Braves slip past Red Sox, 13-12

A Braves player delivers a pitch to the Red Sox during their earlier Junior League game in the SLLB at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Braves pulled off a 13-12 victory over the Red Sox in their Junior League game in the 2016 Saipan Little League Baseball yesterday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

Vicente Camacho scored the winning run, as he reached home plate at the bottom of the seventh and last inning off a wild pitch from Orren Cruz. Camacho made the dagger with the Red Sox just one out away from forcing the game into an extra inning.

The Red Sox got the first out after Braves leadoff batter Jordan Babauta was beaten to first on a 5-3 play, and the second when shortstop Henry Fleming caught a fly ball from Anthony Dizon. Camacho then batted third for the Braves and advanced to first off a Red Sox error at third base. Camacho went on to move to second off a passed ball and stole third base to boost the Braves’ chances to win the match in regulation.

The close victory saved the Braves from collapsing, as they bungled an 11-7 lead, while the Red Sox mounted a comeback in the sixth inning. A five-run top of the sixth put the Red Sox on top, 12-11. Cruz hit an RBI double, while Derrick Reusora nailed an RBI single, and the Red Sox got three runs off the Braves errors in that rally.

A sacrifice fly from Josenio Alvarez at the bottom of the sixth forced the deadlock and the game remained tied after the top of the seventh with the Braves’ defense preventing the Red Scores from scoring again. Closer Robin Sablan struck out Cruz before walking Dai Podziewski, who eventually reached third base off the Braves’ miscues. However, Podziewski was left stranded at third when Devon Pangelinan flied out at leftfield and Fleming was beaten to first base.

The Red Sox played catch up as they scored three and 4 runs in the first and third and were shut down in the second, fourth, and fifth inning. The Braves, on the other hand, made up for a slow start, as they tacked on five runs apiece in the second and fourth after being held to one run at the bottom of the first.

Meanwhile, the Comets cruised to an 11-2 win over the Red Sox in the Junior League game yesterday.

Ahead by only 3, 4-1, after four complete innings, the Comets pulled away at the top of the fifth after scoring six runs.

Ethan Babauta, who pitched a complete game, blasted a two-run double in the pivotal inning, while Brandon Pua and Aurel Mendiola each had an RBI single, and Elijah Villar posted an RBI walk. Babauta also scored one run off a Red Sox’s error.

The Red Sox never threatened the Comets after that, as the former tallied only one run in the last three innings, courtesy of Nate Anson’s sacrifice out.

Babauta registered eight strikeouts in the easy win.

There were three games scheduled at the “Tan Ko” field yesterday, but the Big League tiff between the Braves and the Islanders was rescheduled due to the unavailability of umpires.