- Prev
- 1 of 2
- Next
BUDWEISER Baseball League championship series action resumed play Tuesday night at the Paseo Stadium.
Entering the game trailing the best-of-seven series 2-1, the defending champion Moylan’s-O.D.C. Braves were looking to snap a two-game losing streak and even things up against the Atkins Kroll Islanders. Led by homeruns from Jared Palomo and Brent Blau, the Braves walked away with a 7-3 win to equalize the series.
Early in the game, Atkins Kroll looked to be the hungrier team and had every intention of trying to take a commanding two-game lead as they opened a quick 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first inning, a walk by Jim “The Principal” Reyes and a single by Miller Santos put two runners on base for the Islanders. On the ensuing at-bat, Pete “Pikachu” Guerrero drove in Reyes and Santos after hitting a double.
Later in the third inning, the defending champions lit up the sticks and scored five unanswered runs to take a 5-2 lead. The Braves’ first two runs in the inning were courtesy of RBIs from B.J. Balajadia and Jathan Muna-Barnes. Before the Islanders could get out of the inning, Jared Palomo stroked a three-run homer to give his team a lead they never looked back on.
Atkins Kroll managed to cut their deficit down by a run in the bottom of the fourth when Rafael Chavez hit a sacrifice fly that drove in teammate Pat Alvarez. However, in the top half of the fifth, the Braves once again answered back and scored two runs to increase their lead to 7-3. Both runs came on a special delivery from Brent Blau who sent the ball out of the stadium for a two-run homerun.
In the final four innings of the game, neither team posted any runs despite having several golden opportunities to do so. The Islanders left more than five runners stranded on base to include a bases-loaded bottom of the fifth inning. When the game’s final out was recorded, it was the defending champions who walked away victorious while leaving the series all squared.
Palomo and Blau led the Braves’ offense going a combined 3-for-9 with two homeruns, five RBIs and three runs scored. Guerrero led Atkins Kroll going 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, while teammate Santos went 2-for-5 with a run scored. Jerome Andrew picked up the victory from the mound for the Braves and recorded two strikeouts. In the losing effort, John Pangelinan finished with six strikeouts.
Budweiser Baseball League championship series action resumes tomorrow night with game five at 7 p.m.
