By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

THE Tanapag Falcons moved up to second place in the team standings in the 2007 Budweiser Saipan Major League baseball tournament following their 15-3 triumph over the Young Guns last Friday at the Francisco “Tan Ko’ Palacios Ballfield.
After giving up three runs at the top of the first inning, pitcher Clint Quitugua and the Falcons defense shut out the Young Guns in the last six innings to nail a 12-point win.
The victory improved the Falcons record to 3-2 and put them in second place behind the league-leading Bud Kings (6-0). The Young Guns dropped to a tie for third place with the Masters.
The Young Guns were off to a good start taking a 3-0 lead after the first complete inning.
Quitugua allowed two hits at the top of the first inning with fifth batter Erwin Alepuyo’s single helping Jay Camacho reach home. O. Taguchi and N. Toppan scored the two other Young Guns runs.
But that was the only time that the Young Guns scored, as Quitugua allowed only four hits in the last six innings and walked two, while his teammates put on a tough defense.
First baseman BJ Sablan sparked the Falcons’ offense as his double at the bottom of the second drove M. Pangelinan and K. Kalen home. Ned Norita and H. Iguel scored one run apiece at the bottom of the second, as the Falcons stole the lead, 4-3. They never looked back from thereon.
Norita finished 4-for-5 at the plate with three runs, three singles, two RBIs and a triple, while Dustin Quitano was 3-for-5 with a run, three singles and two RBIs. Sablan went 2-for-3 with a run, two singles, one double and two RBIs.
The Falcons went 16-for-37 at bat, while the Young Guns had a miserable time at the plate going 6-for-27.
In last Wednesday’s game, the Masters nailed their third win in six games after pulling off a 13-10 win over the Korean Jaguars in nine complete innings.
The Masters had a harder time against the Jaguars, who lost big in their first outing, 4-29, in the second meeting with the latter tying the game after five innings, 8-8.
A three-run sixth inning saved the Masters with B. Mesa, T. Camacho and D. Kapileo scoring the needed runs at the top of the sixth.
The Masters then played good defense at the bottom of the sixth shutting out the Jaguars. Ben Duenas had two strikeouts in the sixth inning to lead the Masters to an 11-8 advantage, going into the seventh inning.
The Jaguars recovered in the seventh scoring two runs, but failed to steal the game, as they were shut out anew in the last two innings.
With the loss, the Jaguars remained winless in six games.