Braves players show way in Junior League batting race

A Braves player is greeted by his coaches after a good defensive stop against the Enforcers during their Junior League game in the 2017 Saipan Little League Baseball last Saturday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Braves’ chances of getting the top honors in the batting race are looking good as five of their players are in the Top 10 in the Junior League division of the 2017 Saipan Little League Baseball.

Vicente Camacho is ranked first with his batting average of .517 (as of April 9), while his teammates J.P. Celis, Josenio Alvarez, Leve’Que Iguel, and Kyle Kapileo, are in second, fourth, seventh, and eighth place, respectively. Camacho went 15-for-29 at bat and is the lone player in the batting race to average at least .500. Celis’ .441 of his 15-for-34 performance at the plate put him in second place, while Alvarez earned an average of .423 after going 11-for-26. The Enforcers’ Thomas Agulto is in third spot with his batting average of .428 (12-for-28).

Iguel and Kapileo have batting averages of .490 (9-for-22) and .400 (10-for-25), respectively, just a few percentage behind No. 5 and the Ol’Aces’ Trevor Lieto (.419/13-for-31) and the Enforcers’ Sean Rabauliman (.416/10-for-24).

With Iguel, Kapileo, Celis, Alvarez and Camacho in the Top 10, the Braves have the most players in the Top 20. The Ol’Aces, Falcons, and Enforcers have four each, while the Comets have three.

Rounding out the Top 20 are the Comets’ A.J. Sanchez (.393), the Falcons’ Isaiah Teigita (.391), the Comets’ Reid Teregeyo (.384) and Sebastian Saures (.379), the Ol’Aces’ Kiana Aldan (.360), the Enforcers’ Justin Agulto (.360), the Falcons’ Nixon Smith (.346), the Ol’Aces’ Nathan Aizon (.346), the Enforcers’ Mingko Taimanao (.333), the Falcons’ Froilan Camacho (.333), the Ol’Aces Henry Fleming (.321), and the Falcons’ Joel Norita (.310). The batting leaders were based on 21 or more times at bat.

In the pitching race, a Braves player is also on top with Camacho having a 0.43 ERA to lead four others. He allowed only one run in 15.1 innings pitched. The Comets’ Vincent Nakamura is at second place with his 0.80 ERA (3 runs allowed in 25.1 innings), followed by Norita (0.84), Celis (0.91), and the Falcons’ Aven Evangelista (0.93).

Meanwhile, Nakamura is ahead in the strikeouts category with his 35, while Celis and Norita are ranked second with 33 each. Evangelista has the most runs so far with 17, while Sanchez (8), Vicente Camacho (3), and Saures (5) lead in the RBIs, triples, and doubles, respectively. In the home run category, only Froilan Camacho and Tarrence Babauta have rounded the bases (once).