[sixcol_five_last]
By Errol Alegre, Jr.
After losing earlier in the season to the Sanchez Sharks by a mere one point, the Southern Dolphins rallied to a six-run second inning to defeat the defending champions 7-3 in their second round match at Okkodo Field Monday afternoon.
Trailing in the bottom of the second inning 2-1, the Dolphins went on a batting tear to score six straight runs that became insurmountable for the Sharks. With runners at the corners, Dolphins’ Isaiah Cruz stepped to the plate and went straight to work slamming a RBI single to left field that drove home Gabriel San Nicolas sparking the Dolphins rally. With the bases loaded after a single by Nicolas Cruz, Dolphins Jesse Perez walked safely across the plate off a RBI single from Donovan Santos that put the visiting Dolphins up by one run. The highlight of the rally came off a two-run double from Trebor Aguerro that drove in Nicolas Cruz and Ernie Lobaton, extending their lead to 5-2. Aguerro capped the six-run rally by stealing home plate off a pitching error following a sacrifice fly by teammate Anthony Chaco that brought Santos home.
The Dolphins were able to get on the board first in the bottom of the first when Donovan Santos drove Isaiah Cruz home off a RBI single. However, the Sharks came back in the top of the second by stealing two straight runs off errors. Kalen Dennis was able to sprint all the way to home plate from second base off a throwing error by Dolphins’ catcher Anthony Chaco. A few plays later Sharks’ Austin Villagomez stole home off another error from Dolphins outfielder Vance Kaneshi, putting the Sharks up 2-1.
The Sharks’ attempt to answer back was short-lived in the top of the third as the Dolphins displayed their stellar defense by ending it with a double play. With a runner on first, Sharks’ Dennis got a hit on the ball that bounced off the ground and straight into the hands of Dolphins second baseman Nicolas Cruz. Cruz then made the tag on Sharks’ Darren Meno and quickly pitched the ball to first baseman Mark Parks to force out a sprinting Dennis, ending the play.
To begin the bottom of the third, Sharks center fielder Shawn Dumanal executed a perfect diving catch in open field to force the out on Dolphins’ Jesse Perez and spark a fire to the Sharks defense; the Dolphins were unable to score for the rest of the game.
The Sharks were able to sneak in one run in the top of the fifth when Daniel Cruz crossed the plate off a catching error by Dolphins out fielder Brian Bunag. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to surpass the hot-at-bat Dolphins before the game was called due to lack of lighting.
With the win, the Dolphins improve to 5-2-1 while the Sharks drop to 8-3.
In other games:
PRESS RELEASE – George Washington eased by Notre Dame 9-2 in IIAAG baseball action at GW. Jacob Reyes pitched five innings to get the victory for the Geckos. Reyes gave up three hits while striking out four, walking three and hit one batsman. Nathan Cruz lead the Gecko attack going 3-3 with two triples, a single and two RBIs. In the first, Cruz had a RBI triple scoring Hank Sablan to give the Geckos a 1-0 lead. Nathan Cruz later scored on a passed ball making it 2-0 after one. In the second GW’s Kaleb Cruz (2-3) singled with bases loaded scoring all three runners. Cruz also scored on errors, making 6-1 for GW. Notre Dame scored in the top of the second, when Jordan Diaz single scoring TJ Leon Guerrero. Diaz (2-2) singled again in the fourth bring home Justin Neives making the score to 6-2 for GW. GW added three runs in the fourth when Nathan Cruz had his second triple of the game scoring Kaleb Cruz. Jacob Bamba (1-2) then doubled bringing Nathan Cruz home. Bamba later scored making the final score 9-2. The game was called at the end of five innings due to darkness. Wednesday GW travels to Okkodo to take on Simon Sanchez, the defending Champions. Notre Dame visits Guam High on Wednesday. GW is now 8-3 and Notre Dame is 5-7.
The Okkodo JFK game was called in the fifth due to darkness. Okkodo scored twice in the top of the 5th making the score 5-4 when the game was called. The game will be completed at a later date.
And the FD Friars remain atop of the league after taking out the Guam High Panthers 6-1.
[/sixcol_five_last][useful_banner_manager_banner_rotation banners=38, 44, 51 interval=8 width=120 height=600 orderby=rand]
[fbshare url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/football/eagles-blow-out-islanders/” type=”button”][fblike url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/football/eagles-blow-out-islanders/” showfaces=”false” width=”450″ verb=”like” font=”arial”]
(AP/Carlos Osorio)
