Senior Leaguers take to the field for regionals

Within the next day or two, baseball teams representing the CNMI will board a plane for Guam to play in the regional tournament for the Major Little League, Junior Little League and the Senior Little League, and this year the teams all believe that they have a chance to win it all for the islands.

The CNMI Senior League team is managed by Jess Wabol, and he believes that his brand of baseball will bring the team success on the big island to the south. If the perfect 14-0 record of his first place Ol’Aces is any indication, he might be right.

As head coach Roy Celis hit balls out to his fielders, Wabol shared a little bit about his formula for a successful team.

“I put so much emphasis on speed, pitching and good defense. I believe that if you score one run that you should be able to win the game. But it’s not going to work if you given up too many runs because of errors or by your pitchers not thinking.”

Wabol explained that the type of baseball that is played at this level of the game must be more disciplined, and that a team can not afford to have its’ players swinging for the fences.

“If we want to win the ball game, we’ve got to make things happen. We are not going to wait for things to happen. If we have a fast runner on first with no outs, we can bunt him over to second. That’s why the speed is important, because now just about anything can advance the runner—and a base hit to right field will give us a run.”

The game is also about how the body wears down during the game, and the importance of being physically fit. Wabol says that he pays attention to the other team and tries to exploit any weakness.

“I make the defense work. I’ll have my boys bunt when the other guys are not in shape. After two or three innings of killing them with the bunt, they’re going to get tired and they’ll start throwing the ball away. That’s my philosophy on baseball.”

Outfielder and relief pitcher Derrick Babauta agrees with his manager about the importance of speed and good defense saying that they are two of the things that he believes his team possesses over the competition. The three-time all-star Babauta said that his teammates are also his friends, and that he knows that without that kind of bond, the squad would go nowhere.

“The players get along both on and off the field—you have to be friends if you’re going work well together.”

Oliver Secharmidal is also a three-time all-star, and there is no question in his mind that his team will reign supreme in the Regionals.

“We’re going be solid. We’re going go to Guam and we’re going to win first this year. We’re going be the first from the CNMI Seniors to win it.”

This year’s team consists of the most talented players at the Senior level, and if you are lucky, you will be able to see Oliver Secharmidal, Antione Allen, Tony Palacios, Franco Flores, Ben Tasikan, Tyrone Omar, Dan Concepcion, Jeff Saures, Zachary Concepcion, Derrick Babauta, Jesse Garcia, Thomas Guerrero, Manny Ada, and Peter Tenorio in action on the baseball diamonds in Guam this week.