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Yankees get pennant; Tigers keep playoff hopes
The Northern Starz players exchange hi-fives after keeping the lead against the GSM Brewers in the sixth inning of their game in the 2014 Saipan Baseball League. The Brewers came back and stole the victory, 11-7, last Wednesday night at the Francisco ?Tan Ko? Palacios Ballfield. (ROSELYN B. MONROYO)
The Saipan Stevedore Yankees nipped the Northern Starz, 12-11, to secure the pennant in the 2014 Saipan Baseball League last Monday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.
Centerfielder Greg Iskawa scored the winning run for the Yankees, who finished the double-round robin elimination with a 9-1 record. The 2012 titlists finished ahead of defending champions GSM Brewers (8-2), who also won their last game in the regular season after rallying past the Northern Starz, 11-7, last Wednesday night.
With their back-to-back losses, the Northern Starz dropped to a 4-6 record and has to wait for the results of the game between the Tigers (3-6) and D-9ers (0-9) tonight to determine its playoff chances. A Tigers win would create a two-way tie for the fourth and last playoff berth, while a D-9ers victory would give the Northern Starz the final ticket to the next round.
Iskawa and the Yankees foiled the Northern Starz’s bid to advance to the next round when the former reached home off an error from catcher Cedric Ada at the top of the ninth inning. The go-ahead run came after Chris Camacho was struck out for the Yankees second out. The run was also the fourth for the Yankees, allowing the team to recover from an 8-11 deficit after eight complete innings.
The Northern Starz failed to reclaim the upper hand when the Yankees forced the former to a 1-2-3 play at the bottom of the ninth with shortstop A.J. Lizama on top of three defensive plays. He caught a fly ball from leadoff batter Javon Camacho, caught a pass from second baseman Tom Joab to tag out runner Ben Lizama, and then teamed up with first baseman Gary Cruz for the third out.
Meanwhile, the Brewers frustrated the Northern Starz anew when the defending champions pulled off a come-from-behind win.
The Brewers were down, 2-6, after six complete innings, but battled back with a seven-run top of the seventh. The Brewers went on to limit the Northern Starz to one run in the last three innings and completed the come-from-behind victory after tucking in two more runs in the eighth.
