Falcons dominate Twins

A Falcons runner is about to cross home plate, while the Twins catcher waits for the throw during the top of the fourth inning of their Majors division game in the SLLB last Saturday at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Falcons soared to a 16-4 win against the Twins in the Majors division game in the 2016 Saipan Little League Baseball last Saturday at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield.

Keoni Serrano set up the easy win, as he shut down the Twins in the first three innings. Serrano started his shift on the mound by walking Twins leadoff batter Terrell Rabago before striking out the next three batters at the bottom of the first. It was the same story in the second, while he capped his impressive pitching performance in the third by knocking out the Twins’ first three batters.

By the time Serrano left and was replaced by Isidro Lizama, the Falcons were ahead, 5-0. The Falcons scored four runs at the top of the first off Kyle Kapileo’s RBI triple and three from the Twins’ errors. The fifth run came in the third with Jonathan Riungel reaching home off a wild pitch and the Falcons threatened to pull away with a five-run top of the fifth. Serrano had an RBI double, while Riungel and Chris Gonzales each hit an RBI single, while the two other runs came off a fielder’s choice and another Twins’ miscue.

The Twins, on the other hand, ended their silence at the bottom fourth, but still trailed as they made only three unearned runs. The Falcons quickly got the three runs back in the fifth inning and added three more to end the game one inning earlier. Gonzales had a two-RBI single, while Kapileo and Sandy Kani each registered an RBI single for the final blows. The Twins countered with only one run at the bottom of the fifth to hand the Falcons the early victory.

Gonzales and Serrano both went 3-for-4 at bat in the Falcons wins and scored three runs apiece. Gonzales added three RBIs, while Kani had two RBIs and three runs off his 3-for-4 performance at bat.

Meanwhile, in the first game, the Comets defeated the Little Legals, 5-1.

The Comets found their targets late in the game, as they registered all their runs in the last two innings. They got three runs in the fifth, including a solo homer from Bing Nakamura. Gabby Saures and Zeph Limes made the other runs off the Little Legals’ errors in the penultimate inning, while Reid Teregeyo had a two-RBI double in the last.

Teregeyo was also the winning pitcher for the Comets and despite of his team not lighting up the board early, they remained in contention as he neutralized the Little Legals’ batters. He recorded 13 strikeouts and gave up only two hits with no walks and no earned run. The Little Legals scored their lone run at the bottom of the second with Delbert Sablan reaching home off a passed ball.