Previous Story
Salas wins Junior League MVP
|
Posted on Jul 14 2008
[B][I]Second of a four-part series[/I][/B]
Anthony Salas was named the Junior League’s regular season most valuable player after the Jets main man finished atop four offensive categories in the 2008 season of the Saipan Little League Baseball Association.
The son of Joe and Cathy Salas was last season’s batting champ with a .628 average. He also had the most runs in the division with 22 and was also the league’s triples and RBI champion with six triples and 21 runs batted in, respectively.
Salas and other team and individual awardees of all four divisions of the SLLBA’s 2008 season were feted Saturday during the awards ceremony held at the pavilion behind the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
In the Junior League, two were tied in the doubles category with Salas’ teammate McGarette Duenas and Peter Tenorio of the Fielders registering five doubles apiece.
Ol’Aces’ Jesse Yamagishi was the season’s homerun champ with two around-the-bases performances in 2008, while Jets’ Harry Nakamura topped the ERA category with a 02.43 average.
Tenorio and Ol’Aces’ Lamarc Iguel were hailed strikeout champs of the Junior League after both all-stars fanned 26 batters apiece.
In the team category, Salas’ Jets won the pennant trophy followed by runners-up Kagman Lion Hearts and UMDA Ol’Aces.
But Kagman Lion Hearts turned things around when it mattered the most, beating the regular season champions in the finale to take home the playoff championship trophy.
The Lion Hearts were led in their 3-2 victory over the Jets last May 25 by brothers Ricardo and Richard Dela Cruz. The former went on to win the playoff MVP plum.
Ol’Aces finished third in the playoffs and also came away with the 2008 sportsmanship trophy—which some say is the season’s most valuable piece of hardware.
Jets (Senior League champions) and Tanapag Falcons (Big League champions) also were feted Saturday with SLLBA officials awarding them their trophies. Full details of their successful season will be published in the Saipan Tribune in the coming days.
