Little Legals, Comets finish strong

The Little Legals’ Kaipo Dikito pitches against Pirates-2 during the top of the second inning of their game in the Major division of the 2017 Saipan Little League Baseball last Saturday at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Last year’s finalists Comets and Little Legals both won their final game in the regular season in the Major division of the 2017 Saipan Little League Baseball.

The Comets topped McDonald’s, 15-16, in last Saturday’s curtain-raiser at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield, while the Little Legals defeated the Pirates-2 in the second match, 14-5. The Little Legals and Comets finished the regular season with similar 9-3 records for a tie for third to fourth place in the team standings behind the Talaabwogh Falcons (10-2) and NBSA Braves (9-2), who are left to fight for the pennant.

The Little Legals scored in each of the six innings to bag its ninth win and bounced back from a sorry loss to the Braves last Thursday. Pirates-2, which fell to a 6-5 card and remains in fifth place, failed to pull off an upset against the Little Legals as the former struggled in the last five innings after scoring three runs in the first.

The first inning ended in a tie, 3-all, as G-Boy Pangelinan had a two-RBI single and also scored off a passed ball for the Pirates-2. The Little Legals got an RBI single each from Gunner and Delbert Sablan and a run from Kaipo Dikito off a Pirates-2 miscue.

The Little Legals then added five more runs in the second and third inning, while the Pirates-2 were scoreless in the next two frames, putting the former on top, 8-3. The Little Legals went on to keep its safe distance after holding the Pirates-2 to two runs in the last three innings while scoring six more.

Lucio Aldan and Delbert Sablan pitched for the Little Legals in the last four innings with the former allowing only one hit and striking out three and the latter fanning out five and stranding three runners.

Meanwhile, Jesus Sablan starred in the Comets’ victory over McDonald’s, as he went 2-for-2 at bat and scored one homer, four RBIs and three runs.

Jesus’ three-run triple at the bottom of the fifth inning delivered the killer blows for the Comets, which tallied seven runs in that period to gain a sizeable lead, 15-5, and put more pressure on McDonald’s going into the last inning.

Before the bottom of the fifth, the Comets was just ahead by three, 8-5. McDonald’s failed to score at the top of the fifth and must make 10 runs to continue the game. The losing squad fell way short of the target, as only leadoff L.J. Reyes reached home off a double from Joseph Ada. After Reyes scored and Ada moved to third, Comets closer Alvin Hocog struck out Joe Deleon Guerrero and Max Church before hitting Dillon Santos. The Comets then soon got the third and final out off a pickoff play, courtesy of Jesus Sablan at first base.