Atalig’s clutch homer keeps Twins alive

The As Matuis Twins’ Richard Atalig hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Pacific Amusement Rays to force a stalemate, 8-8, in their Major division game in the Saipan Little League Baseball last Tuesday at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfied.

The Rays pulled ahead, 8-0, with a six-run push in the third inning built off five hits. Nathaniel Torres ripped a two-RBI double and stole home and Manny Esefon bagged an RBI single.

The Twins answered with four runs in the bottom frame off three hits and a pair of fielder’s choices and tapped Richard Atalig to the mound to start the fourth frame.

Atalig held down the Rays through regulation and led his team’s rally in the sixth inning with a three-run homer to send the game into extra innings. The Twins scored the previous run off a fielder’s choice from Oscar Lizama.

The opposing teams played out the seventh inning before umpires postponed the match due to time constraints. The game will resume on a later date.

Esefon exceeded his pitch limit after striking out the first batter in the sixth inning and left his team with the lead with two outs to go. He gave up five hits and five walks with nine strikeouts in five and a third innings. Atalig gave up just two hits, a walk, and seven strikeouts so far through four innings.

In other Majors results, the JPO-DPS Dare Program Enforcers defeated San Vicente A’s, 9-2; the Rays downed the Bank of Saipan Red Sox 12-4; and the Rep. Joseph P. Guerrero Dandan Comets blanked the Natibu Sports Association Tanapag Braves, 14-0, on Sunday, while on Saturday, the Natibu Tanapag Falcons run ruled McDonald’s 15-5; the Twins 18 pelted IT&E, 18-8; and the IT&E Ol’Aces routed the Robert T. Torres Law Offices Kagman Little Legals, 14-1.

The Enforcers’ Kier Agda bashed a two-run homer in the first inning for the early lead and teammate Joaquin Saralu hammered a pair of RBI doubles in the third and fourth frames. The two other runs were scored off an error and a walk in the fifth inning to give the Enforcers a solid 6-0 lead, heading into the last inning.

They went on to add three runs with two outs in the top of the sixth from a three-run homer by Agda.

Saralu pitched five scoreless innings before giving up a pair of free passes that made it home upon his departure with one out in the final stand. He gave up just one hit with five walks and four strikeouts.

The Rays trudged ahead, 10-1, in the first two innings and held the Red Sox to just three runs in the third frame. The Rays racked up six runs out of the gate from a triple by Jay Kalen, two other hits, three walks, and some extra throws, and added four runs in the second inning from four more hits by the thick of its order.

The Rays’ Nathaniel Torres was solid on the mound aside from a small hiccup in the third inning. He gave up three earned runs off five hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in five innings for the win. He also batted 2-for-2 with two runs and a base on balls.

Kalen batted 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.

The Comets’ Austin Hocog dealt a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in four innings, while his teammates delivered a surplus of runs at the plate

Leadoff batter Aurel Mendiola broke the ice for the comets in the first inning and ignited a four-run push in the third inning with a triple.

The Comets then batted through the lineup for the nine-run knock blow in the bottom of the fourth. A pair of doubles from Lorenzo Sebacklim and Hocog and a two-run homer from Agda highlighted the Comets’ uprising.

Agda batted 3-for-4 with two RBIs, four runs, and a stolen base, while Hocog swung 2- for-3 with a run.

The Falcons assumed control, 5-1, in the first inning from patience at the plate and aggression on the base path and then jumped in front, 11-1, in the second inning off five hits, including doubles from Donnie Manalo, Benen Iguel, and Kekuni Kaainoa.

Falcons’ Jose David Pangelinan stepped to the rubber at the start of the second inning and set it to cruise control for the win. McDonald’s managed a run to close the second, added another run in the third inning of a triple by John Granada, and almost avoided the early decision in the fourth, but Falcons’ Pangelinan held strong on the mound.

Pangelinan gave up four runs off three hits and three walks with four strikeouts in three innings. The Falcons’ bottom four batters out hit the top half, 5-3, as most of the runs actually came off walks and nerves in McDonald’s infield with runners on base.

IT&E held a slight 7-6 edge after the first two innings, but the Twins raised the ante to 12-7, in the third thanks to some pitching woes. Twins’ Richard Atalig bagged an RBI single, but most of the runs came in off walks and steals by the speedy Twins.

IT&E tried to answer, but was thrown out at third base twice in the bottom frame, and the wind left its sail after the Twins posted another six runs on the board in the fourth inning, off a grand slam with ducks on the pond by Oscar Lizam. The two other runs were scored off an error and a stolen dish by Atalig.

Despite allowing eight runs and seven walks, winning pitcher Austin Benavente gave up just three hits and a bean ball with five strikeouts in four innings.

Twins Lizama batted 3-for-3 with four RBIs, four runs, a stolen base and a base on balls; Atalig went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs, six stolen bases, and a base on balls; Boz Igitol swung 2-for-2 with an RBI, a run and a stolen base.

The Ol’Aces enjoyed a 8-0 advantage after two innings, scoring four runs in the opening frame from a grand slam with the bases loaded by Mathew Higgins. They added four more runs in the second inning from a two-RBI double by Jimmy Kaipat, a sacrifice fly by Kimo Angailen, and a stolen dish by Virgil Secharmedal.

The Legals’ lone run came in the third inning from an error. Secharmedal was lights out on the mound and gave up just one hit and two walks with 10 strikeouts in five innings.

Secharmedal stole home again in the fourth inning and belted a two-RBI single in the fifth that went with an RBI single by Angailen and another stolen dish by Glenn Calvo for the early decision.