RP wins Juniors and Seniors

The Philippines took the championships of the Junior and Senior divisions of the 2008 Asia-Pacific Regional Little League Tournament after nipping host CNMI in their respective finals yesterday at the Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field.

According to Philippine head of delegation Catherine Tenco-Ong, this marks the first time the Philippines’ Little League Baseball program will be sending two teams in the 2008 World Series.

The Philippines Junior All-Stars were the first to book a ticket to Taylor, Michigan, when they rallied from a two-run deficit late in the game by scoring three runs in the sixth to beat the CNMI, 7-6.

After the hosts broke a 4-4 tie when Nathan Guerrero’s triple scored starting pitcher Lamarc Iguel and Anthony Salas, the defending Juniors regional champions retaliated with the aforementioned three-run explosion in the next inning.

Curiously though, the Filipinos were only able to make their move when off-pace pitcher Iguel wasn’t allowed to continue because of the Little League’s 95 pitch count limit.

Leandro Banzon gave the Philippines a leadoff runner when he singled off Iguel in the top of the sixth.

He then was brought home by a single by Julian San Juan, who in turn advanced to third with a Vince Ching sacrifice fly.

Harry Nakamura then replaced Iguel on the mound, and the CNMI’s flame-throwing pitcher proved to be just what the doctor ordered for the Philippines’ ailing hitters, who are more accustomed to facing fastballs than off-speed throws.

Charles Catangui proved the point when he connected on a huge three-bagger that scored San Juan and knotted the game anew at 6-6.

Miko Habana then gave the Philippines the go-ahead run when his single easily scored Catangui.

Although the Philippines stranded two runners when the CNMI retired Taiki Ishibashi on a fielder’s choice, the damage had already been done and the defending champions only needed to hold on to the one-run lead in the final two innings to return to the Junior World Series.

Tsuyoshi Horibata reduced the magic number of six outs to three when the relief pitcher forced Leroy Regis to a 6-3 play, struck out Jesse Yamagishi, and induced Harry Namura to ground out to shortstop for the easy relay to first base in the bottom of the sixth.

Nakamura mirrored Horibata’s performance on the mound with a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the top of the seventh by striking out Renzo Ramos and Banzon in quick succession and retiring Roberto Da Silva with yet another 6-3 play.

His heroics, however, proved futile as he failed to get the runs he needed to get the CNMI over the hump in the bottom of the final inning.

A lot of that could be blamed on yet another superb inning by Horibata. The son of Japanese expats working in Manila struck out Justin Kintol for the first out and then forced Anthony Salas to fly out to San Juan for the second, before another fly out to shortstop ended the game and kicked off celebrations by the visitors and their adoring fans, mostly made up of Overseas Filipino Workers on Saipan.

The Philippines and the CNMI actually played a roller coaster game that saw both Junior League squads score two runs in the first inning. The Philippines, however, took a 4-2 lead on home plate crossings by San Juan and Ishibashi in the second and third innings.

But the CNMI squared it all up at 4-4 in the fourth when Palacios and Kintol scored two runners before Guerrero’s triple gave the hosts a two-run lead in the fifth.

In the second game, the Philippines Seniors All-Stars made it 2-for-2 in the championships for the International Little League Association of Manila when they essentially used a six-run fourth inning to beat the CNMI, 7-6.

The game was a pitching battle early as the CNMI’s Juan Iguel and the Philippines’ Yusuke Kuroda held both teams’ hitters to zero runs in the first two and a half innings.

The hosts were the first two to get on the board when Oferio Taitano crossed home plate in the third.

But the Philippines got back on a big way in the following inning when errors galore by the CNMI battery allowed Kevin Ramos, Mark Ong, Carlos Laurel, Kuroda, Inigo Olivares, and Joel Lomoton to all cross home plate to give the visitors a 6-1 advantage.

The CNMI put a dent on the Philippines’ lead when Nokki Saralu hit a triple and scored to make it 6-2. Eric Tenorio, Juan Iguel, and Taitano added three more runs in the fifth to cut their deficit to 5-6.

But the Philippines made it a two-run advantage on the top of the sixth when Andy Tan scored on a catching error.

John Paul Lizama made it interesting by tucking in one more run for the CNMI in the sixth, but Kuroda made sure the Philippines Junior All-Stars would be going to Bangor, Maine, when he whiffed Iguel and Taitano with consecutive strike outs in the bottom of the seventh before Lomotan caught a next-to-impossible catch when John Pangelinan’s looper got clear of the infield.