Nakamura, Saralu are SBL MVPs

The long-awaited conclusion to the 2024 Tan Holdings-Saipan Baseball League season finally came last Monday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field, with the Cardinals crowned champions once again, followed by an awards ceremony that named Harry Nakamura and Nokki Saralu the league’s most valuable players.

Nakamura of the Bandits bagged the regular season MVP award as well as the batting title. In 25 at-bats, he collected 16 hits for the best batting average of .640.

Nakamura was also the RBI champion with a league-leading 17 runs batted in.

As for the championship MVP, it was awarded to the Cardinals’ Saralu.

Harry’s brother, Franko, for his exceptional defensive plays, won the Golden Glove award for the infield. For the outfield, the Golden Glove award was given to the Blue Jays’ James Salalila.

As for the Catcher of the Year, it was the Cardinals’ Jerald Cabrera.

The Manager of the Year was the pennant champions Tanapag Falcons’ Roy Magofna.

The runner-up were the Padres. (Trophy donated by Pete Igitol and Mathilde Igitol).

The Sportsmanship Award was given to Blue Shark. (Trophy also donated by Pete Igitol and Mathilde Igitol).

Meanwhile, Ben Flores, Dennis Cabrera, Eli Aughenbaugh, Jesus Iguel, and Tony Tenorio all bagged the Home Run Champion award with one homer each.

The Triples Champion was Antonio Norita with three.

The Doubles Champion was Brian Camacho at six and the Runs Champion award was shared between Poland Masaharu and Jerald Cabrera at 20 each.

For the pitching leaders, Benji Palacios of the Blue Jays was the top dog and was crowned the ERA champion with the lowest earned run average of 0.53. He dominated seven games and 26.2 innings, had two earned runs, allowed 14 hits, and had a three win and no loss record.

In the other pitching category, the strikeout king was Jose Lizama Jr. with 46. Palacios was tied for second at 36 with Aaron Camacho; Jason Reyes had 31; Jeffrey Lizama, Keahi Omupas, and K.J. Villagomez struck out 27; Jylon Sablan shut down 26; and R.J. Riungel collected 20 strikeouts.

For Palacios, he said of his award, “This one is for my grandpa [Francisco] “Tan Ko” Palacios, keeping the legacy alive! It’s really cool having the opportunity to do what I love and just to showcase what the young talents have in store. It was shocking knowing the chances of winning this award were slim heading towards the end of the season but it all worked out well! I made it worth it every chance I had on the mound.”

The lefty hurler added, “My main goal this season was to work hard for the Mini Games next year. I’ll be back next season for sure, hopefully in blue and white! I’d like to thank my family, the fans, and my teammates for supporting me through the season, definitely one to remember!”

As for league coordinator, SBL’s Shine Tenorio said of the season, “It was successful and we had the most teams I think ever in an SBL season at 13 teams. It was pretty long due to weather delays and lighting issues but overall, it was a success.”

He then gave a big shout out to Alvin Takai, the Northern Marianas Sports Association crew—Nate Guerrero, Janelle Pangilinan, Edgar, the cleaning lady, and Roselyn Monroyo, Derron Flores, chief statistician Ray Palacios, Chuck Cabrera and his wife Luisa, Jojo Alepuyo and his crew, Brad Ruzala, Trey, and Robbie for the commentary, the CNMI Umpire Association and the title sponsor Tan Holdings for making the season a success.

“Also, to my fellow board members on working hard to make the season happen… and to all the teams for doing their part in making the season a success. We hope to see all the teams back in March 2025 for the next SBL league. Now we’re on to the masters league with the tentative opening in mid-November.”