Little Leaguers have big plans for World Series

Fourteen baseball players, two coaches, and one manager were selected a couple of months ago to represent Saipan in the Little League District Championship Tournament on Tinian.

After making quick work of the competition, the team became the representative of the CNMI in the Regional Championships on Guam. The boys emerged from a field of powerful teams victorious, and yesterday they ventured stateside on behalf of the Pacific Region to vie for the Little League World Series.

Manager of the CNMI All-Stars Tony Benavente found it hard to believe that the team was already on their way to compete in the pinnacle of the sport.

“Departure day came very quickly. We were looking at two weeks when we came back from Guam, and all of a sudden we are here on our way to JFK already.”

In the short time between the Regional Championship on Guam and the World Series in Williamsport, Benavente said his team was able to maintain their focus and further their training.

“We are ready to go. They’ve been psyched up since we came from Guam to be prepared, and I think that we’re prepared,” he said. “We are on a level that I consider with the rest of those guys that are going to the World Series. Our batting, our hitting, our pitching power—we’ve been training and I like what I saw.”

Coach Tony Celis said the practices for the team were more intense the closer they came to the departure date. That may have helped bring the players closer together as a team.

“They’re hitting so well. They’re being friends. They’re communicating now—they’re playing like a team. At first they were more like a bunch of talented individuals, but now they practice like a team, they play like a team, they joke like a team, they hustle like a team—everything,” he said.

Celis seems to be as enthusiastic as the players themselves, and he understands what it would mean to the CNMI if the boys can pull off the improbable.

“I’m so excited for this. I hope that the kids have more success than they did in Guam. I really want them to win. For a tiny island to win the World Series, I guarantee they would make it a holiday. They’re going to try their best to win more.”

Coach Ray San Nicolas has been working with the boys from the beginning and he also believes that they are all set to go.

“The boys are prepared. They are ready to go. They’re ready to rock and roll.”

Armed with Gameboy’s and CD players, the players passed through the initial checkpoint and walked up the ramp to the main terminal at a few minutes past 8am.

In the moments before the boys exchanged some last-minute hugs and handshakes, Justin Alexander expressed that the concept of traveling the globe for a sporting event is something that amazes him.

“I can’t believe that we’re going for baseball. I mean Tinian was okay, Guam was even better, but going to the States to play baseball, that’s cool. And to be on ESPN, wow.”

Cameron Ser Nicolas and Eli Augenbaugh said they were excited to be going on the trip, but the Cam-Man took it one step further. One the power hitters for the All-Stars, Ser Nicolas said he is all set and ready to go to Pennsylvania, and he feels confident that his team will enjoy the experience and perform well.

“I think that we’re going to have a great time, and I think that we are going to do very well. It’s going to be difficult because we are going to be taking on the best teams.”

Ser Nicolas, Augenbaugh, Alexander, Anthony Tenorio, Philip Manalo, Alex Benavente, Keith Kintol, Ofero Taitano, Eric Tenorio, David Camacho, Anthony Rogolifoi Jr., Ike Aldan, R-Jay Joe, and birthday boy Donovan George will see their first competitors when they take the field of Volunteer Stadium against the Arabian American Little League team from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia next Saturday, Aug. 21 at 4pm.

Benavente and Celis will lead the team into Lamade Stadium for their second contest on Monday, Aug. 23 when they face Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, the best from the Guadalupe Linda Vista Little League, at 1pm EST. This game will be televised on ESPN 2, along with the team’s third game on the following day.

The CNMI will be return to Lamade Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 24 to take on Williamstad, Curacao of the Pabao Little League at 11am EST. The semi-finals for the International Pool take place on Wednesday at 4pm and at the same time on Thursday.

The finals of the International Pool will to be played on Saturday, Aug. 28 at 3pm, with the winner advancing to the World Series Championship Game on Sunday, Aug. 29 at 6:30pm EST.

The Championship Game will be televised on ABC while the International Semi-finals and finals will be broadcast on ESPN.