BSI Aces, Old Stars players excel

A batter waits for the pitch during an earlier game in the 2016 Masters Baseball League at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

With the BSI Aces (6-1) and the Old Stars (5-2) occupying the Top 2 spots in the team standings, it is not surprising to see the two squads’ players also lording it over in the statistical races in the 2016 Masters Baseball League.
In the batting race, the BSI Aces’ John Acosta is ahead with his .690 average, built around his 20-for-29 performance at the plate. He is joined in the Top 5 by the Old Stars’ Jess Mesa (.632/12-for-19), fellow BSI Aces players Ben Mesa (.611/11-for-18) and Reno Celis (.500/13-for-26), and Sai Sei’s Taylor Germance (.500/12-for-24).

The batting leaders were based on 18 or more times at bat and were tallied after the Dec. 30 game was completed. Ten other players made it to the leaderboard and the list includes the Old Stars’ Manny Cabrera (.476), Sai Sei’s Ota Nabeyuke (.474), Old Stars’ Ben Tagabuel (.444), BSI Aces’ Joe Tenorio (.429), Papa Bears’ Jojo Attao (.429), GSM Masters’ Mark Flores (.417), Papa Bears’ Bob Lizama (.400), GSM Masters’ Mike Sablan (.391), Old Stars’ George David (.368), and the GSM Masters’ Ben Hocog (.348).

The Old Stars’ James Fleming was out of the batting leaderboard, but is on top of the runs scored battle with his 21, while Acosta and Lizama are ranked second and third with 18 and 17 runs, respectively. In the doubles, Old Stars’ David and Cabrera are in the Top 2 with 6 and 4, while Ben Mesa and Nabeyuke are tied at third with three each.

Ben Mesa is also in a tie for first in triples category as he and Fleming have two apiece, while Jess Mesa is in solo first in the RBI division after collecting 17. Ben Mesa has the second most RBIs so far with 12, while Germance and Cabrera having 11 apiece.

In the pitching contest, the BSI Aces’ Mel Sakisat finally moved up to solo first after tying two others for the lead in the early stages of the regular season. Sakisat’s 1.84 ERA (19 innings pitched and five runs allowed) bested the 2.10 of GSM Masters’ John Diaz (16.2 innings pitch and five runs allowed) and the 2.33 of the former’s teammate Ben Duenas (15 innings pitched and five runs allowed). Completing the pitching leaderboard were Papa Bears’ Bob Lizama (2.63 ERA), Sai Sei’s Darwin Masaharu (3.42 ERA), Rubak’s Donald Pangelinan (4.00 ERA), and the Old Stars’ Bill Camacho (4.55 ERA).

Camacho slid from first to seventh, but is still ahead in the strikeouts category with his 30. Sakisat has 21, while Juan Diaz and Papa Bears’ Nick Reyes have 12 each. The GSM Masters’ Nick Guerrero and Tony Flores have 11 apiece.