Red Sox pound Pirates, 12-3

The Red Sox earned their fourth win at Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Field on Sunday morning after pounding the Pirates during an intense stretch of hitting that spanned the third and fourth innings in continuation of the Saipan Little League Baseball Association.

Lincoln Ingram went the whole way for the Sox and allowed just six hits and fanned nine on the mound—including the final three batters he faced to end the game. Ingram played strong and his teammates provided support from the batter’s box as catcher Clayton Aguon went 3-for-4 with a pair of base knocks, a double, drove in a run, and stole a base, while teammate Alex Monkeya drove in a run and went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and a triple.

The Red Sox were trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the third before their offense sprang to life with six runs off of six hits for an 8-3 lead, but the team of rookies from Dan Dan added another four runs off of four hits in the four to end all prospects of a Pirates comeback.

OL’ACES 10, MCDONALD’S 3

The Ol’Aces pulled off a major upset at Tan Ge Field on Sunday as they hammered McDonald’s and silenced their super-sized bats for an unexpected 10-3 win in front of a jubilant crowd at the Oleai Sports Complex.

Kevin Yamada went the distance for the Oleai club and allowed just three runs off of nine hits and fanned six on the mound and a pair of ribbies off of a single and a double to finish the day 2-for-3.

First baseman Caleb Arriola also did well at the plate for the Ol’Aces by smacking a single, a double, and driving in three runs to go 2-for-3, while shortstopper Roky Matagolai went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, drove in two runs, and stole a base in the win.

McDonald’s scored early to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first but fell behind in the bottom of the inning when the Ol’Aces scored three in their first ups. The small fries pulled to within a run in the top of the third when Sidney Quan came home but the Aces added two in the bottom of the inning and five in the fourth to take total control of the game.

HUSTLERS 10, MATRIX 4

After falling behind 4-0 in the top of the first inning, the Hustlers scored 10 unanswered runs to hand the Toyota Matrix another loss at Tan Ge while maintaining their third place position in the standings at 10-3.

McGarette Dueñas lasted only two-thirds of the first inning after surrendering four runs off of three walks and a base hit to the Matrix before Jeremy Lizama and Marvin Ngeskebei came in to save the day.

The duo combined to shutout the Matrix with just two hits the rest of the way, and Lizama added a single, a double, and drove in a run at the plate to help the Hustlers claw back into the game.

JUNIOR LEAGUE

FIELDERS 12, OL’ ACES 2

Tom Agulto did it all for the Fielders with a dominating performance on the mound and at the plate to lift his team to its third win of the season by victimizing the Ol’Aces, 12-2, at Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field on Sunday morning.

Agulto only needed to pitch five innings before the umpires invoked the Junior League’s 10-run mercy rule because his squad worked its magic in the batter’s box in a seven-run second inning that set the tone.

As a pitcher, Aguon allowed just three hits and fanned one to earn the win and his power at the plate drove in four runs for the Fielders as he went 2-for-4 with a two-run single and a two-run inside the parker.

Shortstop Anthony Tenorio went 2-for-3 with an RBI single and a double for the Fielders and teammate Ioannis Rasa added some offense for his pitcher with a two-run single and a stolen base.

BIG LEAGUE

OL’ACES 9, NORTHERN ANGELS 9

Somebody has to win this one, but the game between the Ol’Aces and the Northern Angels will be completed after the season when they teams resume the contest with the Aces batting in the top of the ninth inning.

Thus far in the contest the teams used a combined six pitchers, but there were still a handful of hitters who performed above the rest. Ben Taisacan was a perfect 4-for-4 with four singles and a run batted in for the Ol’ Aces, while teammate Charlie Wabol went 3-for-4 with a string of singles and three ribbies.

First baseman John Benavente doesn’t have all of the same numbers but his two-run homer helped the Angels stay in the game while teammate Justin Mizutani went 3-for-4 with three singles, a run batted in, a stolen base, and a plate crossing.

After trailing 4-0 early in the game and 8-4 in the top of the fifth, the Northern Angels ripped off five runs between the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game and blanked the Aces in the seventh and eighth to get to the ninth.

SATURDAY BIG LEAGUE

FIELDERS 11, BRAVES 10

While the youngest players had Saturday off, the Big League Fielders and the Junior League Jets scored big time wins in exciting fashion at Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field.

The Fielders earned a big win after trailing early to the Tanapag Braves thanks to a solid pitching combo and a handful of hitters who stepped up to standout. Brandon Santos and Josh Dela Cruz split time on the mound

Santos allowed five runs off of six hits and fanned four through four innings while Dela Cruz surrendered five runs off of five hits and fanned three in the final three innings to pick up the win. Dela Cruz also had a hand in his success from the other side of the plate as he went 2-for-3 with a single, a triple, and a run batted in, but Emery Cruz provided the late game heroics that decided the game when he smacked the game that winning two-run single that scored P.J. Guerrero and Daryl Brennan in the top of the seventh for his only hit of the day.

Guerrero went 2-for-4 with a single, a triple, and an RBI, and Esteban Cruz went 1-for-2 with a grand slam and a sac fly that accounted for five runs batted in.

The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first but the Fielders answered with three runs in the top of the second and another in the third to take a 4-1 advantage. The Braves tied the game in the fourth when they ripped of three runs but the Fielders regained the lead when Oliver Secharmidal crossed home plate to make the score 5-4.

The one-run lead didn’t last long as the Braves sent four runners home in their next at bats, but the Fielders answered with their own four-run spurt—the fifth lead change of the game. Each of the teams added two runs in the seventh as the Fielders evened the record at 3-3, while the Braves suffered their fifth loss in as many games.

SATURDAY JUNIOR LEAGUE

DAN DAN JETS 14, PIRATES 11

The Dan Dan Jets handed the Pirates their first loss of the season on Saturday by overcoming a seven-run deficit in the fifth inning with the biggest comeback win of the season.

Trailing 11-3 through four and a half, the Jets dropped 11 runs off of 10 hits in the bottom of the fifth to paralyze the Pirates by taking a 14-10 lead late in the game. The first place squad was unable to recover from the shock and managed to score just one more run the rest of the way.

Jonathan Salas endured a tough four innings of work on the hill in which he gave up eight runs off of six hits before Nathan Kintol came in for the final three innings of three-run four-hit baseball at Tan Ko.

While they gave up a few runs, the duo got a few back at the plate as Salas went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles, a triple, and three ribbies, while Kintol went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a run batted in.

Aside from the 10 hits that they pounded out in the fifth, the Jets compiled just five hits the rest of the game as the Pirates looked to have the contest well in hand before the nickel inning meltdown.

The win pulled the Jets to within a game of the Pirates at 5-1 and gave them a new lease on life in the pennant race by marring the previously unmarred record.