Korean Dreams add to Kabur’s nightmares

Korean Dreams had a parade of singles in the eighth inning that helped secure an 18-8 mercy run-shortened victory against hapless Kabur in the continuation of the 2008 Saipan Major League last Friday at the Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field.

Leading 14-7 in the top of eighth, Dreams pelted Kabur reliever Darwin Masaharu with four singles that drove in three runs to give them an 11-run lead.

Shane Mendiola reached first base on a single then advanced to scoring position on a fielder’s choice that threw out Harland Reyes.

Mendiola then scored on a base hit by Jason Reyes, who in turn crossed home plate on a hit by Roland Kapileo. Thomas Joab then gave Dreams three runs in the inning when he singled Kapileo. Joab gave Dreams four runs in the inning when he took advantage of an error.

After his heroics from the plate, Mendiola made sure the 10-run mercy rule applied when he finished off the Kabur batters in the bottom of the eighth.

He first induced Efrain Hector to hit the baseball toward second baseman Justin Reyes who threw the Kabur runner out on a relay to first baseman Mario San Nicolas.

Mendiola was a bit shaky when he faced the next three batters, surrendering three consecutive singles that eventually brought home Poland Masaharu on an RBI by Darwin Masaharu.

He, however, made up for that when he recorded his 10th strikeout for the second out of the game. The match ended when third baseman Joe Borja gunned down Darwin Masaharu with a perfect relay throw to Reyes.

Kabur actually started like a house on fire, chasing Dreams starting pitcher Mario San Nicolas from the mound with five runs in the first inning.

That forced Dreams to play catch-up and only came within a run when San Nicolas himself scored Jordan Reyes in the fourth to make it 5-6.

Dreams would take control in the next inning, when singles by their batters and errors by the Kabur battery allowed the former to more than double its runs and take an 11-6 lead.

Three more runs in the 6th inning made it 14-5 before Kabur answered meekly with a run in the seventh, which set up Dreams’ four-run eighth.

The victory allowed Dreams to improved its record to 6-5, while the loss was the 10th in 12 outings for Kabur.

Mendiola pitched seven strong innings, allowing only two runs on three hits, while being assessed an error and five walks on top of the aforementioned 10 strikeouts.

Batting leader John Reyes continued to do wonders from the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Joab went 3-for-4 and scored three runs, while Borja and Mendola combined for 6-for-9 with four RBIs.