Wait-and-see mode for Triple A baseball meet

Saipan Baseball League coordinator Tony Rogolifoi said that they would wait for the weather conditions tomorrow if the opening of the 2015 Division of Youth Services Summer/Fall Season Triple A Youth Baseball Under-18 League would push through or not.

Night games, like in the Big League division of last season’s Saipan Little League, won’t be held in the 2015 Division of Youth Services Summer/Fall Season Triple A Youth Baseball Under-18 League since the lights at the Francisco M. “Tan Ko” Palacios ballfield needs to be fixed. (Jon Perez)

The Triple A Youth Baseball League, funded by the Division of Youth Services under the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, was scheduled to open tomorrow at the Francisco M. “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

“We wanted to start the league as much as possible but it all depends if the weather would clear up or not. If not, we have no choice but to push it back to a tentative date,” said Rogolifoi, who is also the executive director of the Northern Marianas Sports Association.

League organizers limited the number of competing teams in the inaugural Under-18 tournament to six. Managers and coaches are also encouraged to recruit underprivileged kids to join their team.

Registration is free with DYS providing all the teams with uniforms, baseballs, and payment for the use of the field and umpires fees. All matches will be played from the morning to the afternoon every Saturdays since the lights could not be used for night games.

“Games will only be once a week. So there will be three games each Saturday with the six teams. We decided not to hold Sunday games anymore to give the kids time to rest since they still have school,” added Rogolifoi.

Players who would join the league would also get a chance to be selected as members of the CNMI U21 All-Star team that would compete in the Baseball Confederation of Oceania regional tournament. The age limit for BCO’s U21 tournament is from 17 to 21.

Triple A youth league was originally scheduled in August but was moved to October after Typhoon Soudelor damaged the Tan Ko Baseball Field and other sports facilities on the island.

The Tan Ko field—which recently hosted the Little League Asia-Pacific-Middle East Regional Baseball Tournament in the Junior, Senior, and Big League divisions—suffered heavy damage as some of its lights were either not aligned or missing, while the surrounding fence and other areas of the facility, including he batting cages, needs to be fixed.

For more information, call Rogolifoi at 2346672 or email at tonyrogolifoi@yahoo.com.