspired for Rock Steady’s seventh run when the latter drove in the former in the bottom of the seventh inning.

San Nicolas went on to record 12 strikeouts in no relief while surrendering four runs on six hits. He was also assessed an error, two walks, and a bean ball.

Lizama went 4-for-5 from the plate on top of two RBIs and scored two runs for Rock Steady. Omar also did well in the win, going 2-for-4 and crossed the plate twice.

Dikito shone for the Falcons, going 3-for-4 at the plate. Iguel and Quitano, meanwhile, were the only batters that drove in runs for Tanapag.

It was the 10th win against no loss for perfect Rock Steady, while the loss dropped the Falcons’ record to 6-4.

On Thursday, the Rangers mirrored Rock Steady’s four-run explosion in the very first inning before allowing two-win Kabur to creep back in the game at 6-5 in the top of the seventh.

Consecutive errors by Gloyd Martin, however, sealed the deal for Kabur as Clifton Silil’s and J.J. Laniyo’s home plate crossings made it 8-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Franco Flores, who relieved for starter Dung Tenorio after the fifth, tucked in one more run for good measure in the eighth on an error by Kabur centerfielder Jason Hayes.

Flores got the win after allowing no run in two innings while striking out two Falcons. He also went 1-for-2 at the plate. Ray Guerrero and Craig Sanchez scored two RBIs for the Rangers.

Leo Bobai and Hector Efrain led Kabur in the loss, going a combined 2-for-7 with two RBIs.

Rangers improved to 8-3 with the victory.