The Hurricanes and the Yankees were Saturday’s winners in Raphael Jackson AA Baseball League action at the D.C. Canegata Ball Park. The Hurricanes beat the Cobras 9-3 in a game shortened to six innings because of time constraints and the Yankees rebounded from an opening night loss to edge the Escojido Dominicanos, 8-7, in a thriller.

Hurricanes 9, Cobras 3
The Hurricanes, a team of 40- and 50-plus players, showed they still had some competitive fire burning in their bellies when they dominated the youthful Cobras 9-3 in Saturday’s opener.

Starting pitcher Cruz Soto gave the Ben-Gay posse four strong innings of work, allowing just one hit and one run before giving way to Malcolm McGregor. The Hurricanes scored nine runs on seven hits and one error, while the Cobras finished with three runs on eight hits and one error. McGregor got the victory as the pitcher of record for the Hurricanes, while Jeffrey Bryan got the loss.

Top batters for the Canes were Carlos Morales (1 for 2 with two RBIs), Eustace Davis (1 for 3 with two RBIs), and Raymond Cintron and Soto were both (1 for 2 with one RBI). For the Cobras L. Mathew was 2 for 2, Kareem Degrasse was 2 for 3, and Emmanuel and Jose Martinez were both 1 for 2 with one RBI.

Yankees 8, Dominicanos 7
The defending champion Yankees rebounded from an opening night loss to just get by the Escojido Dominicanos, 8-7. The Dominicanos, trailing by three runs entering the final inning, rallied but fell just short as they were only able to come up with two runs. The Yankees survived five errors to finish with eight runs on five hits and six errors by the opposition, while the Dominicanos finished with seven runs on seven hits and five Yankees errors.

The winning pitcher was Darren Stevens, and Anuedi Mercedes got the loss. Top batters for the Yanks were Lionel Danielson (1 for 3 with one RBI), while three players went 1 for 3). For the Dominicanos, Juan Santana was 2 for 4 with three RBIs and Yanaton Garcia was 3 for 4.