CNMI sluggers drop first two games

  The CNMI Junior National Team is off to a rocky start in the 2012 18U AAA Oceania Championship IBAF Baseball Tournament at the Paseo Stadium in Agana, Guam.

The Commonwealth bets started the first leg of the double round-robin competition with a pair of losses over the weekend. The CNMI fell to the New Zealand Junior Diamondbacks, 14-3, in last Friday’s opener and then bowed to Austrailia, 10-0, last Saturday. Both games were called off after just six innings.

The CNMI was set to take on Guam at 7pm last night; details of the game will be released tomorrow. Then the team gets another crack at New Zealand today at 4pm. Only four teams are entered in the competition.

Australia 10, CNMI 0

Australia’s six hits received some help from the five errors of the CNMI, resulting to the former’s run-rule victory on Saturday.

The CNMI came empty to start its second match and Australia jumped on top, 2-0, off two hits and an error in the first inning. Ben Leslie bashed an RBI single.

Both teams stranded a runner in the second and Australia added another run off another hit in the bottom of the third to push ahead, 3-0.

CNMI’s struggles continued at the plate in the fourth inning and its frustration may have carried over on the field. CNMI committed three errors in the bottom frame that allowed Australia to trot ahead, 7-0, off just one hit.

The CNMI’s Francisco Camacho came to the mound in relief for starter Brett Halstead Jr. two batters into the fifth inning, but Australia still managed to put a couple runs with a sacrifice RBI and a lot of patience at the plate. Australia went on to clinch the early decision in the sixth inning off two hits and an error. Zachary Shepherd reached on a liner to left field and Aaron Sayers followed suit with a shot to center.

In the loss, the CNMI was held to just one hit, a base-knock to left field by Leroy Regis in the second inning.

New Zealand 14, CNMI 3

New Zealand, which is led by Pita Rona, a 6’5” and 215-lb player who just signed with MLB’s Baltimore Orioles as a first basemen, broke out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning. It loaded the bases to start the game and capitalized on a three-RBI smash by Dewald De Klerk with zero outs. The CNMI managed a runner, but could not answer in the bottom frame.

New Zealand then added a run in the second inning off a sacrifice fly by Khalid Gilbert and the count shifted to 7-1 after three innings.

In the top of the third, New Zealand gashed CNMI with runners at second and third base off a double to right field by Rona. Rona and Gilbert later scored off another sacrifice fly assisted by an error.

CNMI finally hit the board with a run in the bottom half, however New Zealand did a good job putting out the fire, as the Commonwealth managed runners on first and second with zero outs only to move home just one runner with the bases loaded.

Then it went from bad to worse when CNMI took the field. The Commonwealth players gave up four walks, a hit, and errors, allowing New Zealand to pull away further, 11-1. The tally then shifted to 14-1, in the top of the fourth with more hitting sprinkled with some shakier defense from the CNMI.

The CNMI regrouped in the fifth inning and pulled out a double play to keep New Zealand at bay, but came up a run short of avoiding the early call off. The CNMI started the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back doubles by Ricardo Dela Cruz and Lancaster Secharmedal, who was later credited with an RBI. Then Cedric Ada tried to keep it rolling with an RBI single, but New Zealand buckled down and found a way to close the door an inning early.

Anthony Leon Guerrero led the CNMI’s losing cause, going 2-for-3 at bat with a run. Jake Flores hit 1-for-2 with two RBIs, while Secharmedal was 1-for-1 with a run. Carl Camacho managed five strikeouts.