Pirates and Twins to meet for title

Just a day after advancing to the semifinals, the boys of summer were at it again at the Oleai Sports Complex, this time to vie for a shot at competing in the championship.

In two hard fought games, the Pacifica Insurance Pirates took out the pennant champion UMDA Hustlers, and the Joeten Ace Hardware Twins came back to beat the AA Enterprise Tanapag Braves.

The Pirates scored four unanswered runs in the third inning to pull ahead for good while the Twin rallied from a 7-3 deficit by scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the fifth.

It was a battle between the regular season’s first and second place teams as the Hustlers and the Pirates took to the field at 9am.

The Hustlers started out quickly by scoring three runs in the third inning. Phillip Manalo of the Pirates helped them up by walking the first two batters. A couple of wild pitches and an Anthony Rogolifoi base hit put the Hustlers ahead by three early. Manalo got it together and was able to strikeout the last two batters to end the inning.

After coming up empty handed in the first, the Pirates hoped that their defense would not have a repeat performance in the second. Manalo took care of that by striking out two more.

It was the Pirates turn to score in the second when Alex Benavente crossed the plate via Ernest Sablan Jr. brought him home. That was just the taste of scoring that the black and gold was looking for. In the third, Eli Augenbaugh got the party started with a base hit to lead off the inning. Ofero Taitano went yard for the second time this year to tie the game at three all.

After Manalo plunked Cameron Nicolas, Benavente doubled his teammate home, and the lead changed hands for the first time. A walk to Thomas Camacho and another to Jonathan Camacho loaded up the bases, and all it took was a bit of contact from Sablan Jr. to get Benevente home.

After three it was 5-3 Pirates, and that was all of the runs that they would need. Nicolas walked the first two he faced in the fourth, and Benevente was brought in to finish it off. Benevente K’d the first batter and let his fielders do the rest.

The Hustlers had two more shots against the reliever, but they couldn’t get past the Pirates defense. They went don 1-2-3 in the final two innings, ending appropriately enough on a Benevente strikeout.

It was another comeback in the other semifinal game between the Braves and Twins. Down 7-3 going into the top of the fifth inning, the Twins needed some luck to get them out of a bind. After the first two batters fell victim to Braves pitcher Joy Fred, they went double live gonzo, producing nine hits, back-to-back dingers and 10 runs, to the dismay of the red and white.

The Braves fired back with a couple of their own in the bottom of the fifth when Ike Aldan and Justin Alexander crossed the plate to make it 13-9. The flurry in the fifth was too much for the Braves, as Nathan Castro K’d two in the final inning to earn the Twins the improbable victory.

The game started with the Braves doing damage in the first with two outs, as Marvin Falig singled and Aldan homered. As they went into the top of the second, the Twins were down 2-0. When Nathan Castro crossed the plate to cut the lead to one run, but the Braves were able to answer when their first baseman made it home.

Down 3-1 in the top of the third, the Twins got the support of the Jones boys, as Josh and Dave crossed the plate to tie it up. It would only last a few minutes, as the Brave kept up with the Joneses to make it 4-4 when Fred made it home courtesy of a Tony Castro wild pitch.

The Twins weren’t able to respond because Aldan struck-out the side in the top of the fourth. The Braves seemingly took control when they scored three more runs to up the lead to 7-3.

That’s when Braves were ambushed at Little Bighorn. The first two Twins went down harmlessly enough, but that was just the calm before the storm. First it was a double by league leading hitter Eric Tenorio, then a bean ball to Greg Camacho, Castro touched two, then another hit, and another, and another, and another and another. Run by run the Braves saw their lead dwindle and disappear. Then when it couldn’t get any worse, Dave Camacho and Tenorio hit back-to-back homers.

When the dust finally settled, the score was 13-7 Twins.

The consolation game between the Hustlers and the Braves will be played on Saturday, May 29, at 9am with the Little League Baseball championship game between the Pirates and Twins will follow at 11am.

Watch the future all-stars play for the title at the Oleai Sports Complex.