Kings follow Celis to the top

The Budweiser Kings made a name for themselves last season when they stormed out of the gate but they were unable to maintain their early momentum later on and eventually fell to their more experienced counterparts in the Saipan Major League.

The 2006 edition of the team has a new look and perhaps some new luck as SML organizers teamed up with Marpac to dub the league the Budweiser SML. Bolstered by some veteran players and young stars, the Kings have been able to maintain their lead nine games into the season, and a big part of that is the consistent hitting from Tony Celis.

After leading the Brewers for the past couple of years, Celis jumped ship in the off-season to join the youngest club in the league. His impact helped steady the ship and push the Kings to an unrivaled 7-2 record, while becoming the league’s top hitter and setting the pace to three-peat as the batting champion.

Celis’ .579 average is good enough to lead all hitters and he is also the top producing hitter with men on base as the slugger has driven in 16 runs. Teammates Dane Lizama and Jonathan Villagomez join the big man on the list of top guns with .461 and .433 batting averages, respectively, to help the Kings at the plate.

The Northern Yankees and Ford Rangers are tied for second place with matching 6-3 records, and while both teams trail the Kings in hitting, statistically speaking, they each posses standouts at the plate.

The Yankees have hard-hitting first baseman Tony Camacho on their side with the SML’s sixth-best batting average at .406, while the Rangers have speedy John Reyes and his .393. Both players have led by example throughout the season, and each team has a number of role players who fell just shy of reaching the league’s list of elite performers.

Jason Gay has crossed the plate a dozen times to lead the league and has driven in nine runners for the Rangers, while teammate J.J. Laniyo has smacked the most triples with three, and trails Gay by only two runs scored.

The D’s Diner Brewers still have plenty of punch at the plate as Manny Sablan, Jess Mesa, and youngster Luis Iguel have been posting respectable numbers. Sablan is second only to Celis with his .500 batting average and boast the power to clear the right field fence with the wooden bat, while Mesa (.405) and Iguel (.394) have displayed more consistency than their peers at the plate.

Unfortunately their 4-6 record has them behind the power curve in the standings, but they can credit at least one of their losses to a forfeit when they failed to field enough players at Tan Ko.

At 0-9, the K’s Wow Pow Masters have had the roughest time on the diamonds, but the most experienced team in the league can take heart that David Kapileo can still hang with the young crop of pitchers.

With a .467 batting average, Kapileo is third on the SML at the plate and tied for the lead in the doubles category with four two-baggers.