By James Sablan
james@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
THE Falcons will be entering the 2025 Saipan Baseball League playoffs as the sixth seed after ending the regular season with a 6-3 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.
It was a tightly contested game that saw the Falcons slowly secure the win.
The Falcons started off with two quick outs at the top of the opening inning. Third batter JJ Lifoifoi then broke the silence with a single that slipped through the infield, landing him safely at first base before stealing second. His efforts were rewarded when the next batter, Benen Iguel, turned a single into an RBI to bring Lifoifoi home and put the first run on the board before the Blue Jays could stop the bleeding, 1-0.
The Blue Jays attempted to even the odds but failed to deliver, recording two strikeouts and a pickoff that left one runner stranded to end the inning scoreless.
The Falcons, for their part, maintained steady momentum. Tristan Norita brought home IJ Teigita to earn an RBI, despite being picked off at first base, 2-0.
No runs came in the third inning, but the Falcons resumed their push to extend the lead in the fourth, with Norita recording another RBI single to make it 3-0.
In the fifth inning, the Blue Jays finally found some rhythm, putting up two runs behind RBIs from James Salilia and Frankie Lieto to close the gap, 3-2.
The rally was short-lived, however, as the Falcons answered with two runs of their own in the top of the sixth. While the Blue Jays came up empty in the bottom half, the Falcons tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh to stay ahead, 6-2.
The Blue Jays had one last chance to rally but fell short, managing only one run before the Falcons collected the final three outs to seal the 6-3 win.
With the victory, the Falcons move into the playoffs as the sixth seed, while the Blue Jays follow close behind as the seventh.
