Taylor, here we come!

MUNICIPAL BASEBALL FIELD, Tinian—The CNMI Junior Leaguers and both the Guamanian Senior and Big Leaguers earned their trip to the mainland yesterday as they found ways to down their opponents in their respective championship games on the final day of the 2005 Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament.

While the CNMI Juniors prevailed in a game that went down to the wire, the Guamanian Seniors handily dealt the Philippines their demise, while the boys of the Big League scored five unanswered runs to claim their title.

JUNIOR LEAGUE
CNMI 12, Guam 11

Ben Cabrera’s only hit of the game was the biggest as he drove in Juan Iguel in the bottom of the seventh inning of the Junior League championship game to send the CNMI to Taylor, Michigan for the 2005 Junior League World Series.

It took four lead changes and seven innings to decide the game, and the CNMI came out on top by scoring 12 runs off of just six hits in a mistake-ridden affair in which they committed seven errors.

After trailing Guam 11-7 after three and a half innings, the boys from Saipan rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 11 apiece before Cabrera’s late-game heroics.

“We’re going to the ’ship, we’re going to the ’ship—that’s all I’m gonna say. It feels good because it my second time and because this is revenge for what happened in 2003 in the Little League when we lost to Guam in the championship,” said Ada.

With an out on the scoreboard, Elton Santos reached base on an error before being substituted for pinch runner Juan Iguel. After Ryan Ada walked to first, the speedy Iguel was hoping for a base hit so that he could flex his sprinting muscles. Iguel said that when he saw the shortstop fumble the ball that he was thinking that he was going to make it home because of his speed.

“I was just thinking to score,” he said.

Iguel’s feet first slide into home sealed the deal for the CNMI, as they are now heading for their fifth straight appearance in the Junior League World Series.

Rather than rest on their laurels, Tenorio said that he will be getting the boys back on the field for practice tomorrow so they can start to iron out the wrinkles in their game plan.

“First I have to get the boys back to get them started concentrating on the next level. Now we’re going back home to put our gameplan together and work even harder on some of the things that we felt need some improvement like base stealing and swinging the bat,” he said.

Jonathan Salas led off the game for the CNMI from the hill, but the steady pitcher gave up 10 runs off of four hits in one and two-thirds innings in which he walked four and plunked one. Two of the freeloaders eventually scored—as did the victim of the bean ball—but compounding the problem was another three scores that came as a result of errors

SENIOR LEAGUE
Guam 12, Philippines 3

Derwin Aguon took care of business from both sides of the plate as the inspired pitcher saved the day for Guam with a gutsy performance on the mound and a solid outing with the stick to lead his squad to the Senior League World Series in Bangor, Maine.

Aguon pitched seven innings in relief to blank the Philippines for zero runs off of two hits while fanning 12 along the way.

“I felt pretty alright, but I have been pitching in past tournament championships and we’ve been losing so I wanted to come out and pitch my game and that’s what I did. We’ve practiced hard, the coaches and parents put in everything, and we won this game for my dad, Michael Reyes Aguon,” he said.

Aguon was a member of the first Little League team from Guam to make it to the World Series in 2001 and said that the team now has to get ready for the future by practicing harder for the next round of games.

“I’m the team captain, so I am going to keep them in check, keep them ready to play ball, and work harder to represent everybody—the CNMI, Philippines, Hong Kong, everyone,” he said.

Making the win especially sweet is that the team dedicated the entire 2005 season to the memory of Aguon’s father, Michael Reyes Aguon, who passed away three weeks after the 2004 Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament.

“I’ve been in a slump in hitting because it’s hard every time I think about my dad because I was really close to him, and it really hurts, but after that I just wanted to make my game harder and dedicate all of the stuff we did to him. We went undefeated in our regular season in Guam, went undefeated in tournament play, and we’re undefeated in this one, so we dedicated that all to my dad,” he said.

The hurler handled his business with the bat as well, as Aguon went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, two stolen bases, and three runs scored, and while his pitching was off, Diaz dropped back to shortstop and plugged away with a single, two doubles, and three runs batted in to finish 3-for-4 to redeem himself. Catcher Alejandro Diaz also rose to the challenge by driving in four runs off of a single and a double.

The Philippines jumped all over starting pitcher Kurt Diaz by scoring three runs off of four hits and a walk with their first five batters before manager Darrell Leon Guerrero relieved Diaz with Aguon, who roared into the game with three strikeouts to retire the side.

The Filipino lead was short-lived however as Guam answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. As Aguon’s arm warmed up, so did the bats of Guam, who scored four runs over the course of the next three innings before exploding for five in the fifth off of two hits and four walks.

The eventual game-winner came when first baseman Michael Bautista scored in the bottom of the second off of a passed ball.

BIG LEAGUE
Guam 5, CNMI 3

Mateo Matanae went the distance from atop the hill to lead Guam to its third consecutive Asia-Pacific Regional crown last night by limiting the favored CNMI squad to just three runs off of 10 hits in front of most of the people on Tinian, but it took a little while for his run support to kick in.

After trailing 3-0 through two and a half innings, the Guamanian Big Leaguers came to life by rallying for two runs before tying the game in the fourth when second baseman Nolen Dela Cruz’s sacrifice fly to center drove home designated hitter Eric Manibusan. They took the lead for good moments later when Jarrett Barcinas singled in Justin Sablan for their fourth run.

By the time reliever Jon Peter Sablan came into the game, the CNMI still had a chance. Down 5-3 in the fourth, Sablan fanned his first batter to get the CNMI out of the inning, and went the rest of the way without allowing a run, and surrendering two hits while striking out five.

The CNMI failed to come up with the clutch hits, but Sablan provided a double, a triple, and three RBI’s for the cause while John Tudela went a perfect 3-for-3 with a string of singles.

Supporters with varied loyalties showed up in droves as the monsters of the Marianas met for the championship, but after taking the first two games of the tournament by a combined score of 28-8, many expected the CNMI to win—even the players from Guam referred to themselves as underdogs.

Down 3-0, the Guamanians chipped away at the CNMI lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, and tied the game in the fourth.

“The boys all know that you can’t play a ball game only four innings. You have to play seven innings long, seven innings strong. That’s how the CNMI beat us the first time, and that’s how we beat them today—we played seven innings strong,” said manager Pete Quintanilla.

The manager said that his team will be heading back to Guam to practice for the next level and return for the start of the school year, but one of his coaches has something to attend to first.

“I told them before the tournament that if we won the championship that I would Mohawk my hair and even turn it pink if they want, but I’m going to South Carolina, so I don’t care,” said Guam coach Jacob Cruz.