Mid East Falcons (5-3) 9, Arabia Wolves (4-4) 5 – Federico Celli hit the first Money Ball Grand Slam in Baseball United’s history, accounting for eight runs, to give the Mid East Falcons a 9-5 victory over the Arabia Wolves, in game 1 of today’s doubleheader.
Facing Blake Purnell, with two balls and one strike count, Celli blasted Purnell’s fastball to the opposite fence. Celli had a 1-for-3 game with a Money Ball HR, two runs scored, one walk and eight RBIs.
Along with Celli, Munenori Kawasaki and Shuhei Fukuda went 2-for-3 with two runs scored each, and Hiroyuki Nakajima went 3-for-4.
Shuto Sakurai earned the victory after four innings, in which he allowed three hits, two runs, one of them earned, gave one walk and struck out two. Shingo Hirata (2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 SO), Kodai Hamaya (2/3 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB) and Severino González (1 H, 0 ER) completed the pitching line for Mid East.
Mid east Falcons (5-3) 8, Arabia Wolves (4-4) 2 – Jake Hjelle went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs and Kazuki Yabuta pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing only two hits and two runs, to lead the Mid East Falcons to an 8-2 victory over Arabia Wolves, securing the second spot in the United Series.
Hiroyuki Nakajima went 1-for-2 with one run scored and two RBIs, while Gregori Cano batted 1-for-2 with one RBI and Alejandro de Aza went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and one RBI, to highlight Mid East’s offense in this game 2 of the doubleheader.
Kazuki Yabuta earned the victory after 5.2 innings, in which he allowed two hits, two earned runs, six walks and one strikeout. Kodai Hamaya (0.2 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB) and Severino González (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER) completed the pitching line for Mid East.
With this result, the Mid East Falcons will face Mumbai Cobras in the fight for the Baseball United championship when they face off in the United Series starting next Friday, December 12; it will be a best-of-three series to be played in the Baseball United Ballpark.
Photo: Federico Celli hit the first eight-run homer, smashing a Money Ball out of the park in the Mid East Falcons 9-5 win over the Arabia Wolves, helping his team punch their ticket to the United Series. (Photo courtesy of Baseball United)
