CNMI drops opener in ASPAC

The CNMI Senior All-Stars’ Ethan Babauta, seen here waiting for the pitch in their game against the Philippines in last year’s Asia Pacific Regional Tournament at the Francisco M. “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield, pitched for the Commonwealth in its opening match (versus Guam) in the ASPAC yesterday at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, Philippines. (Saipan Tribune)

Defending champions CNMI Senior All-Stars faltered in their first game as they lost to Guam, 7-12, yesterday in the 2016 Asia Pacific Regional Tournament in at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, Philippines.

The Commonwealth players surrendered six early runs, allowing Guam to draw first blood in the World Series qualifier. There were only two games in the opening day of the ASPAC in the Senior League division and results of the second match between host the Philippines and Australia were unavailable at press time.

Guam built a 6-0 lead at the end of the first inning after getting four runs off the CNMI’s defensive lapses. Richard Atalig was the Commonwealth’s starting pitcher and worked the mound for only one inning after giving up two hits and committing four errors and one hit by pitch.

Atalig was replaced by Ethan Babauta, who pitched in three innings and yielded one run and three hits. The Lawrence Camacho-managed squad used two more pitchers—Brandon Pua and Virgil Secharmidal—in its first game, but the changes were not enough to prevent Guam from scoring more runs and winning the early rematch of the 2014 finalists. The CNMI defeated Guam, 8-6, in the title game held in Clark, too, two years ago.

Guam after slowing down in the second to fourth inning where it also tallied one run, foiled the CNMI’s comeback bid by recording three runs in the fifth and one apiece in the last two innings.

The Commonwealth, after trailing by 6 in the first inning, moved within three as it registered two runs each in the second and third. Shakobe Rangamar had an RBI double in the second, while Secharmidal scored off Guam’s error. In the third, Aurel Mendiola and Kimo Angailen reached off Guam’s miscues to keep the CNMI in the game.

However, the defending champions failed to sustain their momentum as they had a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth and fifth, while Guam had earlier tacked on three runs at the top of the fifth and one more in the sixth to widen the gap, 11-2. The CNMI also gained one run (Sercharmidal scoring off an error) at the bottom of the sixth, but Guam got it back with Aaron Jamanila also making it home from their foes’ booboo at the top of the seventh.

At the bottom of the seventh, the CNMI boosted its chances for a comeback when Mendiola and Henry Aguon scored with only one out (leadoff batter Angailen). However, again, the defending champions could not keep their momentum, as the next three batters went down, giving Guam the opening day win.

Jamanila led Guam’s victory, as he went 3-for-5 at bat and scored two runs and one RBI. Tino Muna had two RBIs on a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Guam was 8-for-32 at bat, while the CNMI went 7-for-29.

Secharmidal was perfect at the plate with his 3-for-3 and also tallied two runs and one RBI. Jay Kalen was 2-for-4, while Mendiola was 0-for-1 and contributed two runs.

Meanwhile, the CNMI Senior All-Stars will try to bounce back today when they take on Australia in the first game in their division. The defending champions are pressed to win against the Aussies as the World Series qualifying tournament is a short one with a round-robin format. The Top 2 teams in the six-squad field after the elimination will battle for the World Series ticket, which the CNMI got in the last two years.