Brewers get No. 2 seeding; Falcons boost playoff bid

The GSM Brewers’ Vince Cepeda, left, practices pitching, while his teammates look on before their game in the 2016 Saipan Baseball League last week at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Defending champions GSM Brewers took the No. 2 spot in the Final Four of the 2016 Saipan Baseball League, while the Falcons remained in playoff contention as two make-up matches were played last week at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

The Brewers outclassed the Falcons, 7-5, in last Thursday’s lone game, while the latter recovered quickly with a 17-5 rout of North Starz last Friday. The Brewers improved their record to 10-3 and are assured of the second-ranking in the playoffs behind No. 1 seed Chalan Kanoa Bears (13-0) regardless of the results of the defending champions’ final regular season match against the Yankees (4-8) last night.

The Falcons, on the other hand, ended up with an 8-6 slate and must wait for the results of the two remaining matches in the elimination to determine their fate. The Falcons will advance to the Final Four if Titanium (7-6) will drop its game against the Yankees tomorrow. If Titanium prevails and the BSI Aces bow to the Bears tonight there could be a three-way tie for the last two playoff tickets.

League coordinator Tony Rogolifoi said the deadlock will be broken via head-to-head matches and the team that will come out on top will take the No. 3 spot, while the bottom two will fight for the last Final Four seat.

The Brewers avoided complications going into the playoff round after slipping past the Falcons in their penultimate game in the double-round robin elimination. Ton Tenorio scored the go-ahead run at the top of the ninth off a Falcons error, while Nokki Saralu made the insurance also off their foes’ defensive miscue.

The Falcons, who forced a standoff, 5-5, after a three-run bottom of the seventh inning, missed a chance to steal the win from the Brewers at the bottom of the ninth after committing two quick outs. J.J. Lifoifoi then kept the Falcons’ hopes alive when he moved to first off a fielder’s choice, but was later stranded after Ian Norita flied out to second to end the match in favor of the Brewers.

After the tough loss, the Falcons regrouped and eased past North Starz.

The Falcons started strong, scoring 12 runs in the first three innings en route to the early win. They capitalized on North Starz’ booboos at the top of the first to collect seven runs. The Falcons then added five more—four were earned—to build a double-digit spread 12-2.

The Doru Camacho-managed Falcons slowed down in the last five innings, but still kept their safe distance, as they yielded no more than one run to North Starz in each of the five innings the latter scored.

Cameron Towai led the Falcons with his five runs and added two RBIs off his 2-for-3 performance at the plate. A.J. Evangelista hit 3-for-6 and tallied three RBIs and two runs. Norita had only one run, but made two RBIs after going 3-for-4 at bat.