Saipan Tribune

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Friday, January 04, 2013

26 teams sign up for '13 season

Saipan Little League Baseball, Inc.'s 2013 field of teams feature 26 squads over four divisions heading into opening day slated for Feb. 9 at the Oleai Sports Complex.

The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place at 5:30pm at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield followed by an evening matchup to close the event.

This year's participants include 11 Major division teams, five Junior League groups, five Senior League teams, and five Big League squads.

The Major division is made up the JPO Program Enforcers, McDonald's, the Survivors, the Ol'Aces, the Bank of Saipan Red Sox, the Falcons, IT&E, the Attorney Robert T. Torres Kagman Little Legals, the Natibu Sports Association Braves, the Jets, and the Pinnacle Rockies.

The Junior division field includes the JPO Program Enforcers, the Fielders, X-clusive, the Falcons, and the defending champion Bank of Saipan Red Sox.

The Senior division is comprised of the Tanapag Braves, the DARE Program Enforcers, the Fielders, the Ol'Aces, and the Hunters.

This year's Big League teams include the defending champion Padres (formerly the Hustlers) the Natibu Braves, the LEEP Program Enforcers, the Fielders and the Ol'Aces.

League officials decided on some ground rules, which granted permission for the players across all divisions to participate in other local softball games during the season. In addition, Big division players are permitted to play in the Saipan Major League as position players, meaning they are restricted only from pitching during those games.

Other notes include game times during weekend games are scheduled for 9am, noon, and 3pm starts; teams are expected to show up at least 30 minutes prior to game time and be ready to play.

Roster lineups are due at least 15 minutes prior to game time and include full names, positions, and uniform numbers.

Game forfeitures and make-up game rescheduling procedures were also discussed as well as season-ending tiebreaker simulations, the postseason format, and the all-star selection process, which will based on a point system in conjunction with the official statistics this year.

Selection criteria includes overall eligibility, a player's overall offensive and defensive ability, attitude, availability, and school performance; tiebreakers will be put to a majority vote by the SLLBI board.

Selection criteria for coaches and managers were also discussed. Knowledge of the rules is listed No. 1 with adherence to established rules and policies, attitude, leadership qualities, and availability filing in behind.