CNMI Juniors receive cool reception in Taylor

When the boys of the CNMI Junior League All-Star team departed Saipan for the Junior League Baseball World Series last week, they knew that there were going to be some differences in Taylor, MI and that they would need to adjust accordingly.

What the players didn’t expect were temperatures 30 to 40 degrees cooler than what they are used to in the Northern Marianas. Playing baseball in these weather conditions will certainly be a big change for the boys, but they should take some comfort in knowing that the game itself will be played exactly the same in Taylor as it is on the fields in the CNMI.

Fortunately, the only thing that was cool about their reception in Taylor was the weather. The boys have only been there less than one week and they have already been interviewed by local media and have been featured in a newspaper article that highlighted their journey to Michigan.

In the article, Dave Gorgon, a reporter for The News-Herald interviewed CNMI All-Star Martin Pangelinan about his thoughts going into this year’s tournament.

“I told them that last year we tried our hardest, but this year we have to try even harder,” Pangelinan said. “This is our second year—our last year—here. They said, ‘We’ll do our best.’”

Gorgon also spoke with manager Sonny Flores and coach Roy Sablan about the history of the Pacific teams in the tournament, their chances, and their desire to take a trip to a local retailer in order to acquire some warmer clothing.

Flores and Sablan will lead Jesse Borja, Shane Yamada, Jesus Iguel, Vince Sablan, Martin Pangelinan, Josh Arriola, Joe Salas, Thorn Sablan, Ryan Ada, Jonathan Salas, Kevin Babauta, Nicolas San Nicolas, Nunu Kapileo, and Juan Tenorio to their first game on Sunday, August 15 (Monday on Saipan) when they face the best from Sonora, Mexico in a 12pm (10pm on Saipan) match up with the Guaymas Little League Mexico.

On Monday (Tuesday for Saipan), they take the field with a combined team from the SHAPE and Waterloo Little Leagues from Belgium at 2pm (midnight on Saipan), followed by a day off on Tuesday. The boys meet the Canadian team from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan at 5pm Wednesday (3am Thursday on Saipan) and on Thursday they play against the Paraguana Little League team from Punto Fijo, Venezuela.

The International Finals will be Friday, Aug. 20 at 5pm (midnight Saturday on Saipan), and the championship game between the USA and International finalists will be on Saturday, Aug. 21 at 5pm (midnight Sunday on Saipan).