Cards cap undefeated season with title

The Cardinals are the undisputed champions of the 2023 Tan Holdings-Saipan Baseball League after crushing the Junior Nationals, 11-5, in the second and final game of the best-of-three championship series last Wednesday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

The dragged out comeback season of baseball in the CNMI came to an exciting end on a mercifully dry and clear night, as the seasoned veterans squared off against the islands’ future of baseball.

The undefeated Cardinals’ chemistry and constant practice weaved them a comfortable cushion of confidence on the field, on the mound, and in the batters’ box. The regular season belonged to them—as well as the postseason, and they hoped to finish the season off unscathed—which they did.

The Junior Nationals fought fiercely, but their inexperience occasionally led to missed opportunities—just like when two of their runners in scoring position were picked off from bad base running and wrapped into a double play in the fifth inning—which foiled their chance to catch up from a four-run deficit, 1-5.

The Cardinals weren’t sweating it just yet as they put up two more runs in the sixth inning by way of runs from Tony Tenorio and Shane Yamada. 

But the Junior Nationals threatened in their at-bat when back-to-back base on balls by Cardinals pitcher Shane Mendiola to Joel Deleon Guerrero, Justin Camacho, and Jon Diaz loaded the bases—and knocked Mendiola out of the game.

This time, the Junior Nats capitalized and brought those three runners home from a sacrifice fly by Jylon Sablan, an RBI double by Joell Borja, and an RBI single by J.R. Suel, for a 7-4 game. 

However, the Cardinals’ defense tightened and held them off to just three runs. On the other end, their offense inched further into the lead as Eli Aughenbaugh scored in the seventh inning to make it 8-4.

The Junior Nationals went down in order in the eighth inning as the Cardinals’ experience proved pivotal—turning defensive plays into crucial three outs to dash the Junior Nationals’ run at a late game rally.

The Cardinals’ third baseman and the league’s batting leader, Nokki Saralu, flashed his skills with the leather that matched his prowess with the bat when he made two smooth catches and throws to first baseman Poland Masaharu which were in time against speedy Junior National runners for two big outs—while Cardinals catcher Jerald Cabrera showed off his arm with a missile of a pickoff throw to second base from an attempted steal.

The Cardinals then took it a step further and extended their lead some more and made the tie-breaking third game out of the youngsters’ reach by adding three runs. The first in the inning was from a perfectly executed bunt by pinch hitter Nate Smith—which caused chaos as the Junior Nationals’ defense could not get a grip on the ball to get Smith out at first base.

Pat Tenorio sped home from his heads up baserunning as the defensive miscues were unfolding, and the faltering Junior Nationals’ defense continued when a passed ball by the catcher—coupled with a throwing error to third base brought Smith home for the second run, which made it 10-5.

That play knocked out Junior Nats pitcher J.P. Sablan from the game, but the pitching change came a little too late as the Cardinals had already exposed the Junior Nationals’ weak spots in their pitching and defense. 

The new pitcher Angelo Igitol came in to stop the bleeding, but not after an RBI double by Yamada brought home Tony Tenorio for an 11-5 game.

The last at-bat for the Junior Nationals bore no fruit and the Cardinals celebrated their perfect season and championship win on the field after the final out.

Even as the lights went out for the final game of the 2023 season, the future looks bright for baseball in the CNMI as the young ball players of the Junior Nationals’ grit, passion, and sportsmanship, blended and balanced well with the knowledge, skill, and experience of the seasoned Cardinals team for a season and championship series to remember—and hopefully its competitiveness is replicated or matched in the seasons to come.