Previous Story
Sablan pitches HS to state championship
|
Posted on Dec 22 2011
By Walter J. Sutherland
Reporter
Reporter
Saipan’s Jared Sablan led Taulitan High School to Oregon’s 2011 Futures State Championship title after holding down rival Lake Oswego High School on the mound, 5-2, in the finals held last August.
Sablan recently moved to Oregon, but started his baseball career as a Saipan Little League player and was part of the 2010 Junior League championship team.
A sophomore in his rookie season in the mainland, Sablan was a staple of Taulitan’s pitching staff during the team’s remarkable postseason run.
Taulitan started its season with five straight losses, but revamped in the clutch, winning its last 10 in a row all the way to the Promise Land.
The team rode the wave through district play over Central Catholic High School and then advanced over Sherwood, Jesuit, Sunset, and Lake Oswego in the double-elimination state tournament.
They bested Sherwood, 5-4, in the opening round and rolled over Jesuit, 14-7, in Round 2 before advancing to the semifinals over Sunset, 3-2.
Taulitan held a twice-to-beat advantage over Lake Oswego in the finals, however its rivals did force a winner-take-all rematch, grinding out a 2-1 victory in their first meeting.
Sablan took the mound for an inning of relief that match, and was given the ball back as the starter in the winner-take-all bout.
He only went on to pitch a complete game and virtually shut down Lake Oswego.
His team backed him up with an early 3-0 lead and they never looked back.
Sablan also attended Showball Baseball’s 2011 Winter West Coast World Series Camp last weekend at Verdugo Park’s Stengel Field in Glendale, California.
Showball Baseball is a collegiate showcase camp organized in 2007 by former Texas Rangers players John Novak and Derek Otteveare. The organization also conducts softball camps.
Players at the camp were showcased in front of the NCAA’s Top 30 baseball colleges where they got to learn from the coaches during the evaluative process.
Sablan was one of about 120 players divided among eight teams that made up the field.
He is listed at 5’6 and 155 lbs and, in addition to pitcher, plays second base, third base, shortstop, and outfield.
