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Lizama cleans up in Little League
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Posted on Oct 03 2005
Nearly five months after the close of the regular season, Nokkie Lizama finally got his due as the Saipan Little League Baseball Association’s biggest impact player on both sides of the plate took home seven pieces of hardware on Saturday at Tan Ge Field during the end of season awards ceremony.
The UMDA Hustlers all-star dominated the diamond in all aspects of the game by taking the batting title with a .762 batting average, but the accolades didn’t stop there as the 12-year-old future Junior Leaguer also topped the tykes with 28 runs scored, 17 doubles, and 37 runs batted in.
Lizama also received trophies for recording a 1.74 earned run average through nine games in which he threw 31 innings with a perfect 7-0 mark on the mound. The ever-smiling hurler took the strikeout title as well with 66 punch-outs, and capped his day in the sun when he brought home the prestigious mot valuable player nod.
“It feels good. I’m really excited,” said Lizama.
Lizama said that he would try just as hard to make the all-star squad when he moves over to the Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field in the Junior League. While he reeled in the majority of the awards, Lizama yielded the triples title to Peter Tenorio (6) and the homerun crown to the sultan of swat Eric Tenorio (7). The championship MVP award also evaded Lizama’s grasp as coaches agreed that teammate Clyde Sablan’s performance against the Tanapag Braves proved to be the difference in the finals.
Hustlers manager Joann Aldan expressed her joy and relief for the official conclusion of the 2005 program and that the players were able to get their due.
“I am felling very happy today. The kids were waiting for their trophies and finally they have them,” she said.
After leading her squad to the championship and coaching the CNMI team in the Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament in Kitakyushu, Japan, Aldan said that she will be returning to manage again next season but that she will be moving up to the Junior League.
“I guess I graduated,” she said.
As a team, the Hustlers received a pair of giant sized trophies for winning the pennant and the championship, while the Braves welcomed the runner-up trophy for both as well as the coveted Sportsmanship Award.
