Previous Story
Rangers rally to beat Tacoma, 3-1
|
Posted on Apr 07 2005
After breaking open a scoreless tie with a run in the top of the seventh inning, the Toyota Tacoma surrendered a pair to the Ford Rangers in their next at bat and another late to give the Joeten squad a 3-1 victory, as the Saipan Major League continued its 2005 season upon the hallowed grounds of Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field.
McGregory Camacho allowed just five hits through six and two-thirds scoreless innings for the Tacoma before shortstop J.R. Suel failed to make a one-handed catch that would have ended the inning.
Instead heading into the top of the eighth inning with a 1-0 advantage, the miscue cost them the lead when left fielder Jason Gaye trotted across the plate to tie the game at one apiece.
A rattled Camacho contributed another run to the Rangers’ cause when he balked in first baseman Fred Kaipat to give the Ford squad the lead for good.
Camacho took the loss in the battle of the trucks, but had solid numbers with five hits and eight strikeouts through seven complete innings, while reliever Richard Quitigua allowed a run off of two hits and fanned J.J. Laniyo in the bottom of the eighth.
On the other side of field, pitcher Roy Celis battled soreness in his throwing hand during his one-run complete game, but he was still able to strike out 10 batters while spreading out eight hits over nine innings.
The Rocket never surrendered a base on balls in the contest, and continued to make a case for pitcher of the year with his third solid outing of the season.
Due to the command that Camacho had on his pitches, none of the Rangers had an exceptional night at the plate, but designated hitter Pete Sablan fared the best against the Tacoma ace with a 2-for-4 performance that yielded a pair of singles, a run scored, and a stolen base late in the game.
Action in the SML continues tonight in a battle of undefeated teams, as the Northern Yankees take on the Bud Kings at Palacios Field starting 6:30pm.
