Island-Mix, TJS earn wins in SSA

With only one date remaining on the schedule, three teams in the 2004 Men’s Island Wide Slow Pitch Softball League added a notch in their win column, but only two had to put forth an effort to do so.

The Island-Mix (8-4), Natibu (11-2), and Team Juan Santiago (3-10) all came away from their matches with an improved record, and with tonight’s tripleheader at the Oleai Sports Complex the only thing separating the Top 8 teams from the post season, things have gotten interesting.

Island-Mix wasted no time in their 17-13 victory over Fadang (2-10), as they exploded for 10 runs off of eight hits in the bottom of the first inning and held on the rest of the way.

Tony Luzama was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate for the Mix, with three runs batted in, two singles, a double, and a solo homerun that got the offense going in the first inning. With the win, Island-Mix moved into a tie with the Bud Light Chura (8-4) in sixth place, but pending the outcome of their contests tonight, they still have a shot at landing fourth place.

Brotherhood and X-Clusive finished the season tied for fourth place with identical 9-4 records. If the Mix beat the Eliminators (10-2) and the Chura down the Flyers (11-1), there will be a four-way tie at 9-4.

The Top 4 teams receive prizes for finishing in the top spots, and according to league statistician, Ray Palacios, the Saipan Softball Association has never been faced with a positional playoff between four teams.

Natibu didn’t have to work quite so hard for their 11th win of the year—in fact, all they had to do was show up to the field. Da Boyz (3-10) finished the season on a sour note when they hand delivered Natibu their third forfeit win of the season, as they failed to field a team in the “tweener” game of the night.

The Outlaws (0-13) continued to prove that crime doesn’t pay when they dropped their 13th straight game, but they almost won their first game of the season in the final game of the night when they broke out for a 10-run first inning against Team Juan Santiago.

Unfortunately for the Outlaws, TJS rebounded with 12 runs in the second and eight in the third en route to claiming the 23-17 victory. Jess Villagomez went a stellar 4-for-5 at the plate to lead Team Juan Santiago with four singles, a pair of scores, and three runs batted in.