Philippines ousts CNMI

The Philippine Junior League Team players and officials huddle before heading to the field to bat during their game against the CNMI Junior League All-Stars yesterday in the 2017 Asia Pacific-Middle East Regional Tournament at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The CNMI Senior All-Stars are out of contention in the 2017 Asia Pacific-Middle East Regional Tournament following their back-to-back losses to the Philippines.

The Philippines first topped the hosts in a make-up game last Monday night, 10-6, at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield before making it two in a row yesterday, 8-2. The PH bets now have a 2-1 record, the same mark that Guam has, while the CNMI dropped to a 1-3 card. The Philippines and Guam, which will play in the last elimination match today, will battle for the championship tomorrow with the winner advancing to the World Series.

The CNMI kissed its World Series bid goodbye after failing to score from the second to fifth inning in their game against the Philippines yesterday and falling short in its rally in the last two innings. Before the four-inning meltdown, the hosts were once ahead, 3-1, after Shakobe Rangamar nailed an RBI double and made run and Kimo Angailen also hit an RBI single at the bottom off the first.

Miguel Guzman’s single drove in Caleb Evaristo at the top of the first for the Philippines, which eventually grabbed the lead in the second inning, 4-3, as the visitors posted two more earned runs and one off the CNMI’s miscue. The Philippines went on to increase its lead as it scored three runs apiece in the fourth and sixth, while silencing the CNMI from the second to fifth inning.

The CNMI ended the slump at the bottom of the sixth, thanks to Henry Aguon’s run. Then in the last inning, Aguon had an RBI single and also reached home of Tindin Deleon Guerrero’s single to stay in the game. The home squad had an opportunity to move closer when it loaded the bases with two outs, however the Philippines’ Naoki Akita caught a fly from Dennis Cabrera to end the match and the CNMI’s chances for the World Series slot.

Earlier in their make-up match, the Philippines registered four runs each in the first and second inning and held the CNMI without a run in the first six to notch its first win.

Meanwhile, in the Junior League division, Chinese-Taipei moved one victory away from sweeping the eliminations after beating Hong Kong twice.

Chinese-Taipei and Hong Kong played a make-up match last Monday night with the former cruising to an 18-0 victory.

The four-time World Series champion needed only four innings to finish the match after scoring six runs in the first and exploding for 12 in the second. The highly favored team forced Hong Kong to a 1-2-3 in all four innings and pitcher Chao Chun Hao threw a no-hitter while striking out six batters.

In their game yesterday, Chinese-Taipei also ended the match early, getting the 10-0 triumph after only five innings. Lee Hao-Yu pitched for Chinese-Taipei and gave up only one hit.

With the back-to-back losses, Hong Kong fell to a 1-3 record, the same mark that the CNMI has, pending results of its make-up game against the Philippines last night. The Philippines won its first meeting against the CNMI yesterday, 7-0, to boost its finals hopes. The visiting team improved to a 2-2 card for second place in the team standings and another victory against the CNMI last night would move the former to the finals against the unbeaten Chinese-Taipei.