CNMI beats Kosrae, Guam

The CNMI’s Peter Lieto delivers a pitch during the top of the seventh inning of their game against Guam yesterday in the Inaugural Micronesian Baseball Classic at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The CNMI Men’s National Team won its first two games in the Inaugural Micronesian Baseball Classic over the weekend at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield to boost its finals chances in the four-nation competition.

The host defeated Kosrae, 9-7, in the opener last Friday before downing Guam, 14-5, yesterday. The CNMI will close out its round-robin assignment tomorrow when it takes on Palau at 2pm and a win will give the Henry Lizama-managed squad the No. 1 spot in the team standings. Once it finishes on top of the pool, the Commonwealth will need only one win in the page system playoffs to advance to this Friday’s finale.

Brian Camacho led the CNMI’s victory in the opening day after recording three RBIs, while Ben Jones made the first hit (single) and also scored the first run in the competition. Camacho went 0-for-2 in his first two at bats before going 2-for-3 in the end, including a two-run double at the top of the sixth inning to break the deadlock, 8-6. Peter Tomokane added another run off Kosrae’s error at left field for the 9-6 advantage.

Kosrae, after five complete innings, forced a deadlock, 6-6, when it got two runs each in the second and fourth and one apiece in the first and fifth. The CNMI, on the other hand, opened the top of the first with three runs off Byron Kaipat’s RBI triple and Jones run from a passed ball. Kaipat also reached off Kosrae’s miscue at second base. The host’s three other runs were off Pat Alepuyo and Camacho’s RBI single each in the third and fourth, respectively, and Tomokane’s sacrifice fly.

The CNMI hung on to the lead and the win when it allowed Kosrae to score only one run in the last four innings. Reggie Skilling posted Kosrae’s lone run at the bottom of the sixth for the 9-7 tally. Jose Lizama Jr. closed out for the Commonwealth, replacing starter Mike Muna and fanning out seven in 4.3 innings pitched.

Meanwhile, in its game against Guam, the CNMI got its rhythm in the middle innings to move a win away from sweeping it preliminary matches.

The CNMI held a shaky 2-0 lead after three innings when it tacked on 11 runs in the next three to open a double-digit lead, 13-3, and boost its bid for an early victory via mercy rule. The host drew an RBI single and RBI triple from Giovanni Mira and Henry Lizama Jr., respectively in the fourth inning; an RBI single each from Nokki Saralu and Verlance Secharmidal plus two runs off Guam’s errors in the fifth; and a two-RBI double from Camacho and two runs off wild pitches in the sixth.

At the top of the seventh, Guam was pressured to score at least one run to extend the game and the visiting team did more than what was required with J.D. San Nicolas hitting a two-RBI double.

With Guam threatening to slice down the deficit, the CNMI called in Peter Lieto to replace Frankie Lieto. Peter struggled at the start of his late shift before getting back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. He went on to fan out four more Guam batters with his first two foiling Guam’s chances to score in the eighth inning. Guam had runners on second and third in the penultimate inning with only one out when Peter struck out Mike Concepcion and San Nicolas. Guam was then called for a 1-2-3 inning in the last with Peter getting two more Ks and catcher Secharmidal catching a fly.

Guam 13, Palau 9
Guam, before losing to the CNMI yesterday, prevailed against Palau in last Saturday’s nightcap.

Guam gained early control of the match, thanks to a five-run top of the third, highlighted by Jarred Alerta’s two-RBI double. The winning team went on to score seven more runs from the fourth to sixth inning to keep its safe distance against Palau, which got off to a slow start, having only two runs in the first four innings.

Kosrae 6, CNMI Junior Nationals 4
In last Saturday’s afternoon match, Kosrae edged the CNMI Junior National Team.

The visiting team shut down the Commonwealth’s youth squad in the last three innings to pull off the close win, which will not be counted in the competition standings as the second CNMI squad is only a guest participant in the event.

Ned Alik pitched in no relief for Kosrae and capped his steady performance on the mound with three straight strikeouts at the bottom of the last inning. He fanned out three more batters in the final three innings and allowed only three hits to keep Kosrae on top.