Brewers spank Northern Yankees, 18-8

 The Tan Holdings-Brewers laid down the lumber on the Northern Yankees, 18-8, in last Wednesday’s Saipan Major League Baseball Association matchup held at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

Both teams now share identical 2-1 win-loss records.

Meanwhile, Monday’s game between the Ol’Aces (2-0) and the 2011 champion St. Michael’s Medical Response Angels (2-1) was postponed until further notice because the umpires went on strike.

According to the current schedule the Yankees are penciled in against the D-9ers (0-2) as the season’s first battle for the north takes place at the Tan Ko Field tonight at 6:30pm.

Brewers 18, Northern Yankees 8 

Brewers’ Oliver Secharmidal made it on and around in the first inning and a couple of walks later, Byron Kaipat drove in Roy Celis and Manny Sablan for a quick 3-0 lead.

Pitcher Thomas Camacho held the Yankees scoreless for the first three innings as the Brew Crew poured on six more runs off four hits to close the third frame.

Celis led off the uproar with a triple and was brought to the dish with a sacrifice fly by Kaipat. Mike Pangelinan stepped in next and drove home Sablan. Then after a walk and a bean ball later leadoff man Darren Pua singled Pangelinan and Derron Flores, while Secharmidal followed with a double that scored Jay Tilipao and Pua.

The Yankees started a two-run answer in the top of the fourth, but the Brewers tapped reliever Vince Cepeda to put out the fire.

Both teams came out with a run in the fifth inning to make it, 10-3, and then they each moved around three runs in the sixth, which shifted the count to 13-6.

The Yankees utilized some crafty base-running that was capitalized by an RBI base smash by Ben Jones, but the Brewers seemed to always have an answer last Wednesday and fired back with three runs produced mainly by a pair of doubles by Celis and Sablan.

Celis led off the portion with a double, after which Yankees second reliever Gary Cruz came to the mound for Jonathan Tenorio. Cruz faced Sablan and served up another double, while Pangelinan later touched all four after getting plunked at the plate.

Cruz bashed an RBI single in an effort to help his cause in the top of the seventh, but the Brewers put up three more runs in the bottom frame thanks to a couple early free bases and three hits. Sablan and Kaipat bagged RBI singles.

The Yankees’ last flicker of hope came from an RBI base rip by Chris Camacho in the top of the eighth inning and the Brewers finished them off a frame early.

Ton Manibusan and Josh Muna started off the eighth for the Brewers with a pair of base hits and Secharmidal drove in the former as they loaded up the bases to set the stage for an anticlimactic RBI walk ending.

The Brewers knocked the ball all over the place and finished with 16 hits as a unit in the game.

Winning pitcher Cepeda gave up three earned runs off four hits and eight walks with five strikeouts through five strong innings.

Brewers’ Kaipat batted 2-for-4 with five RBIs and a base on balls. Sablan went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, four runs, two base on balls, a stolen base, and a hit-by-pitch.