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SBL teams impresses visiting Koreans
A member of the visiting South Korean celebrity group, center, jokes around during a photo-op with his teammates and players from the GSM Cubs after their friendly match last Tuesday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” M. Palacios Ballfield. (Jon Perez)
A visiting South Korean group was impressed with the talent of Saipan’s baseball players, especially the youth team that they challenged in a series of friendly matches at the Francisco “Tan Ko” M. Palacios Ballfield.
Gongnoriya—a visiting team composed of Korean actors, comedians, and singers—played against Saipan Baseball League teams from Sunday to Tuesday night as part of their annual trip to the island. They played against SBL Under 25 champions GSM Cubs on Tuesday night and then faced other squads in the Masters league and SBL’s open division.
Hong Seo Peom, who acted as the leader of the group, said the CNMI has a good baseball program as shown in their game against the Cubs.
“This is a very young and talented team. All the players have good strong arms in throwing from the outfield. They are fast. They have a good foundation in baseball,” said Hong, who pitched in their game against the Cubs.
“Four years ago, we always play against Koreans who are here on Saipan. This is the third straight year that we are playing against Saipan teams. We are looking forward again to come back and play against them.”
Hong added that members of Gongnoriya are multi-artists by day and baseball players by night.
“Baseball is also big in Korea. We love playing baseball. We’re celebrities but playing baseball is one of our passions. We enjoy playing for fun. We’re actors, comedians, and singers, but at night we’re baseball players. If I’m not an actor, I would have been a player in the Korean league,” added Hong.
The group, which visits Saipan two times a year, arrived Thursday night and left yesterday morning.
Another Korean group will be arriving in the next two weeks and will be playing several tune-up matches from Feb. 22 to 23 also at the “Tan Ko” baseball field.
Yong Chul Jang of M&E Enterprises Inc. Saipan, in cooperation with SBL coordinator Tony Rogolifoi, arranged for the scrimmages between the SBL teams and the visiting South Korean group.
