GSM pushes Aces on the brink

Go See Mark pitcher Kevin Kapileo waits for the signal from catcher Franco Nakamura during their game against the Aces in the 2018 Saipan Baseball League last Tuesday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (Jon Perez)

League-leading Go See Mark survived a late scare from the Aces to move closer to clinching the pennant and put its foes in an unfamiliar spot, as the reigning titlists may miss the postseason.

Keoni Kapileo tossed a complete game, while Lorenzo Sebaklim had a bases-clearing double in GSM’s six-run sixth inning to lift their team to 12-8 win over the struggling Aces in the 2018 Saipan Baseball League last Tuesday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

GSM closed out the single round-robin elimination with an 8-1 record, missing a regular season sweep after falling to the Chalan Kanoa Bears last week, 4-5. The Aces, on the other hand, joined Titanium at 4-3 for a tie for fifth to sixth place and one game behind No. 5 Mariners (5-3).

The Aces will next face the Mariners on April 17 and will end their season against the Ballistics on April 20, a re-scheduled match that was originally set on March 29, but was moved in observance of Maundy Thursday. The Aces need to win the last two matches and hope that Titanium and the Mariners lose theirs to keep their playoff chances.

With GSM surviving the Aces, the former moved two games ahead of the Bears, who hold a 6-1 mark. The Bears will play against the 0-6 Outlaws tonight, and are in a must-win situation versus last year’s losing finalists Falcons (5-2) on April 18. The twin victories will allow the Bears to force a playoff for the pennant against GSM. The Falcons, on the other hand, will have a lighter assignment in the Indians (0-6) tomorrow before colliding with the Bears next week.

The GSM-Aces game was played for almost four hours due to intermittent rain with the final one lasting for more than five minutes and nearly making the field unplayable. The match resumed after officials made sure the field is still safe.

Kapileo was tagged with five earned runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. He, however, gave GSM some anxious moments in the seventh and ninth innings before recovering to seal the win.

The Aces, down 3-12 after 6 1/2 innings, showed signs of life at the bottom of the seventh despite a quick two outs—Angel Falig grounded out to second base on a 4-3 play and Luis Iguel struck out swinging.

Tyrone Omar then doubled and later scored on an RBI single by Jesus Iguel, who also touched home plate on a Ben Jones double. Jones made it 12-6 on an error by GSM left fielder Jerome Delos Santos, but Kapileo cut short the Aces’ run when he struck out Lamarc Iguel.

Kapileo, after GSM’s offense faltered at the top of the eighth, had a much easier time at the bottom half when he consecutively retired Nokki Saralu and Ben Taiscan before forcing Barry Sunumai to ground out on a 6-3 play.

GSM again did not score at the top of the ninth, leaving Kapileo with the pressure to seal the deal for the Mark Boyer Sablan-sponsored squad. But he nearly blew up their chances of withstanding the Aces’ rally after struggling on the mound early in the last inning. He gave up a triple to leadoff batter Falig, who eventually scored on a Luis Iguel hit to move the Aces within 5, 7-12. Iguel then advanced to third on consecutive GSM errors, while Omar was hit by a Kapileo pitch to put runners at the corner.

Jesus Iguel grounded out to second on a 4-3 play for the first out, but in the process gave Luis Iguel the run to make it 8-12. Jones doubled for the second time to keep the Aces’ hopes alive, but Kapileo cut short their celebration after forcing Lamarc Iguel to an infield fly, while Saralu grounded out to GSM shortstop Sebaklim to end the game.

Sebaklim had two doubles and two runs on a 2-for-5 batting for GSM, while Delos Santos, who struck out in the first, went 1-for-4 with one run and two RBIs.