Local bets back in limelight

After giving way to off-island triathletes for two weeks, last weekend was the local bets’ time to return to center stage.

Department of Community and Cultural Affair’s fourth straight title in the men’s division of the Budweiser 2008-2009 Inter-Government/Business Slow-pitch Softball League was sure worthy of a headline.

DCCA made the record after beating Beach Boys twice in the finals at the Capital Hill Ballfield.

In Game 1, DCCA tallied seven homers with Julian Camacho and Pete Tomokane drilling two homers apiece and Mel Sakisat, Jun Saralu, and Peter Camacho nailing one each to lift the team to a 28-5 win.

In Game 2, Julian added three more homers and five of his teammates chipped in one apiece to give DCCA a 16-11 triumph and claim the championship.

In the women’s division, NMC Proa won its title showdown with Finance.

NMC shut out Finance in Game 1, 14-0, and capped its impressive season with an equally easy 25-10 victory in Game 2. NMC also won the season’s pennant, finishing the regular season with a 10-2 mark before losing to Finance in the winner’s bracket semifinals.

Over at the American Memorial Park tennis courts, CNMI junior tennis players also had their own show.

Melody Johnson and Rafael Jones pulled off contrasting wins to lead four other players on the champions list in the 2009 CNMI Junior Tennis Championships.

Johnson cruised her way to the girls’ 14-and-under title via a straight sets win over the diminutive Neghar Rastguiy, 6-2, 6-0, while Jones needed three sets to beat perennial rival Christian Miller.

Miller, who downed Jones in the finals of the PIC netfest, 6-2, 6-3, took the opening set, 6-1. But Miller failed to notch his second straight victory over Jones, who stunned his foe with a similar 6-4, 6-4 win in the last two sets.

In the 10-and-under division, Carl Dela Cruz and Emily Jones eased past separate foes, while favored Ji Hoon Heo and Thea Minor lived up to expectations en route to claiming the 18-and-under division titles.

Heo made a record in the boys’ 18-and-under division, as he became the winningest player in the CNMI Championships in that category.

This was the fourth straight time that Heo ruled the boys’ 18-and-under singles division in the Commonwealth’s junior tennis championships, allowing him to eclipse the record of Kim Hee Sung. Kim dominated the same event from 1999 to 2001, while Heo started his title run in the CNMI championships from 2006.

Another record was made in the same tournament, as this year’s championships drew 69 players.

Other events last week worth mentioning were the Patriots’ clinching of the No. 1 spot in the Junior League, Ray Tigilau’s victory in the RGA April Ace, the Tigers’ upset win over D-9ers, and McDonald’s support to the 2009 FIBA Oceania Basketball Tournament.

The Patriots virtually took the No. 1 spot for the playoff round after topping defending champion Kagman Lion Heart, 7-4. Pending yesterday’s results, the Patriots are holding a 13-1 mark

Tigilau recorded a season-best net score of 61 at Coral Ocean Point to clinch the Refaluwasch Golf Association April Ace title.

The Tigers caught a big fish in D-9ers, pulling off a 7-5 upset in their game in the 2009 Budweiser Saipan Major League at the Francisco “Tan Ko’ Palacios Ballfield.

McDonald’s Saipan has joined the bandwagon of private companies supporting Basketball Association of Northern Mariana Islands’ hosting of the 2009 FIBA Oceania Basketball Tournament next month.

McDonald’s Saipan owner Joe Ayuyu last week handed over a check worth $2,000 to BANMI officials with the former hoping the donation could somehow help defray the cost for holding the Oceania caging here.