Brewers shutdown the defending champs

The Miller Lite Brewers pitched their way to a 2-0 victory over the Northern Yankees on the arm of strikeout standout Roy Celis Monday night in Game 1 of the Saipan Major League championships at the Francisco M. Palacios baseball field.

The Yankees couldn’t buy a hit from Celis until Robert Bansil cranked a double in the bottom of the seventh inning. Prior to the two-baser, Celis retired 20 consecutive batters. The only other time that he was touched was when left fielder Dave Kapileo singled to lead off the ninth. Celis went the distance in the contest, punching out 12 batters without walking a single pinstriper.

“This is the championship and I had to go with my best, my ace pitcher. It’s always nice to secure the first game of any series, so I put in Roy to try to get us through this game. Now we’re one up on the Yankees. He pitched a good game and that’s what we needed to secure the first game,” said Brewers manager Tony Rogolifoi.

The Brewers would score the only run that they needed in the top of the first when Jester Garcia smacked a ball to Koblerville. It was Garcia again who added a little insurance for the Brew Crew in the third when he singled home designated hitter Chris George.

Celis should change his number to 1-2-3 after Game 1 because that’s exactly how he helped show the Yankees the door inning after inning. He was at the top of his game and was pitching like a man on a mission. After the game Celis explained that he dedicated this game to his best friend Diane.

Head umpire Bill Primley has been calling balls and strikes in Saipan for eight years now and said that this was the best that Celis has thrown since he’s been here.

It’s one thing to watch the pitches that he was throwing, but it’s an entirely different thing to be catching them. Long time teammate, catcher Manny Sablan, has played with Celis since their Senior League days, so he know best what kind of outing that he had.

“He was throwing rockets tonight. He was throwing a really accurate fastball and a good curve ball. Ever since the first inning he was throwing heat, and I trusted that he could go all the way.”

The tandem said that they took turns calling the pitches during the game, and it would be hard to prove their system wrong.

Any time a ball game finishes with only two runs scored between the teams, you can bet that there was one heck of a pitchers’ duel. Monday night was no different. Elmer Sablan fanned a pair and allowed just two runs on seven hits during his seven-inning outing, while Jonathan Jones smoked a trio of batters to finish up without yielding a tally to the Brewers.

Rogolifoi said that he was really proud of his team for sticking together to get the win, but stressed the importance of not getting ahead of themselves.

“They did great, the defense was there. The boys did pretty well at the plate although the Yankees also played well in the field. So, we’ll take this one game at a time.”

Rogolifoi said that he never thought about pulling Celis from the game.

The only team that was able to beat the Yankees twice during the regular season was the Brewers, and with a playoff win under their belts it would seem that they have some confidence going into Game 2.

“We know we’re solid. We can do it,” said Brewers outfielder Byron Kaipat

Players and fans alike will have to wait for a while to see how the defending champs bounce back in Game 2 Friday, July 30, but if the first game was any indication, they will be in for a good one. As a courtesy to all of the players and parents that will be pulling together to help the CNMI Little League All-stars in their bid to go to the World Series this week, the SML board has decided to push the championships until everyone gets back.

With that much time between the games, the Yankees might be in for another dose of the rocket. The first pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 6:30pm at the Palacios baseball field.