Defending champs prevail in opener

The Falcons shut out McDonald’s, 13-0, in their early face-off last Saturday in the opening game in the Major division of the 2014 Saipan Little League Baseball League at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield.

Max Pangelinan pitched in no relief for the Falcons and earned nine strikeouts in four innings, giving up only two hits, one walk, and one hit by pitch. With Pangelinan all business on the mound and the rest of his teammates active on defense, McDonald’s, which lost to the Falcons in last season’s finale, 1-5, did not make it past second base.

Pangilinan also contributed two RBIs with his two-run single at the bottom of the second inning sparking the Falcons’ breakaway. The Falcons got two unearned runs in the first inning for a shaky 2-0 lead and padded the advantage to 9-0 in the second inning. The defending champions got nine earned runs in their early rematch with McDonald’s to bag the victory after only three and a half innings.

Duplicating Pangelinan’s two RBIs were Nikolai Nekai, who had one RBI single each in the second and third, and Zach Reyes, who nailed a two-run single in the second inning.

IT&E 4, Little Legals 3
In the second game, IT&E eked out a close win over the Kagman Little Legals.
Devin (last name was not written on the scoresheet) made the game-winning hit, as his double at the bottom of the last inning drove home Nathan. Before Devin’s double, the game was tied and IT&E had two outs.

The IT&E-Little Legals game was a neck-and-neck battle, as both teams failed to score no more than one goal in each inning. The Little Legals missed the board in the first two innings, while IT&E got its first run at the bottom of the second off a passed ball. IT&E then bagged two more runs (one earned) in the third and fourth, but could not pull away from the Little Legals, who scored in the next three innings after a shutout in the first two before going cold anew at the top of the last.

Laolao Bay 14, IP&E Rockies 8
In the third and last game of the day, Laolao Bay capitalized on the erratic IP&E Rockies to win its debut.

Ahead by only two, 4-2, after two complete innings, Laolao Bay took full control of the match beginning in the third inning when it scored six runs. The visiting team registered five of those six runs off the Rockies’ miscues at the top of the third inning. The Rockies tried to battle back, but go only two runs at the bottom, leaving Laolao Bay with a promising 10-4 advantage.
Laolao went on to drill four more runs off the Rockies’ errors in the last three innings to secure the 6-point win.

Meanwhile, six more teams debuted in the 2014 season of the Major division yesterday. The Braves met the JPO Enforcers in the first match, while Comets II collided against the Hustlers in the second game, and the Red Sox and the Jets dueled in the third tiff.
Today, three more matches will be played at the “Tan Ge” field. The Comets I takes on the Ol’Aces at 9pm, the GSM Twins meet the Rockies in the second match at 11am, and IT&E challenges Laolao Bay in the last game at 1pm.