Williamsport, here we come!

The CNMI Little League All-Stars pulled together as a team and earned a trip to the Little League World Series by beating Indonesia 4-3 yesterday in the championship game of the Asia/Pacific Regional Baseball Tournament at Guam’s Paseo Stadium.

Justin Alexander scored in the top of the sixth inning off a wild pitch to put the CNMI ahead and pitcher Tony Rogolifoi Jr. slammed the door shut when he struck out the final batter to win the game.

Rogolifoi allowed three runs off of three hits en route to a complete game that was exciting to the finish. The talented youngster walked five batters and struck out four, and went 1-for-2 at the plate.

The rest of his team provided just enough offense to get the job done as Philip Manalo went 2-for-4 with one run, Ofero Taitano went 2-for-3 with a plate crossing, and Alexander Benevente went 1-for-2.

Indonesia took the lead early when they tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, but the CNMI rallied for three in the top of the third surge ahead. The ballers from Jakarta scored a run in the fourth to tie the game before they surrendered a run on a wild pitch in the sixth.

When Alexander crossed the plate, it was bedlam. The players and parents were going crazy, but that was nothing compared to the reaction when Rogolifoi ended Indonesia’s World Series hopes on a called strike three.

This is the first time in years that a Little League team from the CNMI has successfully emerged from the tournament to make the journey to Williamsport, PA. In an interesting turn of events, Indonesia advanced to the finals after defeating Guam in action on Tuesday.

With Indonesia’s victory, there was a three-way tie for first place as the CNMI, Guam, and Indonesia all finished with records of 2-1. The basis for the tiebreaker was originally to be the fewest points allowed. The CNMI came out in front, allowing 10 runs, while Guam allowed 16 and Indonesia allowed 18, but that’s not how it worked out.

The regional director for the Little League called the headquarters in Williamsport and was told that the Guam-Indonesia game served as deciding factor for advancement.

When the boys of the CNMI woke up yesterday, they thought that they were going to play Guam. It was not until a little before 10am that the boys were informed that their opponent would be Indonesia.

After having lost to Guam in a heart-breaking 2-0 to open the tournament, the boys were able to bounce back and pick up consecutive wins against the Philippines and Indonesia to put the into a position to make the finals.

Philip Manalo, Alex Benevente, Keith Kintol, Eli Augenbaugh, Ofero Taitano, Cameron Ser Nicolas, Eric Tenorio, David Camacho, Donovan George, Justin Alexander, Anthony Rogolifoi, Ike Aldan, R-Jay Joe, and Anthony Tenorio will return to Saipan from Guam this afternoon, and will be back to the practice field as they prepare for the Little League World Series.

In the Asian Division, it was Chinese Taipei upsetting the defending champions from Japan 7-5 to advance to Pennsylvania as well.