CNMI-RP also in Sr. League finals

The CNMI and the Philippines will dispute the championships of all three divisions of the 2008 Asia-Pacific Regional Little League Tournament after the hosts routed Guam in the Senior League yesterday at the Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field.

The CNMI needed to either hold the U.S. territory to one run and win or outscore them by nine to advance to the championship game.

The boys of manager Derran Flores did more than that, chasing four of Guam’s pitchers from the mound before exploding for six runs in the bottom of the fifth to score a 13-3 mercy rule-shortened victory against their archrivals from the south.

The CNMI, Guam, and the Philippines finished tied with identical 1-1 win-loss marks. But the hosts and the Philippines advanced by virtue of less runs scored against them in the tournament.

The Philippines yielded 13 runs following their 2-6 loss to Guam and 11-7 win against the CNMI. The CNMI, meanwhile, gave up 14 runs after rebounding from their loss against the Philippines with a 10-run smack-down of Guam, which in the end allowed 15 total runs.

Despite facing long odds, Flores and his coaches—Roy Celis and Jon Tenorio—had the CNMI Senior All-Stars pumped up and primed before the game.

It also helped that the CNMI had ever-reliable starting pitcher Joshua Jones on the No. 1 spot.

Jones dominated Guam’s hitters right from the get-go as he retired the top of the order in 1-2-3 fashion in the first.

Oferio Taitano then got the CNMI on the board when he crossed home plate on a throwing error.

The CNMI tucked in three more runs in the second inning when Ryan Lisua, Anthony Tenorio, and Jones himself touched home plate to give them a 4-0 lead.

Guam retaliated with a run in the third, courtesy of starting pitcher Shane Tenorio. The ace, however, was yanked from the mound the very next inning when Juan Iguel and John Pangelinan scored on consecutive errors to make it 5-1.

Calvert Alokoa and former Saipan Little Leaguer Donovan George momentarily stopped the CNMI’s momentum when they scored runs No. 2 and No. 3 in the fourth inning, throwing option No. 1 out the window for the hosts.

However, instead of giving up—as they now needed to beat Guam by nine to advance to the finals—Flores’ boys hunkered down to work and had two more home plate-crossings in the fourth to give the CNMI a 7-3 advantage.

The fifth inning saw Jones continue with his superb effort from the mound, as he retired Shane McDonald and Derek Dela Cruz on consecutive strikeouts before inducing Eddie Chaco to fly out to second base.

Needing six more runs to finish off Guam via mercy rule, Jones started things off with a single. Iguel advanced Jones to second when he took four balls from relief pitcher Kagan Rabago.

Jones then darted toward home shortly thereafter to make it 8-3.

Taitano and Pangelinan later loaded the bases and Iguel scored when Guam’s fifth pitcher, Bryan Delgado, walked Nokki Saralu.

Delgado also delivered walks to David Camacho and Ryan Lisua that allowed two more runners to score. In between that, John Paul Lizama’s sacrifice fly brought in Saralu and advanced Camacho to third.

With only a single separating the CNMI from victory, Guam gift-wrapped it when Delgado threw a wild pitch allowing Camacho to score run No. 13 and the CNMI dugout immediately exploded in celebration with the improbable victory.

Flores said after the game that Guam scoring two more runs in the fourth actually sparked his team to pile up the runs, which led them to the win.

“Our first scenario was to hold them to zero. We got through two innings with that and they scored one in the third, but we were still OK. They scored two more and that put us in a situation where we needed to beat them by nine or more runs,” he said.

Flores also gave Jones a lot of credit for the victory, adding that the starting pitcher didn’t allow himself to be overcome by pressure despite the CNMI’s long odds entering the game against Guam.

He said even when Guam scored two runs in the fourth, Jones remained as cool as a cucumber.

“It was just one bad pitch. He’s the ace so you had to have faith in him.”

Flores also gave kudos to the rest of his players who showed what teamwork was all about.

“Everybody came through for us today. Everybody was patient out there on the plate. It’s just one team, one heart. In our loss in the first game, we were a little shaky but I know my boys would rebound. Tomorrow we will defend our title as 2007 Asia-Pacific Big League Regional champions. Everybody just did their job, whether they’re on the bench cheering or on the field playing.”

The Senior League finals between the CNMI and the Philippines is set at 11am today, following the 9am finals between the two teams’ Junior squads.

The championship game of the Big League between the CNMI and the Philippines, meanwhile, is scheduled at 3pm, also at the Oleai Sports Complex.