Junior Leaguers thinking first place in Regional

In the wee hours of tomorrow morning, three of the finest baseball teams from the CNMI will board a plane destined for Guam as players representing the Junior League, the Senior League, and the Big League begin their quest for the World Series.

As assistant of the CNMI Junior team, Jester Garcia was battling for the CNMI on the hardwoods of the University of Guam field house in the Micronesian Basketball Tournament, the majority of the work for the Asian-Pacific Regional Tournament has fallen on the shoulders of manager Frank “Sonny” Flores and head coach Roy Sablan.

Flores was working with his team at the Francisco M. Palacios baseball field on Tuesday afternoon, and he knows what this tournament means to the islands. As he spoke with his team in the dugout, he made sure that they had the confidence going into the games.

“It’s going to be the biggest event because everybody’s into baseball. The main sport in Saipan is baseball, so the parents are going to be involved as well. Baseball has the most players and is the most popular among the sports, including basketball, so everybody will be looking forward to the news.”

Though the squad of hard-ballers looks lean and mean, it has been difficult getting them ideal practice situations due to the rash of foul weather that besieged Saipan after the regular season. The fact that they haven’t had as many opportunities to hit the field may actually work to the team’s advantage, as the enthusiasm of the players is off the charts.

“As a matter of fact they are very excited for the tournament. As you can see its been raining and with the typhoon, we’ve never had chance to practice when it has been as dry as this. This is only the second day that we have been able to use the field. The other times it was a little wet and there was also the summer camp,” said Flores.

The manager said that he was lucky that his team was allowed to practice inside the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium when the conditions were sloppy outside, but the moisture that eventually gathered on the gym surface hampered their efforts to stay at the top of their game.

Another obstacle in the path of the joltin’ juniors was the lack of time in the batting cages. Manager Flores said that the team was never able to successfully contact the facility’s owner to schedule a time and that after Typhoon Tingting the area was “soaked” and unusable.

The difficulties may be more than some teams could handle, but if you talk to some of the boys on this year’s team, you’ll know that they believe in themselves and are confident that they will perform at the top of their game.

Named the most valuable player of the regular season, standout shortstop and centerfielder Martin Pangelinan scouted his team during the practice and commented on the team’s chances.

“I’m looking at my boys right now and we’re very solid. We have a chance and we can make it. I’m looking for Nunu (Kapileo) to come up big. He’s our main hitter on the team and we’re counting on him.”

The two-time all-star didn’t mince words when it came to describing the outcome that his team will be striving for in the tournament.

“We’re going to try our best to win and we’re going to slaughter those people in Guam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. That’s our goal.”

The player who knocked in the most runs in the regular season is also on the team. Catcher Josh Arriola is also a two-time all-star, and he shared a bit about a quality that he believes his team possesses over the competition.

“I think we’ll do really well. We’re communicating well, and we really get along. We’re like brothers. We call each other off of the field and we have gone to things like the carnival together.”

This year’s band of brothers that will represent the CNMI in the Junior League division consists of Jesse Borja, Shane Yamada, Jesus Iguel, Vince Sablan, Martin Pangelinan, Josh Arriola, Joe Salas, Thorn Sablan, Ryan Ada, Jonathan Salas, Kevin Babauta, Nicolas San Nicolas, Nunu Kapileo, and Juan Tenorio in action on the baseball diamonds in Guam this week.