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CNMI falls to Philippines, 1-7
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Posted on Jul 01 2011
The CNMI Big League All-Stars lost the championship of the 2011 Asia-Pacific Big League Regional Tournament to host team Philippines, 1-7, yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Manila.
The Commonwealth fell behind early as the Philippines mustered three runs in the opening frame.
The score remained 3-0 for the next three innings until both teams managed a run apiece in the fifth.
The Philippines began to taste the win with nine outs left in the game and pulled ahead, 5-1, in the top half of the sixth. The Philippines then added two more runs in the last inning, all the while keeping a lid on the CNMI’s offense.
The host team may have had home field advantage, but the CNMI was gifted a free rest day after Guam conceded victory in Thursday’s final leg of the pair’s double-round robin. Guam suffered three straight losses coming into the game and was already out of the running for a finals appearance. An early rain delay led to Guam tipping its cap to the CNMI squad.
Moreover, the CNMI was also declared the home team in the finals as a result of the tiebreaker rules; both finalists held identical 3-1 win-loss records.
The bats did not show up late in the tournament as the CNMI tallied six runs apiece in its double header on the second day of the competition, only to be stuffed to a 2-3 loss to the Philippines after a rest day.
The CNMI still advanced to the finals rematch. But it was the Philippines that saved its best for last, securing its Little League World Series berth in dominating fashion.
Team CNMI is expected to return home tomorrow.
In related news, the CNMI Major League All-Stars are leaving for Guam next Friday to compete in its own ASPAC tournament against teams from Guam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Chinese-Taipei, New Zealand, Korea Indonesia, The Republic of China, Singapore, and Thailand.
The 11-12 year old major division is considered the grand tournament of all the Little League tournaments. The winner will move on to compete in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Virginia. Out of the eight LLWS events held annually, it is by far the most watched and will be televised in 120 countries to millions of viewers worldwide.
