Majors to use two fields next week

Starting next week, all games in the Majors division of the Saipan Little League will be played at the Miguel Basa “Tan Ge” Pangelinan and San Vicente Elementary School fields.

This means that games will be held simultaneously at the Tan Ge and SVES baseball fields.

The Saipan Little League board agreed on this since they have to play at least 10 more make-up games in the regular season. This was the decision made by the board, led by president Juan I. Tenorio.

Tenorio said they have to use both fields in order to wrap up the regular season so they could move on into the playoff and championship round. He added they need to finish the season so they would have enough time for the selection of the all-star team for the CNMI District and Asia-Pacific regional tournaments in Rota and Hong Kong.

“If we would follow the same schedule we won’t have enough time to prepare for the district and Asia-Pacific tournaments,” Tenorio said.

Scheduling problems at the Tan Ge field and the unpredictable Saipan weather forced them to cancel a number of their regular season games.

“We cannot predict the weather on Saipan. We have no choice but to cancel games if it is raining or there is volcanic haze. We have to first think of the safety of the kids and for health reasons,” said Tenorio in a recent interview.

SLL board treasurer Annie Flores met with SVES acting principal Betty Miller to ask them if the Saipan Little League could hold games at their field.

“We’re OK to use the San Vicente field starting next week for our games. Games will be held from Tuesday to Thursday. Now we have to do is to come up with a schedule for the remainder of the games,” said Flores.

Tenorio also wanted to implement changes in the selection process for the managers and all-star members in the Majors, Junior, Senior, and Big League divisions, saying the Saipan Little League board needs to be more involved to remove the popularity contest that has plagued the selection process in the past years.

Tenorio wanted to choose all-star members based on their achievements and the way they perform offensively and defensively.

The board is also scheduled to meet with the umpires in preparation for the CNMI District Tournament on Rota and the Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament on Saipan. They will soon come out with an official list of umpires.