Saipan All-Stars ready for Rota

After a conclave of managers and league officials met in the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium to select this year’s squad of All-Stars from the Saipan Little League Baseball Association’s Major Division, they offered the role of manager to George Lieto of the Tanapag Braves.

Even though it will be difficult to duplicate the success of last year’s CNMI delegation of Little Leaguers, Lieto said that he is determined to do so, and that he will utilize his international tournament experience to help better the team.

“I’m honored. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The reason I accepted the position is because we will have a very strong team this year. This year we’re a lot bigger, we have the size, and we have the speed. I told the coaching staff that I was part of the 2001 team that went to Hong Kong, ands that I have a great deal of admiration for James Kintol and Felipe Celis of that staff. I learned a lot in terms of training and discipline from them,” said Lieto.

Lieto was to be joined by coach Tony Celis and assistant coach Elmer Sablan, but Celis opted to participate in the South Pacific Mini Games in Palau next month—opening the door for the manager of the playoff champion UMDA Hustlers, Joann Aldan.

Lieto said that he will employ several of his mentor’s teachings with this year’s edition of the Saipan stars—including the building of endurance through conditioning drills designed to improve both stamina and strength—and that the team will be practicing Monday through Saturdays from 1pm until 4pm until they leave.

While Lieto is prepping his team for the All-Stars from Tinian and Rota, he is also aware of the threat the winner of the Rota Little League District Tournament will face in Fukuoka, Japan.

He noted that they will be working on their hitting in light of the CNMI’s failure in recent years to produce big offensive numbers at the plate. Lieto also added that the pitching staff will have its work cut out when preparing for the powerhouse teams from Asia-Pacific Region.

“We know how Guam, the Philippines, and Indonesia bat, so we’ll work hard with our pitchers to win against them. Everyone knows Guam can hit the fast ball, so we will work on pitching locations.”

Lieto said that his staff plans to leave no stone unturned as they will take advice and recommendations from last year’s all-star coaching staff for game planning and bring in players from the Saipan Major League to help with the pitchers.

“We have all of the resources to prepare this team. All we need is the commitment from all of these guys to get it done.”

The All-Stars already got the support of Microl Toyota, as they stepped up to the plate with a pledge to supply the funding for the team uniforms and by providing them with transportation while on Rota.

“The community needs to get more involved with the kids. There’s so much more that the kids can do if local businesses and the parents get together like this,” said vice-president and general manager of Microl Corp. Doug Brennan.

Microl Corp. and Brennan are no strangers to supporting Little League. Over the course of the past 15 years, Brennan has rounded the bases upon the fields of baseball by serving as a coach, an umpire, a parent, and sponsor.

Microl Corp. even participates in the island rivalry between the southernmost link in the Marianas chain and the anchor of the CNMI, as their sister company in Guam, Atkins-Kroll, contributes to their all-stars as well.

“Every year we hope the kids can meet in the next round, and win, lose, or draw, we always have a great time,” said Brennan.