CNMI U12 baseball team to debut in WBSC qualifier

For the first time, CNMI is sending a U12 baseball team to compete in the 2024 U12 Baseball World Baseball Softball Confederation Qualification Tournament that will be held on Guam from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3.

The Natibu Sports Association and the Saipan Baseball League have yielded a 16-player team of U12 all-stars to compete in the qualifiers for a chance to advance to the 2025 WBSC U12 Baseball World Cup in Taipei, Taiwan.

They are taking on Guam and Australia’s U12 teams in a double round robin format.

The CNMI is first going head-to-head against Guam on Friday, Nov. 29, at 2pm, then on Saturday, Nov. 30, at 10:30am.

The CNMI U12 Baseball Team sluggers are Skyler Leon Guerrero, Lennox Sablan, Elijah Babauta, Liam Sablan, Nate Nekai, Dylan Barcinas, Khoen Torres, Jo’ell Passi Herman, Scott Muna, Juan Damian, Denzel Kaipat, Izaiah Haro, Nathaniel Neth, Keoni Rosario, Damian Sablan, and Roque Camacho Jr.

The coaching staff includes Calvani Deleon Guerrero, Ian Norita, Nick Nekai, Kyle Hocog, and Herman Kintol.

The team captain is Dylan Barcinas, while Damian Sablan is their co-captain.

The CNMI team was chosen from a pool of players from the Natibu Sports Association Youth Baseball League that was held last April to June.

From there, the players have practiced on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and sometimes Saturdays at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

According to Kyle Hocog in an interview last week, the team is just continuing to sharpen up their skills for the upcoming competition.

“A lot of base running, pitching techniques, and hitting, hitting, hitting,” he said. Going up against Australia, he said, “Our boys may look a little small compared to Australia and maybe Guam, but they have a lot of fight in them. It’s going to be really fun to see them compete.”

With the team debuting for The CNMI in its first ever stint in this tourney, he said his expectations are for them to “to compete and a lot of game play. It’s good experience for the guys. Like one of the coaches said, they are inspiring the next group of boys. Just having CNMI on your chest and hat—there’s nothing like it. “

He then thanked the Natibu Sports Association, the Saipan Baseball League, the parents, coaches, and organizing committee for their hard work and volunteering. The team has had a few fundraisers leading up to the tourney.

According to their website, the WBSC is the international governing body for the sport of baseball/softball including all the related disciplines. The WBSC has 190 (183 full members, seven provisional nembers) national federations and 14 associated members in 138 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide annually.