{"id":378422,"date":"2022-10-26T06:02:22","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T20:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=378422"},"modified":"2022-10-26T06:02:22","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T20:02:22","slug":"santos-sbl-to-have-2023-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/santos-sbl-to-have-2023-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Santos: SBL to have 2023 season"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>
Saipan Baseball League president Jay Santos poses at the Francisco \u201cTan Ko\u201d M. Palacios Baseball Field. (MARK RABAGO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saipan Baseball League president Jay Santos assured fans of America\u2019s pastime that there will finally be a 2023 Saipan Baseball League season early next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to get an announcement out to everybody that the Saipan Baseball League will be organizing a league by the end of January or early February.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from the men\u2019s league, Santos said SBL is looking to also organize a U18 and U15 league to develop the island\u2019s up-and-coming baseball players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re asking the community to start getting ready for those that want to field teams. In preparation for the league, now\u2019s the time to get started,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The SBL head added that aside from the men\u2019s, U18, and U15 leagues, they\u2019re also keen in starting an interscholastic league for high school baseball players.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we hope to do is get together with PSS Athletic Program director Nick Gross and see if we can form an inter-scholastic baseball league\u2026I\u2019m gonna hopefully meet with him sooner or later and see if we can organize high school baseball teams… Because that\u2019s something missing in the sports calendar,\u201d said Santos.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, he said baseball kind of died down after the CNMI took the gold medal in the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 back in June.<\/p>\n

Santos, however, said the plan all along is to start the SBL season in early 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fine because we had expected it to be in the context of the normal season usually starting in February anyway\u2026we have a nice baseball field now. That\u2019s a good field and we\u2019ve got to figure out ways to get with the Northern Marianas Sports Association to maximize and work closely with them in the maintenance of the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santos said SBL is also looking to partner with corporate sponsors to support the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be reaching out to not only those that want to sponsor teams, but also sponsor the league itself\u2026I believe in the past it was like IT&E. We had stuff like that. But we\u2019re putting those packages together now and we\u2019re hoping that we\u2019re gonna get strong sponsorship to support the league\u2026Not only for our men\u2019s league but also for our youth leagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The league has been dormant the past couple of years due to Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018 and the COVID-19 pandemic that reached the CNMI\u2019s shores in early 2020.<\/p>\n

In fact, SBL was in the middle of its best-of-five championship series pitting the Chalan Kanoa Bears and Go See Mark when the Category 5 typhoon hit the island on Oct. 25, 2018.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Bears actually took the opener against Go See Mark, 8-5, on Oct. 22 or a few days before Yutu slammed Saipan and Tinian.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Category 5 typhoon left the Francisco \u201cTan Ko\u201d M. Palacios Baseball Field unplayable with the bleacher crumpled, the bases and ground washed out, and the lights and nets broken.<\/p>\n

The SBL later awarded the 2018 championship to the Bears by virtue of their Game 1 win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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