UOG Tritons holds 2-day youth baseball clinic

Over the course of their more than weeklong wet and rainy stay on Saipan, the University of Guam Tritons baseball team pulled off their youth baseball clinic despite delays to their friendly tournament with the Saipan Baseball League.

Despite the on-and-off rainy weather, CNMI youth still made it out to soak in some baseball skills from the UOG team at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.

The clinic began last Friday with a good group of aspiring ball players and continued through Saturday with about a handful more for about 20 or more participants.

The youth were taught by players from the Tritons baseball team along with their head coach, Roke Alcantara Jr.

In an interview at the field last Saturday afternoon, Alcantara said that their clinic’s purpose was to reach out and interact with CNMI’s student-athletes, answer their questions about what it’s like to be student-athletes, and teach them the proper mechanics, basics, and fundamentals of baseball. 

Alcantara added that they were able to work with the older children that came out on Friday and saw how talented and how high their IQ and love for the game was. “We were just excited to work with them,” he said. Even some of the junior national team players came out to the clinic.

Some of the specific things taught during the clinic were “footwork, because footwork is important in this sport. And then we go with the basic fielding drills: how to properly catch a backhand, how to properly catch forehand, how to build momentum to make the throw; even some batting drills as well and just really getting down to the root of the sport and just making sure that these kids are going to continue to grow, because we want them to continue their experiences and their competitions. We want them to continue to play baseball because when we get older, we want there to be a future in the sport that we can go watch and enjoy.” 

He then said, “We’re excited and we’re so happy to be here. We’re so happy to be with the children from the Marianas—their passion for the sport is awesome. Love it.”

As for the clinic participants who he saw some potential in playing college ball, Alcantara said that there was a lot. He was so impressed by J.R. Suel and Justin Camacho from the junior national team. “I was so impressed to see how developed they are as young teenagers. You can see that if they continue to work on their craft, stay passionate to the game, respect the game, and continue their progression, you can tell that they’re going to be really, really good ball players and they can be dangerous in the Saipan Baseball League as they grow.”

Karina Camacho, a young baseball player who was at the field last Saturday afternoon, said that she learned some basic moves that she was already taught before, but that she enjoyed the experience and it was helpful.

Along with Alcantara, the baseball players who assisted in the clinic were Gavin Lim, Gage Lim, Justin Delos Santos, Rico Seman, O’neil Yobech, Andrew Perez, Kyle Martinez, Kobe Martinez, Larry Flores, Jathan Muna-Barnes, and Todd Yip.

The Tritons headed back home yesterday, as they concluded their last game of the 2023 SBL-UOG Baseball Friendship Tournament Monday night against the SBL All Stars.