John Mafnas great through eight

Rookie pitcher John Mafnas had one heck of a night on the mound for the Hustlers and his teammates and coaches let him know it by razzing the 17-year-old student from Saipan Southern High School before he went home.

Mafnas was packing heat all night and he said that his catcher Pat Alepuyo called all the right shots from behind the plate to keep him in a rhythm though his eight-inning stint on the hill.

“I felt pretty good out there. Pat had me throwing mostly fastballs. Pat was good. I thank him for that,” he said.

Mafnas is no stranger to pitching, as he has been hurling since his Little League days and as recently with the Big League Hustlers over the summer, but he already knows that his teammates had as much to do with the win as he did.

“The defense was good and the workout they gave me really helped me out,” he said.

During the game, Mafnas received plenty of supportive words from playing coach Jerome Delos Santos, and the third baseman said that was just part of his job.

“As team captain, my manager said that I am the captain of the infield so my job there is to talk to my rookie pitcher. Tonight he really did a good job and I give him credit for coming through. He had 11 strikeouts and that’s pretty good for a rookie pitcher,” he said.

Hustlers coach Tony Celis pulled Mafnas after the eighth inning in lieu of closer Kolani Castro, but the strategy didn’t workout because the reliever was unable to get out of the inning.

Jonathan Camacho was called in to get the last out but he gave up the tying run before the Hustlers came back to the dugout for the bottom of the ninth. Mafnas said that he was a little scared that his team would lose but Celis said that it was part of his continuing search for a clutch closer.

“We’re just having fun but we are trying to get a good closer and I can’t find one. We have a lot of good starters but we are having a lot of leaks from our closers. I told (catcher) Pat (Alepuyo) to give the last batter an inside pitch but he gave him outside. In his last at bat he slapped one on an outside pitch but he gave it to him again and he tied the score,” he said.

Delos Santos said that the team opted to put Castro into the game for the second time this season but the results were the same each time. Even the sure handed Camacho was unable to provide late game heroics for the Hustlers, leaving the team in the lurch.

“We tried (Castro) for two games but he didn’t come through so we’re still trying to look for a closer. We tried John (Camacho) who is a veteran pitcher but I think his arm is swollen so he couldn’t do anything with that,” he said.

The poor showing in the final two innings erased Mafnas’ win from the books and Delos Santos said that he tried to rally the troops in an effort to stave off the no-decision.

“I was kind of a little nervous and a little upset with the boys because there were two outs, it was 6-1, and my rookie pitcher who did a good job was going to get a no-decision. I really wanted him to get that win because he deserved it. He did a good job. I was telling the boys to help this rookie guy. He deserved the win,” he said.

Before he left the ballpark, Delos Santos praised his counterparts across the field and said that his teammates weren’t about to look ahead on the schedule because the Young Guns are tough to beat.

“Oh, they’re awesome. They’re very young and talented players. Most of them are all-stars and World Series players. They’re a great team and we didn’t underestimate them so it’s good that we beat them,” he said.