National players give back to community

Over 20 participants joined the two-day free clinic hosted by members of the CNMI National Baseball Team that included Joshua Jones, Shane Yamada, Franko Nakamura, John Paul Sablan, and assistant coach Gary Cruz at the Francisco “Tan’Ko” M. Palacios Baseball Field last week. (LEIGH GASES)

The CNMI National Baseball Team in collaboration with the Saipan Baseball League gave back to the community with a free two-day baseball clinic for children 18 years old and younger.

Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games gold medalists Joshua Jones, John Peter Sablan, Franko Nakamura, Shane Yamada, and CNMI National Baseball Team coach Gary Cruz were seen at the Francisco “Tan’Ko” M. Palacios Baseball field last Friday and Saturday with the boys who came out to learn more about the sport.

Among the boys who joined were Antonio Norita and Isaiah Teigita, both of whom were baseball prospects during the University of Guam baseball clinic that was held last May. Both will be heading off to the University of Guam to play baseball while earning their college degrees in criminal justice.

Norita was asked how the clinic was going during the first day and he said it was, “Pretty good. It’s fun getting a chance to get on the field and do our thing. I think I can say the same for everybody else. Hopefully we have more of this and bring back the season.”

He said they were taught the basics during the clinic which was a good thing because “everybody needs to go back to the basics. It’s been a while since we’ve all been on the field.”

Participants and mentors of the two-day free clinic hosted by members of the CNMI National Baseball Team pose for a group photo at the Francisco “Tan’Ko” M. Palacios Baseball Field last week. (LEIGH GASES)

Teigita said as well that the clinic was good and that the CNMI players who taught them “know what they’re doing.”

On Day 1 of the clinic, the boys warmed up, did some calisthenics, and did some throwing. They were then taught defensive drills on the infield and the outfield through the pitching machine provided by SBL and were taught pitching mechanics as well.

Day 2 consisted of batting mechanics and their skills for both defense and hitting were displayed during a scrimmage between the boys which lasted almost the whole day.

Yamada, who was seen at the field assisting Jones, said that the clinic is a great opportunity “to give back to our community. We’re all getting older so we need the younger generation now to step up and take over as we slowly start to move out of the league… This won’t be the first and last. We’ll try and continue the clinics going as we progress throughout the year and season.”

Cruz was seen on Day 2 of the clinic watching the boys hard at work. He told Saipan Tribune that he is “really proud of the players that came up to give back to the community, back to the youth from learning from their experience in the Mini Games. It’s time for them to give back and teach the youth so that baseball can grow and more of the youth can actually love the sport.”

He added that all the boys who came out have potential but “it’s all about fine tuning their techniques, their skills, their IQ for the game… That’s all they need is guidance because there’s always talent around this area, this region, Oceania in general. We have a lot of talent here. All they need is the proper training facility and proper coaching.”

At the end of the two-day clinic, Jones huddled the boys together for some inspirational words and recapped what was taught over the two days. He told them, “it was an awesome two days having you all out.”

He further said that they all had potential and to continue working on their skill—batting, throwing, and pitching. Jones said he knows there’s currently no league but that they can continue to improve even with just taking out one hour of their day to practice.