CNMI nips Chinese-Taipei in Little League

The CNMI Little League All-Stars players and coaches pose for a photo during the opening ceremony for the 2014 Little League Asia Pacific-Middle East Regional Tournament last Sunday at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, Philippines. (Contributed Photo)

According to Malcolm Omar, a member of the Talaabwogh Stars that has players on the squad,

Pedro Maratita and Dai Podziewski teamed up in the winning run. Maratita hit an infield single that drove Podziewski home at the bottom of the seventh and last inning.

The two other runs, according to the information Omar got from coach Mike Cruz, were courtesy of Aven Evangelista and Spencer Dickinson. Evangelista put the CNMI Little League All-Stars on the board off an RBI walk from Arby Yaguel, while Dickinson blasted a solo homer. Dickinson also did a good job on the mound, pitching in no relief.

With the close win, the CNMI forced a two-way tie for the lead with Chinese-Taipei. Hong Kong, which the CNMI also defeated last Wednesday, 3-6, prevailed against Vietnam yesterday, 17-2, to take the top spot with its 4-1 mark and the first semis berth in Pool A. The CNMI, Chinese-Taipei, and the winner of yesterday afternoon’s Saudi-Dubai tussle were battling for the second and last semis ticket at press time.

In Pool B, Korea is assured of a playoff ticket with unbeaten record (3-0), while Guam (2-2) and the Philippines (2-1) fight for the last semis berth. The semis games will be played tomorrow, while the finals is set for Saturday.

Meanwhile, the CNMI strengthened its bid for a semis slot in the Junior League division, following a 7-1 victory over the Philippines last Wednesday night.

The CNMI Junior League All-Stars finished Pool A with a 2-1 record and was in second place, pending the results of the Guam (2-0) and the Philippines (1-1) match yesterday. Only the Top 2 teams in each pool will march into the semis and a win by Guam would bring the CNMI to the next round. A Guam loss would create a three-way tie for first place.

In the Senior League, the Commonwealth bets were gunning for a sweep of the round-robin elimination against New Zealand yesterday. The CNMI Senior League All-Stars are already in the finals after winning their first four matches and will challenge Guam (4-1) for the right to represent the region in the World Series. The CNMI handed Guam its lone loss in the eliminations, as the former eked out a 5-4 victory in 11 innings last Tuesday. The Commonwealth’ other victories were against Indonesia, 15-3, Philippines, 4-1, and India, 12-0.

In the Big League, the CNMI (1-3) was scheduled meet the Philippines anew and aimed at duplicating its 5-4 victory in the first round to keep its playoff hopes alive.