Saipan-born UOG athletes had great time in friendship tourney

The recently concluded 2023 SBL-UOG Baseball Friendship Tournament saw skills put to the test, heated competition, and good brotherly fun bringing the islands of Guam and Saipan together.

Three players from the UOG Tritons team—Antonio Norita, Derrin Pangelinan, and Rico Seman—all Saipan natives showed off their skill on the field and soaked up the love and hospitality in their first tournament in a while back home.

Norita, a second baseman who went to UOG on a baseball scholarship last year, flew through the games with two hits and two runs scored. He said of the tourney, “The tournament was great. Weather conditions weren’t too good at first but in the end, it came through. It feels great to be back home playing with and against my brothers.”

When asked how he balances life, school, and baseball, he said “It was made easiest to me by having a simple routine. Having things planned out and not always making room for last-minute plans, while going to college.” For those student-athletes, he said “Don’t overwhelm yourself with what you think you should be doing, do what you can, and learn.” 

The 19-year-old said that he will be continuing his college education at NMC this fall semester and hopes to play in the league here.

Pangelinan, who moved to Guam when he was 7 or 8 years old, said the tourney for him “was an extremely fun, competitive, and eye-opening experience.” He said he and Seman haven’t played against Saipan teams since the last Asia-Pacific Little League regional tournament. 

The 24-year-old who started at UOG in 2021 said that he loves his Tritons team. “We’re all very close because we’ve been brought together through seeking higher education and we have a lot of fun on the field. Our support staff are also very committed to making playing for UoG a memorable experience.” 

To the young athletes, he said “never be afraid to leave the island in pursuit of an opportunity. Some of those opportunities you’ll only get one chance at and the island(s) will always have your back, so dream big and take the leap of faith.

The former U.S. Marine then thanked all the personnel involved with putting the friendship tourney together and for the baseball community showing up and giving them some competitive fire, which was very valuable to their team. He is the son of Anna Pangelinan and John San Nicolas and his stepdad is Jonathan “Kuni” Delos Santos.

Seman, who also moved to Guam at the young age of six, said that the tourney was great. “The people that took part in this event have shown great hospitality to my teammates and I. We have gratitude and high praise for them. I felt the competitiveness even though it was a friendship tournament. I did not expect anything less when playing against those teams. I definitely had some game nerves because of playing against former teammates and family, but also playing against players who I went against many times when I was on the Guam All Star team,” he said.

The 23-year-old added that playing for the Tritons is great and that he could not ask for better teammates and mentors—such as his coach Roke Alcantara Jr. and team captains Larry James Flores II, Jathan Muña-Barnes, and Kyle Martinez. 

As for balancing everything in his life, he said that “with the help of my family and friends, they made the task of balancing school, baseball, and life easier than it should be. Of course, school is the top priority and they make sure of that. Time management is also key. I am still working on that skill as we speak. “It is easier to run forward than to move back.” That sentence has been cemented in my brain as an outfielder. No matter how difficult school, life, or even the sport you’re in can get, you have to keep moving forward in order to succeed.”

Rico is the son of Ramon and Juanita Seman.

These young student-athletes show their passion and hard work for the game—all while pursuing a higher education. With that, Alcantara said in an interview that these boys should not be the only ones recruited to play college ball from Saipan.

It was learned from Saipan Baseball League president Jay Santos that Alcantara is interested in recruiting players from Saipan again, just as he did with Norita last year.

Alcantara said, “We all want to offer that opportunity and then show that there’s opportunity for the other kids who are inspiring to be student athletes as well. Why not? It could be for multiple people.”

Santos echoed Alcantara and said that “I’m hopeful that any player from Saipan from the Junior National team or from any other team that are being recruited by UOG, that they consider not only to play baseball, but more importantly to get an education that is affordable for them and their families.”