By Jonathan V. Perez
Variety News Staff

THE Saipan Major League moved the playoff round of the 8th Annual Fall League from Jan. 3 to Jan. 8.
SML coordinator Tony Rogolifoi said the ongoing maintenance of the Francisco M. Palacios Ballfield is the reason behind the rescheduling of the playoffs.
“(This is) to allow time for the maintenance of the field. (Sports and Recreation) Director (Joe) Lizama told me the repairs should be done by the end of this week,” said Rogolifoi.
The Seoul LG Twins helped in improving Saipan’s baseball and softball fields at the Oleai Sports Complex.
Sports and Recreation Division director Lizama said the South Korean professional ball club is building new batting cages and will extend the bullpen located between the FMP and Miguel Basa “Tan Ge” Pangelinan ball fields.
The playoff format will have the No. 1 squad facing No. 4 while the second ranked team will battle No. 3 in a best-of-three format.
The pennant champion Hustlers will face the Tanapag Braves on Jan. 8, Monday, while the second seeded Manhoben Young Guns battle the defending champion Pirates on Jan. 9, Tuesday.
Both games will start at 6:30 p.m. Game 2 of the Hustlers-Braves series will be played on Jan. 10, Wednesday, and if necessary Game 3 will be on Jan. 12, Friday.
The second game of the best-of-three playoff series between the Young Guns and the Pirates will be on Jan. 11, Thursday.
If the Young Guns-Pirates series is tied, Game 3 will be played on Saturday, Jan. 13, or on Friday if the match-up between the Hustlers and Braves ends early.
Fall League coordinator Tony Rogolifoi said if two teams sweep their playoff series they will start Game 1 of the best-of-five title series immediately.
The Hustlers finished on top of the standings with an 11-2 record to claim the pennant followed by the Young Guns, which surprised everybody after finishing in second place.
The defending champion Pirates, which struggled in the early part of the season, ended up in third after a 0-2 start and a 1-5 mark midway in the season.
The Pirates slowly climbed their way to third place winning four of their last five games.
The Braves finished with a 4-8 record to edge the North Stars, which were eliminated after winning only two of their 12 games.
The Summer/Fall League started in 1999 as a developmental league for players under 25.
Last year the Pirates foiled the Hustlers’ bid to win a third title by scoring a 7-6 win to wrap up the best-of-five championship series, 3-1, and regain the crown they last won in 2003.
The Pirates were champions from 2000 to 2003 before being overthrown by the Hustlers in 2004.