Pitchers deliver for GSM; Tenorio leads in batting

Pitching is turning out to be one of GSM’s top weapons in the 2018 Saipan Baseball League with its bullpen propelling the team on top of the standings based on the individual statistics compiled last week.

GSM’ Kevin Kapileo, based on four or more innings pitched, found himself on top after two games in start. He has pitched 14 innings, allowing eight hits with no earned runs, while teammates Keoni Kaipat and Vince Cepeda are ranked third and eighth, respectively. Kapileo, early in the season, is also leading the league in strikeouts with 22 followed by the 19 of the Falcons’ Frankie Lieto and the 18 of the Blue Jays’ Noel Cabrera.

Kaipat, meanwhile, gave up a total of three hits in six innings pitched, while Cepeda was tagged with one earned run on three hits in the four innings he was on the mound for the unbeaten GSM (6-0) for a 1.75 ERA.

Franco Flores of the defending champion Aces came in at second place and was among the four pitchers that have zero ERAs, joining the company of Kapileo, Kaipat, and fourth placer Tindin Leon Guerrero of Titanium.

Flores, after two games and six innings on the mound, allowed five hits, while Leon Guerrero was tagged with five hits in four innings pitched.

Titanium’s Jobi Reyes came in at fifth with a 0.70 ERA, while the Aces’ Peter Tenorio and Frankie Norita of the Blue Jays are tied from sixth to seventh places with similar 1.40 ERA. The Blue Jays’ Cabrera and the Aces’ Joe Leon Guerrero are currently at ninth and 10th places, respectively.

In other categories, the Mariners’ Pat Tenorio is the batting leader with a .611 average based on nine or more times at bat. The C.K. Bears’ Angel Palacios (.600) is ranked second and followed by the Mariners’ Shane Yamada (.588), GSM’s Byron Kaipat (.563), and Titanium’s Juan Tenorio (.545).

The Bears’ Henry Lizama (.538), Titanium’s Joe Palacios (.533), the Bears’ Kiku Lizama (.529) and A.J. Lizama (.524), and the Falcons’ A.J. Evangelista (.474) complete the Top 10 batting leaders.

GSM’s Franco Nakamura and Lorenzo Sebaklim, after five weeks of play, are tied with the most runs scored with 13 each, while Byron Kaipat and Peter Lieto have 11 apiece, and Jerome Delos Santos and Kiku Lizama currently have nine each.

Lamarc Iguel has scored three doubles this season, while Delos Santos, Byron Kaipat, Jesus Iguel, and Mario Salas have earned two each. The Blue Jays’ Kier Agda now has three triples, while Yamada and Kiku Lizama have two apiece.

Titanium’s Brian Camacho hit the first home run of the season in their 11-17 loss to the Bears last Feb. 27, while A.J. Lizama had a homer of his own.

Franco Nakamura has 10 RBIs to lead Ian Norita and Virgil Serchamidal, who have eight each, while Pat Tenorio and Lamarc Iguel have seven apiece.