Seniors double-up Hong Kong

MUNICIPAL BASEBALL FIELD, Tinian—The CNMI Senior Leaguers won their first game of the 2005 Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament by downing Hong Kong 10-5 yesterday afternoon in an ugly contest that included ejections of a number of players, a manager, and a fan, while the Guam Big League edged the Philippines 5-4 to book their date with the CNMI in the finals tomorrow.

Tensions on the field rose with the temperature in the village of San Jose as neither team wanted to make a winless exit from the tournament, and the build-up poured into the stands as an onlooker was promoted from fan to fanatic and was asked to leave the area.

Lost amidst the controversy was a complete game by pitcher James Kintol who allowed five runs off of eight hits through seven innings of work for the home team while striking out 10 along the way.

After dropping their first two games to Guam and the Philippines, CNMI manager Jack Reyes predicted that his team would come out hungry to win their final game in an interview the night prior, but they found themselves in a 4-1 hole early into the contest before taking the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third.

The CNMI added plenty of insurance in the fifth inning when they broke the game open with five runs off of six hits to give Kintol room to exhale.

Aside from sporting one of the best hairdos in the tournament, CNMI first baseman Nunu Kapileo boasted one of the best outings for his team with a pair of RBI singles—including the eventual game winner that sent second baseman Jesse Borja streaking across the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Kapileo finished the game 2-for-3, as did catcher Smith Reyes, who smacked two base knocks and drove in a run, but Nicolas San Nicolas was the picture of perfection with a flawless 2-for-2 performance at the plate that generated two singles and a run batted in. Center fielder Jess Iguel went 2-for-4 with a double and a three-bagger for his team’s final outing to finish in third place at 1-2, while Hong Kong went 0-3 in their first tournament appearance.

The Senior League championship will be decided when Guam and Philippines take the field at noon tomorrow, but they will have a warm-up today at noon when they go head to head in their final game of the round robin.

Guam 4, Hong Kong 3

The Hong Kong Senior Leaguers played a nail-biter the night before when they fell one run shy of knocking off Guam on Monday night in what a number of players and fans called the best game thus far in the tournament.

The Guamanians jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before allowing Hong Kong to tie the game in their next at bats, but the white and red added another tally in the top of the third to take the lead.

After tying the game in the bottom of the fifth, Guam regained the lead when Kristopher Kaneshiro crossed home plate in the sixth on a wild pitch for the eventual game winner. Aside from providing the offense, Kaneshiro provided the pitching by working the mound through the first three innings and allowing just three runs off of four hits and fanning one. Fred Cepeda took the hill in the top of the fourth to relieve Kaneshiro and dominated the rest of the way by striking out nine and allowing just two hits in the final four innings.

Catcher Alejandro Diaz watched the duo in action behind the plate and led the charge with a single, a double, and a sac fly RBI on the other side of it. Diaz finished 2-for-2 with two ribbies while third baseman Mathew Barcinas equaled the mark with a pair of base knocks and a run batted in.

JUNIOR LEAGUE
Guam 11, Indonesia 1

Jathan Barnes was near perfect on the mound as the youngsters from Guam left little doubt as to their intentions of unseating the four-time defending Junior League champs yesterday as they annihilated Indonesia to earn their third win of the tournament.

Barnes struck out eight and allowed just one run off of four hits through five innings before Reyn Johnson forced the umpires to invoke the 10-run mercy rule when he drove in Chris Carbullido in the bottom of the fifth.

Johnson finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of singles while Carbullido went 2-for-3 with a single, a double, and two ribbies to lift Guam to second place in the standings at 3-1.

Centerfielder-turned-first baseman Keith Castro also had a hand in the landslide by cracking a pair of singles and driving in a run, as did left fielder Brandon Fernandez with a single and a double.

Yoshiki Matsumoto was the lone bright spot for the Indonesian offense, as he drove in Yoshi Wibisono in the top of the fourth for their only run of the game. The loss dropped Indonesia to 1-2, and with all of their matches in the bag, Guam can only sit and wait for the outcome of the remaining Junior League games of the tournament.

BIG LEAGUE
Guam 5, Philippines 4

The Guamanian Big Leaguers advanced to the championship against the CNMI tomorrow afternoon by defeating the Philippines 5-4 in comeback fashion after their bats warmed up and pitcher Neil Gebhart took control of the game.

After a first inning in which Gebhart surrendered three runs off of four hits, and a second that put his team in a three-run hole, the hurler found his control to fan seven and allow only three hits the rest of the way.

“Our defense just started working and I started getting a lot of support from a lot of people and it gave me a lot of confidence. I started to warm up a little bit more and I was able to throw what I wanted to throw. A lot of times they were just falling for my curve ball, and it makes my fastball look better,” said Gebhart.

After trailing early, the Guamanians steadily gained ground on their opponents by smacking 11 hits and employing smart base running, but what they didn’t do, the Philippines did to themselves. Misplayed flies and grounders by the fielders and base running mistakes eventually took their toll on the team from RP, as they let the 4-1 lead slip through their grasp when Guam got a run in the second and two in the bottom of the third to even the score.

Now Guam will try to game plan for the CNMI team that downed them 16-6 on opening day, but Gebhart said that his squad will have a little advantage to help them tomorrow.

“We’ll just give it our best. Last time we just broke down a little bit, but this time since we got a little confidence and we know what it feels like to win. I think that hopefully we’ll do better and try to win with a lot of heart,” he said.