CNMI U12 debuts in WBSC qualifiers

The CNMI’s U12 baseball team made its debut and dropped all four of their games in the 2024 U12 Baseball World Baseball Softball Confederation Qualification Tournament in Guam.

The 16-player team chosen by the Natibu Sports Association and the Saipan Baseball League went head-to-head in a rematch against host Guam yesterday, where, in a close game, they lost, 11-15.

The CNMI team scored two runs in the first, and were neck-and-neck, 2-2, after Guam retaliated at the bottom of the inning.

The CNMI’s Nethaniel Neth, Dylan Barcinas, Liam Sablan, and Nathan Nekai scored a run each in the second for a 6-2 lead. Guam bounced back, however, as they scored four in the third after one run by CNMI for a narrow, 6-7 game.

A back-and-forth battle ensued, and it was all knotted up, 11-11, in the fifth inning. Guam then pulled ahead 15-11 after a breakdown in CNMI’s pitching and held on to win as CNMI failed to produce in the final inning.

The CNMI first took on Australia last Friday morning and lost, 1-26.

The Aussies had a run spree that began in the first inning as they scored six. They then pummeled the CNMI’s pitching and defense with 11 runs in the second, and nine more runs in the third. The game ended early due to run mercy ruling as CNMI could only score one run from Barcinas.

They then played against host Guam in the afternoon and lost, 4-10.

Guam struck first and scored one in the first, two each in the second and third, then one in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.

The CNMI then made an attempt to chip at their lead at the bottom of the fourth with a run by Khoen Torres for a 1-5 game. Lennox Sablan and Jo’ell Herman would then score to make it 3-5. Guam would add four more in the last two innings, while CNMI scored just one more run from Barcinas for a 4-10 final.

Last Saturday, it was a rematch against Australia but they fell once again, 6-19.

The tourney was a double-round robin format.

Despite their loss, head coach Ian Norita said, “the boys did an awesome job overall. There were a lot [of] first-time jitters in their first game, but every game after that the boys came back better and stronger! Our last game vs. Guam showed it. We were leading up until later in the game, Guam came back but the boys never gave up.”

He added, “I’m proud of my boys and thankful for my coaches and all the parents and supporters from the CNMI. I think this was a great first-time experience; great work for only three months of prep. The boys had fun and were proud to represent NMI”

As for Dylan Barcinas he said, “we were nervous but I knew my boys would bounce back because I know what they can do. We had a lot [of] fun together with the coaches and we made some new friends from Guam and Australia, we even had them cheering for us. I just wanna say thank you to everyone.”

The CNMI U12 Baseball Team sluggers were Skyler Leon Guerrero, Lennox Sablan, Elijah Babauta, Liam Sablan, Nate Nekai, Dylan Barcinas, Khoen Torres, Jo’ell Passi Herman, Scott Muna, Juan Damian, Denzel Kaipat, Izaiah Haro, Nathaniel Neth, Keoni Rosario, Damian Sablan, and Roque Camacho Jr.

The coaching staff included Calvani Deleon Guerrero, Ian Norita, Nick Nekai, Kyle Hocog, and Herman Kintol.

The team captain was Dylan Barcinas, while Damian Sablan was their co-captain.

Guam wrapped the tourney off with a perfect 3-0 record, while Australia had two wins and one loss.

According to their website, the WBSC is the international governing body for the sport of baseball/softball including all the related disciplines. The WBSC has 190 (183 full members, seven provisional members) national federations and 14 associated members in 138 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide annually.