CNMI sticks to game plan

Team manager Patrick Tenorio bared that their strategy was to play small ball against Guam in the finals of the Senior League division in the 2014 Little League Asia Pacific-Middle East Regional Tournament in the Philippines.

“We wanted most of them to bunt so runners can move one base at a time. We don’t want to rush things and commit mistakes. Only those big hitters are encouraged to go all out and hit over the fence,” said Tenorio in a telephone interview with Saipan Tribune yesterday.

The Commonwealth players started executing the game plan at the top of the fourth inning with Darion Jones leading off and blasting a single. Jones was one of the few CNMI players allowed to go for a big swing and he earned the license after his consistent performance at the plate in the elimination round. One of the game announcers in the finals even called Jones as the most feared hitters in the division. The next five CNMI batters went on to go for bunts and the CNMI was rewarded with two runs off those short shots. The Commonwealth’s gamble was timely, as the field was a bit soggy due to the intermittent rain and the ball was either stuck on the muddy spot or rolled slow. With this condition, in took Guam fielders time to recover the leather, allowing CNMI runners to steal bases.

The CNMI was down, 0-2, after three innings, but grabbed the lead, 4-2, after employing its game plan at the top of the fourth. Tenorio’s wards continued to hit small balls in the ensuing plays before Nathan Camacho, the other big hitter on the CNMI side, connected on a two-run homer at the top of the fifth to break the fifth deadlock, 6-5. Guam tied the match for the last time at the bottom of the fifth before the CNMI got the two runs at the top of the seventh to set up its title win. The first of those two runs came from the leadoff runner, who went for a bunt, and two more CNMI batters also attempted short hits.

At the bottom of the seventh, Camacho got the two quick strikeouts, while Franko Nakamura earned the last out.

“It was a sweet ending because Franko caught the batter looking. I was expecting a swing and a miss,” said Tenorio, who trusted his gut feeling when he selected Nakamura to replace Camacho at the mound.

“I usually have two other pitchers playing defense—A.J. Evangelista and Franko Nakamura. Gut feeling told me to call Franko and I am glad he responded well,” Tenorio added.

Though Camacho and Nakamura stepped up in the closing minutes of the match and Jones was at his best hitting form, Tenorio said the win against Guam in the finals and versus the five teams in the elimination were products of their team effort.

“Every player knows their responsibility on the team and they did it, whether they were on the field playing defense and going at bat or at the dugout supporting their teammates. Teamwork, discipline, and execution brought us back to the World Series,” said Tenorio.

The last time the CNMI sent a Senior League team to the World Series was in 2010.

“We’re happy to end the slump. We will work on modifying our training and strategy because the World Series is an entirely different ballgame. We will be facing the best in the different regions so the competition level is very high,” the team manager added.