Youth league resumes at ‘Tan Ko’ field

 The Saipan Major League Summer/Fall Youth Baseball season continued with three exhibition games last Saturday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

The games were classified as exhibition matches due to time constraints and roster shortages.

Some teams had to borrow players from other groups to form nine-man rosters and thus winners were already declared and the matches were played in an exhibition setting.

Despite the finals scores, Titanium, the Ol’Aces, and Fielders 2 were awarded forfeit victories in the standings.

On the field, Titanium tied Fielders 1, 5-5, in four innings; the home team Ol’Aces trumped the Kagman Lions, 4-2, in five frames; and Fielders 2 shut out the Lions, 5-0, in four.

Weather permitting, the season continues next Saturday with the Ol’Aces taking on Fielders 1 at 9am, followed by the Lions against Titanium at 11:30am. Fielders 1 then pull double duty against sister-team Fielders 2 at 2pm.

In the opener, visiting Titanium drew first blood in the top of the first when Ton Guerrero led off with a double and made it around off errors; the Fielders left runners on the corners in the bottom frame.

Titanium threatened again with runners on second and third base in the top of the second, but the Fielders escaped unscathed and took a 2-1 lead in the bottom frame off three hits, two walks, and errors.

Titanium stopped the bleeding with the bases loaded and tied the game at 2-all in the top of the third. Joe Palacios busted a two-out double and was driven home by Jeremy Lizama.

The Fielders went three up and three down in the bottom frame and Titanium jumped in front, 5-2, in the top of the fourth off three hits and an error.

The Fielders answered with three runs of its own in the final stand, but organizers opted to call off the scrimmage.

In the second game, the visiting Lions broke the ice in the top of the first when Cedric Ada reached on a single and was driven home by Ricardo Dela Cruz; Ol’Aces went 1-2-3 in the bottom frame.

The Lions left a man at third base to start the second and the Ol’Aces pulled ahead, 2-1, in the bottom half of the inning.

Harry Nakamura led off with a base hit and scored off an error, while Dave Hosono made it on and around off errors an out later.

Both teams left a runner stranded in the third inning and Aces’ Jake Santos struck out the side in the top half of the fourth; his team then added two more runs in the bottom frame.

Nakamura was hit by a pitch and was driven home by Rocco Reyes.

Hosono then reached off a fielder’s choice and was brought home off a base rip by Ton Sablan.

In the end, the Lions mustered only one run in their finals stand off an RBI single by Richard Dela Cruz that scored his brother Ricardo. However the former was caught trying to steal second base for an abrupt ending to the match.

Both squads came up empty in the first inning of the final pairing and the visiting Fielders took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second off some sketchy infield defense.

The Lions tried to answer in the bottom frame but left a runner at third base.

The Fielders were forced 1-2-3 to start the third, but held the Lions scoreless in the bottom frame.

The Fielders then added two more runs in the fourth off two hits and a walk before securing the win.