Strong start lifts Bank of Saipan past Twins

A Bank of Saipan pitcher throws from the mound during the bottom of the fifth inning of their game against the Twins in the Major division of the 2017 Saipan Little League Baseball last Saturday at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Bank of Saipan gained enough cushion in the first inning en route to a 22-17 victory over the Twins in their Major division game in the 2017 Saipan Little League Baseball last Saturday at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield.

Bank of Saipan scored 10 runs at the top of the opening inning to take early control of the match and hung in there to get its second win in as many game. Bank of Saipan posted its first victory during the opening week of the league against the Pirates 1, 9-8, off Anton Aguon’s RBI single at the bottom of the sixth and last inning.

Versus the Twins, Aguon scored two of Bank of Saipan’s total runs in the first inning, while Jesus Tyquengco and Jequinn Lizama had a two-RBI single and two-RBI double, respectively.

Aguon and company went on to keep its distance against the Twins after collecting nine more runs in the next three innings. Aguon finished with four runs on a 2-for-4 performance at the plate and contributed one RBI, while Jon Reyes and Tyquengco had three RBIs each. Jequinn and Isidro Lizama and Ezra Ada added three runs apiece.

Pirates-2 10, Ol’Aces 0
The Pirates 2 won its season-debut game after shutting down the Ol’Aces in the curtain-raiser.

G-Boy Pangelinan threw a three-hitter to lift the Pirates-2 to victory an inning earlier. He also had 11 strikeouts in a no relief job. With him on the mound and his teammates also holding their ground on defense, the Ol’Aces made it to us far as third base only once.

Kazu Dela Cruz registered three runs and one RBI for the Pirates-2, while Deondry Cruz, D.J. Pangelinan, and J.R. Suel chipped in two runs each.

Braves 17, Pirates 1 2
The Braves also cruised to victory in the second game last Saturday.

A 13-run bottom of the first inning set up the Braves’ second victory in as many games as they finished off the Pirates 1 after only three and a half innings.

Joel Borja led the Braves’ hot start as he went 2-for-2 just in the first inning, scored two runs, and had two RBIs. He had a single in his first trip at bat and made it home on a passed ball, while he drilled a two-RBI double in his second at bat and was driven home by Heath Camacho’s single. Four players in the Braves’ top of the order reached home plate twice in the first inning for an early double-digit lead, 13-0.

The Braves added four more runs in the second inning to widen the gap before the Pirates 1 ended its silence at the top of the third inning, thanks to Easton Dela Cruz’s RBI single. The Pirates 1 got its other run also in the third inning, but the team was done at the top of the fourth when Braves pitcher Angelo Igitol struck out two batters and a Pirates 1 runner was earlier beaten to second base.