Saipan Senior All-Stars sweep Tinian

The Saipan Senior All-Stars earned the right to represent the CNMI to the 2013 Asia Pacific Baseball Tournament after posting a three-game sweep for two days against the Tinian All-Stars during the 2014 CNMI District Tournament at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

The series of games in the district meet started last Sunday with the host walloping the visitors in Game 1, 26-17. Game 2 was also played last Sunday with the Saipan Senior All-Stars easing past Tinian anew, 17-0, to move one win away from sweeping the visiting team.

Darion Jones pitches for the Saipan Senior All-Stars at the bottom of the fifth inning of their game against Tinian All-Stars in the 2014 CNMI District Tournament yesterday at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Patrick Tenorio-managed Saipan Senior All-Stars went on to complete their domination of Tinian yesterday, coasting to another shutout victory, 16-0. Joining Tenorio on the winning squad were coaches Anthony Leon Guerrero and Jack Deleon Guerrero. The members of the team are Craig Aguon, Jessie Brel, Jerald Cabrera, Nathan Camacho, Kelvin Deleon Guerrero, Jeffrey Dela Cruz, Alfonso Evangelista, Darion Jones, Joseph Lifoifoi, Michael Muna, Franko Nakamura, Jhace Palacios, Jobe Reyes, Raymond Yamagata, Melvin Sakisat Jr., and Virolanson Secharmidal.

The selection needed only five innings to wrap up its series against Tinian. Muna, Camacho, and Jones pitched in the Game 3 shutout and combined for a three-hitter. Muna started out for the Saipan Senior All-Stars, gave up two hits and got four strikeouts in two innings. Camacho relieved Muna at the top of the third and the former allowed only one hit and helped the selection work a 1-2-3 play on Tinian in the next two innings, while striking out three batters. Jones closed out for the Saipan All-Stars and finished off Tinian after only three batters, as he got two straight strikeouts, following a 6-3 putout play on Tinian leadoff batter Bradley Lizama.

The Saipan Senior All-Stars complemented its solid pitching with a consistent hitting, as they got into the board early, scoring five runs. The host kept going, adding four more in the second before failing to light up the board in the third. The selection then made up for the run-less third with three and four runs in the last two innings to secure the easy win via 10-run mercy rule.

In the two other games, Tenorio’s wards also took only five innings each to topple Tinian. In Game 1, the Saipan Senior All-Stars scored in each of the five innings, recording their best output in the third inning after getting seven runs. The host earlier gathered 10 runs in the first two innings for a 10-2 advantage. Tinian registered the two runs at the bottom of the first off Saipan’s errors and went without runs in the next two innings before picking up two more useless runs in the fourth. By the end of the fourth inning, Saipan was way ahead, 20-4 and completed the Game 1 demolition with a six-run top of the fifth.

In Game 2, a nine-run top of the second inning put the Saipan Senior All-Stars in control of the afternoon match en route to the shutout win. The host nearly threw a no-hitter, allowing only a single at the bottom of the fourth inning. Palacios, Muna, and Sakisat pitched in Game 2 and they combined for seven strikeouts, allowing no runner to pass second base.

With the lopsided series win, the Saipan Senior All-Stars, which will now be known as the CNMI Senior All-Stars, will travel to Clark in the Philippines for the June 30-July 6 regional tournament.