CNMI falls to Indonesia

KITAKYUSHU, Japan—Despite their best efforts out on the field, the CNMI Little Leaguers were officially eliminated from World Series contention yesterday afternoon as they suffered their third straight loss of the 2005 Asia-Pacific Tournament against Indonesia, 9-3 at Otani Stadium.

The approaching typhoon offered no cloud cover from the intense heat at the mountainside facility, as once again players, umpires, and fans braved near triple digit temperatures in the name of baseball.

Faced with opponents named the “Tower of Power” and Muhammad Ali, the CNMI dug itself into a hole early as Indonesia scored six runs in the top of the first with two outs before second baseman John Maratita fielded a grounder and stepped on second to end the frenzy.

They looked as if they would generate some runs in the bottom of the inning when Eli Pangelinan reached base on a walk to lead off and was advanced to second base on a nice bunt laid down by Maratita. Esebei Arurang came in for Pangelinan as the special pinch runner, but was unable to score.

The Indonesians tallied another run in the top of the second and again in the third to take a commanding 8-0 advantage, but the Saipan squad still ran out their grounders and sprinted for balls that made it into the outfield—including a diving catch by centerfielder Eric Tenorio.

The CNMI finally broke into the scoring ranks in the bottom of the third inning when Tenorio smacked a ball into left center to drive in Maratita and Nokkie Lizama before a throwing error allowed him to come home as well. The tallies brought the dugout dwellers to their feet and injected the boys in blue with a new sense of purpose.

Tenorio returned to the mound for his second inning and retired the first batter by fielding a grounder bare handed and throwing him out at first. A couple of batters later the CNMI closed out the inning to blank the Indonesians for the first time in the game.

Though they threatened several times, the CNMI All-Stars were unable to score any more runs, and went down for the third time in three attempts.

At 0-3, and a three-hour flight away from their home digs at the Oleai Sports Complex, the CNMI players will have to play their best game this afternoon against the Kiwis if they want to leave Japan with a notch in the left side of the win-loss column.

“We just have to go out there and get a win against New Zealand tomorrow,” said head coach Elmer Sablan.

Times are changing for the region, as Sablan is a veteran international competition with six campaigns in the Major, Senior, and Big League tournaments and never lost to either the Philippines or Indonesia—a mark indicative of the two improving programs that the CNMI will have to face for years to come.

KOREA 11, THAILAND 1

The Koreans evened their record to 1-1 yesterday when they downed Thailand in five innings at Matobaike Stadium to take control of third place in the Asia division standings behind Japan and Chinese Taipei.

After taking a 10-0 beating from the Japanese in their opener, the Korean Little Leaguers rebounded with a solid game in their second outing. Manager Lee Sang-Chan’s pre-game pep talk got his boys ready to face the Bangkok bombers, and the team responded with their first runs of the tournament.

When they take the field at Otani Stadium this afternoon they will have to bring some of the same jump against Chinese Taipei, while the Thailand squad looks for its first win against Hong Kong in the morning.

PHILIPPINES 14, NEW ZEALAND 1

A day after putting up 10 runs on the CNMI, the Philippines piled 14 on New Zealand at Otani Stadium in a one-sided contest that was decided almost as soon as it began. The RP went Pinatubo in the first when the erupted for seven runs to start the game, and followed it up with another seven in the second to seal the Kiwi’s fate.

The umpires invoked the 10-run mercy rule at the close of the fourth inning to give the Philippines its second win of the tournament to join Guam atop the Pacific division standings at 2-0. The two are slated for a showdown this morning at Matobaike Stadium while New Zealand faces the CNMI in the afternoon.

CHINESE-TAIPEI 4, JAPAN 1

After taking a 1-0 lead into the top of the sixth inning, Chinese-Taipei used the longball to knock off the host country as a two-run homerun was the difference in the clash of the Little League titans yesterday at Matobaike Stadium.

The two most powerful teams of the Asia division were locked in a pitchers duel for the better part of the game before the Taiwanese terrors broke through with a three-run burst in their final at bat.

Japan fell to 2-1 and faces Thailand tomorrow after a rest today, while Chinese Taipei (3-0) looks to complete a perfect tournament this afternoon when they face Korea.