Red Sox outlast Fielders in marathon

The Red Sox’s Jhace Palacios tags out a Fielders runner during the bottom of the fourth inning of their game in the Senior League last Saturday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.( ROSELYN B. MONROYO)

The Red Sox endured the Tan Holdings Fielders in an excruciating 10-inning and more than four-hour game in the Senior League division of the 2014 Saipan Little League Baseball last Saturday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

The Red Sox won, 22-14, after having some gas left on their tank at the top of the third extra inning and the Fielders finding no reliable pitcher in the end and collapsing on defense. The Red Sox, who remained unbeaten in four games for the solo lead in the six-team field, scored eight runs in the top of the 10th inning with only one batter from their top of the order failing to reach home plate. Five of their first six runs were made off the Fielders’ errors, while Henry Lizama hit an RBI single.

Mike Muna was the Fielders’ pitcher when the Red Sox’s nailed the first six runs and visibly tired, he was moved to third base in favor of Keola Camacho. Earlier midway in the first extra inning, Kainoa Wanket was called back to shorts stop for Muna after the former reached the maximum number of pitches (95) in that lung-busting game.

With Camacho on the mound and fatigue beginning to take its toll on the rest of the Fielders’ defenders, the Red Sox got two more runs off their opponent’s defensive lapses to put pressure on their foe going into the last inning. Jhace Palacios, who relieved Jerald Cabrera midway in the seventh inning, then finished off the Fielders, striking out the latter’s first three batters.

The Fielders absorbed their fourth loss in as many games, missing a chance to win in regulation. The defending champions were at bat at the bottom of the seventh inning and faced a 10-12 deficit before a two-run single from Franklin Lizama tied the game with only one out and Anthony Agulto at third base. Agulto then went for the winning run after Jonathan Camacho singled and Lizama ran to second, but was tagged out by catcher Vincent Deleon Guerrero off a throw from second baseman Jobe Reyes. After the botched offense, the Fielders were called for two quick outs with Red Sox shorts stop Craig Aguon tagging Lizama out and Palacios striking out Dane Salazar to send the game into the eighth inning.

Leon Guerrero led off for the Red Sox at the top of the first extra inning, singled, and eventually reached home plate off a sacrifice fly Bradley Lieto, while second batter Jose Tyquiengco also made it home off errors before the team was called for three outs.

However, the two runs in the eighth inning did not give the Red Sox enough cushion, as the Fielders countered with two runs at the bottom off Wanket’s RBI double and a sacrifice out. The game, which started around 4pm, was still in a deadlock in the second extra inning with neither team reaching home plate before the Red Sox finally ended the seesaw battle past 8pm, capitalizing on the exhausted and erratic Fielders.

Jets 6, Braves 2
The Jets edged the Braves to climb up from third to a tie for second place with their victim.
Nathan Camacho pitched 5.3 innings for the Jets and allowed only one hit, while striking out nine batters and giving up no runs to lift his team to their third win in four games.

Kenji Yamagata relieved Camacho at the latter part of the bottom of the sixth and though the Braves got two runs off the former’s passed balls, these were not enough to prevent the Jets from handing their foes their first loss of the season. The Jets prevented the Braves from getting more runs in the last inning by beating the latter’s next three runners at first base.

Earlier in the third to fifth inning, the Jets scored to gain cushion against the Braves. Camacho had an RBI double in the third and a two-RBI triple later in the fifth, while Yamagata hit an RBI single in the fourth. Camacho also reached home in the fifth off Franco Nakamura’s double, while the latter was driven home by T.J. Dela Cruz’s single.

Enforcers 12, Lions 3
The JPO Enforcers bagged their second win in four matches after outclassing the winless Lions (0-4).

The Enforcers scored in the first three innings to take control of the game and tucked in four more runs in the last two for the easy victory. The Enforcers got five earned runs with two of them courtesy of centerfielder Jeff Dela Cruz, who had a sacrifice out in the first and an RBI double in the sixth inning.

The Lions reached home plate only in the third and fifth inning to falter on their bid to enter the win column. They struggled against Verlance Secharmidal, who pitched in seven complete innings and allowed only four hits and one earned run.