Tinian welcomes international field

MUNICIPAL BASEBALL FIELD, Tinian—A crowd of players, parents, coaches, and dignitaries descended upon the village of San Jose yesterday to witness the first ever hosting of the Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament on the island.

While the CNMI has had five previous hostings of the baseball spectacle on the islands of Saipan and Rota dating back to 1993, Tinian was on the outside looking in. The organizers on Tinian didn’t let their lack of experience hold them back, as even the most well traveled baseball fan could appreciate the lengths to which Tinian has gone to pull off a first-class event.

The Tinian High School JROTC cadets paraded the teams of the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Guam, and the CNMI onto the field, dignitaries including Gov. Juan N. Babauta and Tinian mayor Francisco M. Borja wished them on their journey to the World Series, and each of the participants received a bag of souvenirs as they exited the field prior to the first pitch by Babauta.

“This thing started when district administrator James Ada brought me with him to Fukuoka, Japan to lay out our plans for the tournament, and the Tinian mayor was willing to give us his full support to pull it off. All the members were really excited to go through with the planning from the start, and we organized committees for everything from the food to the transportation. I’m happy because it’s ongoing right now and it looks like it’s going smoothly,” said Tinian Little League Baseball Association president Ike Aquiningoc.

Unlike the hallowed grounds of the Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field on Saipan, Municipal Field boasts an infield dressed with green grass and sharp lines. The grounds crew spent hours trying to ready the field in advance of the tournament, including the flag poles that are currently saluting all of the teams

“Our field director Frank Tudela did a great job to get the field together and we got a lot of support from the mayor and his staff. It’s exciting and it’s a lot of exposure to our island and also our community. We’re really excited to learn from the experience,” said Aquiningoc.

The only disappointing aspect of the tournament is that there was not an opportunity for Tinian to field a team, as their Little League program ends where the 13-year-olds begin.

“The kids are willing and able to play. I hope that this will encourage our community here to come out and support our TLLBA because basically everyone wants the kids to continue playing ball but nobody wants to volunteer. I hope that with this tournament right here that the community will come out and volunteer their services to our league. Volunteers—that’s what we’re lacking,” said Aquiningoc.

The president said that they have enough kids to field at least four teams at the Junior League level, and hopefully they can get a program going in the near future.

“We’d like to do it all, but start it off with Juniors and maybe move on to Seniors, but we’re concentrating on having it next year,” he said.