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SML was oh so close
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Posted on Aug 15 2005
Just when the boys at the Oleai Sports Complex were preparing Francisco M. Palacios Field for last night’s game between the pennant champion Northern Yankees and the up and coming Budweiser Kings, the skies opened up and scrubbed the start of the Saipan Major League playoffs yet again.
Like a bad soap opera, the story of the SML postseason being delayed has been dragging on about as long as Susan Lucci’s quest for an Emmy, but if she was able to reel in the hardware, so will one of this year’s lucky teams.
With standing water dotting the field like the lakes in Minnesota, the sun will have to make quite an appearance today if the games are going to be played because the entire ground from the outfield fence to the press box is completely soaked.
“The only good thing is that we can see where the low spots are on the field and can start by marking them. Then we can fill them in tomorrow and hope for good weather,” said site and league coordinator, Tony Rogolifoi.
Though the Northern Yankees took the pennant to wrap up the regular season months ago, the postseason action was originally put on hold to provide the CNMI all-star team ample time to prepare for the international competition in Palau. Now that the Mini-SPG’s are finished and the players have returned, the only thing that will further delay the race for the championship is the weather.
If Saipan gets a spell of dry heat, the playoffs will be a go with the Yankees facing off against the Budweiser Kings tonight at 6:30pm. More dry weather will allow the defending champion Miller Lite Brewers and the Ford Rangers to continue the postseason schedule with the start of their best-of-three series tomorrow night. The winners will advance to a best-of-five series in the championship.
