Aces trip Ballistics in SBL

Aces pitcher Peter “Dung” Tenorio prepares to throw to the plate during their game against Ballistics in the 2018 Saipan Baseball League last Friday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (Jon Perez)

The Aces may miss the playoffs in the 2018 Saipan Baseball League, but that did not stop them from ending their season on a winning note.

Lamarc Iguel had six RBIs and was a home run short of making the cycle to lead the Aces to a 23-15 victory over Ballistics last Friday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

The Aces finished the regular season with a 5-4 and their playoff chances would have depended on the outcome of last night’s meeting. League coordinator Tony Rogolifoi met with the team managers to decide whether the Top 4 or Top 8 teams would advance to the playoffs and at press time yesterday no announcement on the playoff format has been made.

Go See Mark are on top of the team standings with an 8-1 record, followed by the Chalan Kanoa Bears (7-1), the Falcons (6-2), and the Mariners (6-3). The Bears and Falcons will play in one of the last two matches in the regular season, as their scheduled duel last April 18 was cancelled due to rain.

If the SBL would follow the eight-team playoff, the Aces, Titanium (5-4), Blue Jays (3-6), and Ballistics (3-6) would join in the postseason the four teams that are at the upper half of the standings. The Indians (0-8) and Outlaws (0-8) are out.

Iguel led the defending champions’ victory last weekend, as he went 3-for-6 and made a two-RBI single, a double, and a triple, and scored three times. John Tudela and Vince Torres drove in three runs apiece with the former going 4-for-5 with two doubles and five runs. Torres had a bases-clearing triple, as the Aces scored seven runs at the top of the first inning. He batted 3-for-7 to end up with two runs, a double, and a triple.

Aces catcher Ben Jones had a double and five runs on a 4-for-6 batting. He led off the first and seventh inning with a single and a double.

The loss foiled Keoni Lizama’s three-run homer for the Ballistics. He now joins an exclusive club (players who homered this season) composed of A.J. Lizama, Brian Camacho, Shane Yamada, and Larson Sibetang. A.J. Lizama is the only SBL player to have hit two home runs this season.

Ballistics 7, Indians 6
Adolpho Roppul fanned 10 in six innings to help the Ballistics keep the Indians winless last Thursday night. He gave up four runs, all unearned, on two hits with three walks.

Brandon Pua closed out for Ballistics and despite allowing M.J. Sakisat and Jared Camacho to score, he got the last two outs when he picked off Robert Tudela before forcing Jason Camacho to ground out to first.