Patriots dream of Sweet 16

The Patriots continued their winning ways last weekend when they knocked off Kagman 1-2-3 for their 15th victory to cinch the pennant of the Saipan Little League Baseball League’s Major division at Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Field.

Head coach Manny Sablan said that despite playing in one of their talented diamond rivals, his players were able to lean on their training and stay focused on the task ahead.

“It was good. It’s all about confidence and training. Every practice really helps the team. I was telling the boys earlier that we have to practice hard every Tuesday and Thursday like it’s a real game,” he said.

Sablan said that his hitters faced a challenge when they squared off against Kagman hurler Richard Dela Cruz, but that the coach tamed their reckless swings with a little word of advice from one of the Saipan Major League’s top batters.

“I told them that once they got into the batter’s box just be patient and wait for the pitch—let the ball come to you. Don’t go after it, let it come to you,” he said.

Manager Thelma Mizer said that she was very happy that her Patriots reached the 15-0 mark, but said that there is still plenty of time left in the season before they can celebrate.

“It feels great. It feels really great and I’m proud of the boys. We’re proud of the boys but we still have three games to go, and then we’ll party. After these three games it’ll be the pennant and then the playoffs,” she said.

The CNMI’s Women’s Fast-Pitch Softball All-Star said that she feels the reason for her team’s success is how they have banded together and never taken any team lightly.

“The discipline of the boys, the teamwork, and the team playing with one heart. A lot of practice, a lot of motivation for the team, we always believe in our boys, and we never underestimate any team—weak or strong. We party only after the game,” she said.

Now the Patriots are poised to do well with the league’s top hitter and a pair of the top pitchers around.

Since surging to the top of the heap two weeks ago, Anthony Salas has maintained his first place grasp on the batting title race with a remarkable .729 average at the plate.

The kid also boasts the league lead in runs scored (31) and doubles (14), but teammates Jeremy Rabauliman (.567), Brian Camacho (.564), and Jonakin Deleon Guerrero (.524) are hitting cruising as well.

On the mound, Camacho’s 1.48 ERA through 40 2/3 innings is good enough for second best in town, and his mark of 71 strikeouts this season is the third highest total among the league elite.

Teammate Joseph Palacios has a bunch of punch-outs to his credit and his 1.83 earned run average is good enough for third place.

The kids from Kagman 1-2-3 have no reason to feel bad about their loss to the Pats, as they held their own with the league’s best team. Were it not for a couple of untimely mistakes, the homesteaders could have doled out Mizer’s first loss.

Their standout players are still performing well against their peers as Marsnjo Wabol’s .613 batting average is the third best, and the 11-3 team back him up with Richard Dela Cruz (.533), and Franklin Agulto (.500).

Dela Cruz also fronts Kagman’s pair of pitchers with plenty of power, and is joined by teammate Ignacio Benavente. Dela Cruz has hand delivered 66 strikeouts and has a 3.35 ERA while Benavente’s average nearly doubled to 3.47 over the weekend. The duo is one of the toughest one-two combos in the game, but Kagman doesn’t have a monopoly on powerful pairs.

The third place Hustlers improved to 10-4 last week and slugger Anthony Manalo held fast with the second best batting average with his .625, while multi-talented Daylinne Joseph, and McGarette Dueñas continue to produce.

Joseph climbed into first place with the lowest 1.41 ERA and perfect 3-0 record to best all but one of the boys and Dueñas suffered another tough contest in his last outing when his ERA jumped to 4.51.

The up and down Tanapag Braves (9-7) are once again on the upswing, and they have a one-game edge over the fifth place McDonald’s squad thanks to the efforts of Charito Kladikm, who leads the northern boys with a .488 batting average though 41 plate appearances.

The McDonald’s squad is looking to catch the Braves, but they split with the competition over the weekend to improve to 8-7on the season.

While most of their hitters dropped off the radar, Nathan Guerrero (.514) and Peter Tenorio (.512) have continued to do well at the plate. After leading the league all season, their top pitcher finally ceded the top spot in the strikeout race as the overworked Tenorio fell to second place with 93 strikeouts.

The As Matuis Twins (5-9) suffered another loss, but that hasn’t done anything to stifle the enthusiasm of their fans, and slugger Diego Camacho (.575) continued to make good things happen on the offensive side of the ball by nabbing the fourth best batting average.

The second best losing team continues to be the Toyota Matrix, carried by Harry Nakamura and Rocco Reyes, and they are still having fun at Tan Ge.

At .511, Reyes can do it all, and Nakamura took the lead in the strikeout race by reaching the 95 K mark this weekend,

The Red Sox (5-12), Ol’ Aces (4-10), and Pirates (2-12) have performed well below the power curve for quite some time, but the Red Sox are on a two-game tear, while the Aces got another solid swinging show from Roky Matagolai’s who improved his batting average to .500.