Angels, Ol’Aces notch wins in SML

The St. Michael’s Medical Response-Angels and the Ol’Aces grinded out a couple of comeback wins in this past week’s Saipan Major League Baseball Association opening round matchups held at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

The Angels ran down the D-9ers in the fifth inning and rode off into the sunset on Monday, while the Ol’Aces clawed back and forth with the IP&E Fielders, but came away the victors, 14-8, after a pair of late hour four-run bursts last Wednesday.

Both the Angels and the Ol’Aces currently share identical win-loss records of 3-1 and are now in a four-way tie for first place in the standings with the Northern Yankees and the Tan Holdings Brewers. The Fielders (2-4), Masters (1-3), and D-9ers (0-4) make up the rest of the field.

The D-9ers darted out to an early 4-1 lead after the first inning off a two-RBI base smash by Ben Mesa and an RBI single by Chad Atalig.

Angels’ Pat Alepuyo busted a double that scored John Reyes to get one back in the bottom half and the squad held their opponents to just one run before leaving them with the bases loaded in the top of the second inning.

Angels’ Nunu Kapileo then whistled a double to left field to make it, 3-5, in the bottom frame.

The D-9ers shrugged it off for a second and put their blinders on for a run in the fourth from another base rip by Mesa. The team then worked around another run in the fifth from Andave Camacho who bashed a double and found his own way home.

Trailing, 3-7, coming into the bottom of the fifth, the Angels rallied back to tie the match off three hits, an error, a sacrifice fly, and an interference call during a run down at the plate.

Angels’ John Reyes led off the inning with a base knock and touched all four with some crafty base running.

T.J. Cruz and third batter Pat Alepuyo also reached on errors and Kyle Kaipat drove in the former before the tail runner was caught out of position as he rounded third base.

D-9ers first baseman John Acosta ran clear across the diamond and put Alepuyo in a rundown situation, but with a handful of players running over to get in the rotation, one of them was declared an obstruction of the base path by the umpires, which allowed the runner passage to home plate.

Kaipat was later moved over to third base and was brought home by a sacrifice fly by Pete Tomakane that tied the game at 7-all.

This may have marked a turning point in the match as the D-9ers were blanked for the remainder of the contest.

The Angels on the other hand went ahead, 8-7, in the sixth off an RBI single by Cruz and put up three more in the seventh off just one hit as even the D-9ers bullpen appeared deflated from the uprising in the late innings.

The Angels opted for closer Franco Flores to bring it home from the start of the seventh inning. He filled his role very well and gave up just one hit with five strikeouts.

Notably, D-9ers pitcher Ben Cabrera came to the hump on the top of the second inning and pitched a good game as only a few of the runs allowed were actually earned with the bats during his five frames. He also batted 3-for-3 with a run and two bases on balls.

The Fielders reclaimed a 4-2 edge in the bottom of the third inning off three hits.

Ton Tenorio led off with a triple and was driven home by Jimmy Brel and Shane Mendiola delivered Brel with two-out double.

The Ol’Aces’ top of the order briefly tied the match for a second time in the fifth inning from leadoff man Jess Iguel and a sacrifice fly by J.R. Suel that scored Nokki Saralu.

The Fielders managed another couple of runs in the bottom frame from some welcomed errors, but the Ol’Aces finally awoke in the fourth time through its lineup. A costly error in left field helped bring in Juan Iguel and Saralu, while Suel and Asap Wabol were escorted home by Tyrone Omar.

Ol’Aces starter Benwachi Taisacan handed the ball over to his relief duo of Saralu and Juan Maratita after five innings and the unit did a good job keeping the Fielders at bay late in the game.

They each pitched two innings and gave up just one run, while their teammates added four runs to their lead in the eighth inning from a double by Juan Iguel, a two-run home run by Saralu, and some wild pitches. The Ol’Aces tacked on one for the road before closing the last three outs.