Guam and Japan pack bags for South Williamsport

KITAKYUSHU, Japan—The CNMI Little League All-Stars went from experiencing the emotional roller coaster of the 2005 Asia-Pacific Tournament to riding the reel thing at Space World as they enjoyed the final day of competition from the comfort of the local theme park.

With their slate of games already in the bag, the Saipan sluggers took their turn enjoying the modern playground, but back on the fields of play it was up to Guam to secure its slot in the show by winning yesterday to earn the right to play in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

The scenario in the Asia division was a little more interesting than that, as Japan joined them for a repeat of the 2003 Asia-Pacific ticket after a heart-pounding chain of events that had the entire crowd waiting to see the outcome of the final game at Matobaike Stadium.

Guam 23, New Zealand 2

Guam officially punched its ticket to the World Series yesterday afternoon when it completed a perfect 4-0 tournament record by knocking the socks off of New Zealand at Otani stadium, 23-2.

Back-to-back homeruns by Trae Anthony Padilla Santos and Sean Peter Longa Manley put the Guam team ahead 4-0 early, and by the time the dust settled they were ahead 6-0. The hit parade continued into the second inning as Santos hit another two-run bomb in his second at bat to give the Central East champs an 8-0 lead, and the smallest players on the team also went yard. Mini-sluggers Byron Joseph Quenga and Chad Nicholas Santos Fernandez cleared the green netting on consecutive pitches to give their team a healthy lead as Guam held a 14-0 advantage after two complete.

The red, white, and blue added another tally in the top of the third, but Jordan Hurinui scored the Kiwi’s first run, followed by Luke Hansen’s dash across the plate, but the first ever New Zealand team to compete on the Asia-Pacific stage was unable to overcome the early assault on the scoreboard.

The pioneers of the South Pacific’s youngest program failed to get a win in international competition, but the experiences gained in Japan will surely be passed along to the new crop of Kiwis when they get back home.

Santos will also have plenty to talk about when he gets back home, as he finished the game with a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the plate with three homeruns, a double, and seven RBIs.

Japan 17, Thailand 0

A day after watching Korea complete an improbable upset over Chinese-Taipei, the Japanese team returned to the field with a renewed determination to notch its third win of the tournament, while holding Thailand to less than two runs at Matobaike Stadium for a shot at advancing to the Little League World Series.

The Nihon nightmares held up their end of the bargain by crushing Thailand with a tsunami of terror by scoring 17 runs before the umpires invoked the 10-run mercy rule in the fourth inning.

Thailand suffered its fourth consecutive loss of the week long affair with class, and vowed to return to Hong Kong in 2006 with another season of experience under its belt while Japan stuck around to watch the battle between Hong Kong and Korea that would eventually decide their fate.

Korea 8, Hong Kong 6

Were it not for a devastating 10-run loss to Japan at the opening of the tournament, Korea would have something to celebrate besides the pulling off both the biggest upset and the biggest comeback of the week, but they will be happy with that for a little while as they rallied to down Hong Kong 8-6 yesterday afternoon at Matobaike Stadium.

Down 6-3 heading into the bottom of their final at bats, Korea launched three solo homeruns to force extra innings by tying the game at six apiece. After their fielders retired the Hong Kong squad without a run in the top of the seventh, their batters ended the game with a two-run bomb for their third win in the final game of the tournament.

The shot heard round the country sent local fans to their feet as it proved to be the clincher that sent Japan to the mainland for the World Series.

Indonesia 8, Philippines 7

After losing a heartbreaking game to Guam two days ago, the Philippines fell one run shy against Indonesia, as the boys from Jakarta found a way to score in the sixth inning to earn their third win of the tournament at Otani Stadium.

While originally planning their pitching rotation for a championship-style format, the Philippines’ coaching staff was without their top hurler Mark Ong against Guam, and played valiantly while drained from the previous day’s outpouring of emotions.

They “thrillas” from Manila completed their most successful campaign since their controversial 1992 team at 2-2, while Indonesia at 3-1 will look back at what might have been after losing to Guam 7-1, and without the benefit of competing in a deciding playoff game.