Braves sweep Majors and Juniors champs

The Braves’ Juniors and Majors teams swept the titles of their divisions in the 2024 Natibu Sports Association Youth Baseball League.

Both finals were played at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Pangelinan Baseball Field last June 16.

The Juniors team won over the Phillies Jr., 11-4.

They got down to business early and scored two in the first and two in the second for a 4-0 lead. They couldn’t hold down the Phillies long though as they scored two off Ezekiel Babauta and Caleb Cabrera to cut the lead in half, 2-4.

Then, the Braves dug in their cleats and got to work at the plate as they scored two more runs in the third for another four-run lead, 6-2. Braves’ pitching then gave up one run to make it 3-6. The only other run would come in the fifth, but at this point, the Braves led, 7-4.

Four more runs would score for the Braves in the sixth from the top of the lineup of Damian Marchadesch, Aiken Norita, Herman Iguel, and Zekiel Falig. Towards the end, the Phillies couldn’t get past Braves’ pitching and handed over the championship to the Braves, 11-4.

Third place in the Juniors division was Blue Jays Jr. The Phillies Jr. won the pennant and the Comets Jr. won the Sportsmanship Award.

The Juniors’ season MVP was Austin Camacho, while the championship MVP was Herman Iguel.

In other Juniors’ individual awards, the Batting Champion was Jequinn Lizama; Most Runs Award went to Caleb Cabrera; Most Doubles was Damian Palacios; Stanley Iakopo had the Most Triples Award; and the Most Home Runs Award went to Zekiel Falig.

In the Majors division, the Braves trounced Ol’Aces, 12-7.

Ol’Aces had a 6-0 lead after they started the finals off with a bang in the first inning, but the Braves team rallied to make a comeback.

In the second, middle of the order Kaleb Reyes, Nate Nekai, and Damian Sablan scored to cut the lead, 3-6. Then, Braves pitching held down Ol’Aces in the next innings which gave their offense time to score.

The Braves blew the game wide open in the third as they scored seven runs to put them up, 10-6. Two more runs would score for the Braves, while Ol’Aces produced just one more run in their last at-bat to hand the title to the younger Braves team of the league, 12-7.

For the Majors division, the Marlins settled for third place, while the Pirates won the Sportsmanship Award.

The Majors’ season MVP was John Fred, while Elijah Babauta was named the Championship MVP awardee.

The Batting Champion was Debron Saures; the Most Runs went to Dayton Marchadesch; the Most Doubles was Dylan Barcinas; the Most Triples was Preston Santos; and the Most Home Runs was Jayton Dela Cruz.

Braves Jr. coach Calvani Guerrero said, “This season was awesome! Thank you to the NSA and Mr. George N. Camacho for spearheading this season. It was a very successful season! All the teams involved from the majors to the juniors performed exceptionally well.”

On how he felt about winning the championship, he said, “All glory goes to our kids, coaches, and parents. It’s always an awesome feeling winning the championship! Not many people know how much sacrifices the coaches, kids, and parents endure before and during the season. The time and effort put into all the practices is immense. Again, I want to thank all the coaches, parents and our kids for such an amazing season. To the NSA family, thank you for an amazing program and for bringing back the number one sport in the CNMI.”

He thanked Braves manager George N. Camacho, all the Braves’ coaching staff which includes coach Ian Norita and coach Nick for the Braves Majors division, and Braves Jr. coach Andave Marchadesch and coach I.J. Teigita.