SSA) – Defending Champions D-9er’s and 2002 Pennant Champs NMC Proa won the right to face each other for the championship winning their respective best-of-three play-off match-up over Team Verizon and Mauleg last Wednesday in the Saipan Softball Association Men’s Fastpitch League.
In the first game of the evening, the D-9er’s won the third and final game after spliting the first two with a, 14-10, victory over Team Verizon. Greg Camacho went 2 for 2 with a three-run inside-the-park home run and scored four times and Roy Celis and Bob Guerrero drove in three and two runs respectively to lead the D-9er’s. The D-9er’s led 6-5 after four innings of play, but Verizon rallied for five runs in the top of the fifth to take a, 10-6, lead. The Defending champions then shut down Verizon in the last two innings while scoring the last eight runs of the game with three in the bottom of the fifth and five more in the sixth for the win. John Sablan took the win for the D-9er’s coming in relief of Jess Manibusan in the top of the fifth allowing three unearned runs. Kaleb Dulei took the loss for Verizon.
In the second game of the right cap, the Pennant Champs NMC Proa stopped the Pennant Runner-up Mauleg in five innings, 17-4, for a sweep of their best-of-three series. Ned Norita and Elmer Sablan each hit a home run and Manny Sablan went 4 for 4 to led the Proas. After a 2-2 deadlock after two innings of play, NMC then went on a rampage scoring three runs in the top of the third highlighted by Sablan’s two-run homer and twelve in the fourth led by Norita’s three-run homer and Ivan Igitol’s three-run triple for a commanding, 17-2, lead. Mauleg managed to score two runs in the bottom of the fourth but were not able to shake off NMC’s Ace Tony Satur who went the distance giving up just six hits. With the win, NMC will now face the defending champions D-9er’s in a best-of-three series with game one scheduled to be played this coming Monday at the Susupe Softball Field. Game two and if necessary game three will be a double header on Wednesday.
