CNMI evens record after beating Philippines
The CNMI Little League All-Stars looked impressive in their 7-2 victory over the Philippines yesterday and evened their record to 1-1 in the Asia/Pacific Baseball Tournament at Paseo Stadium in Guam.
Starting pitcher Justin Alexander was just one out away from a complete game as he went 5 2/3 innings before Philip Manalo came in to finish the job. Alexander not only pitched well for the local All-Stars, he also added some firepower to the offense when he smacked a homerun.
The CNMI took a commanding 7-0 lead going into the sixth inning before allowing a couple of runs early. Those runs proved only to mar the finish of an otherwise well executed performance.
Standout slugger Ofero Taitano went yard, along with fellow Spalding smasher Anthony Tenorio. Tenorio crossed the plate twice, went 2-for-3, and knocked in two runs. Cameron Ser Nicolas also went 2-for-3 and was able to make his way home once. Tony Rogolifoi Jr. was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate and racked up an RBI as well.
After having lost to Guam in a heart-breaking 2-0 game on Saturday, the boys were able to bounce back and pick up the win. Now it would seem that the CNMI is in control of their destiny. Guam is sitting atop the tournament at 2-0, the CNMI is 1-1, Indonesia is 1-0 and the Philippines dropped to 0-3.
Today at 1pm, the CNMI will be facing a much-improved team from Indonesia and must win if they hope to advance to the finals. Indonesia and Guam were scheduled to face off yesterday, but the results were not available at press time.
Making up the CNMI Little League All-Stars are Philip Manalo, Alex Benevente, Keith Kintol, Eli Augenbaugh, Ofero Taitano, Cameron Ser Nicolas, Eric Tenorio, David Camacho, Donovan George, Justin Alexander, Anthony Rogolifoi, Ike Aldan, R-Jay Joe, and Anthony Tenorio.
