According to District Administrator James Ada, team CNMI was randomly drawn in Pool B along with Guam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and South Korea. Pool A includes Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and New Zealand.
Drawing was conducted by Vice President of Little League Operations Pat Wilson.
CNMI All-Stars manager Chel Castro has high hopes for the team, following a successful month of training.
“They’re ready. I hope the weather is good in Guam. We’re not gonna take them lightly,” he told Variety in a phone interview.
“The Philippines, Hong Kong, and Korea… they’re all strong teams. Competition will be tough.”
The All-Stars’ 14-player roster consists of Craig Aguon, Cedric, Jadrien, Johnathan, and Nathan Camacho, Perry Celis, Allen Cepeda, Erik Cruz, Juden Joyner, Franco Nakamura, Juan Quitugua, Peterson Rengiil, Robbin Secharmidal, and Roke Tenorio.
Secharmidal is currently the youngest in the group at 11 years old.
They’ll be joined by Head Coach Randall Aguon and Assistant Coach and Congressman George Camacho.
“The Chemistry is there and the boys have bonded. It’s just a matter of putting them out on the field. We gotta play the other teams one inning at a time,” said Castro.
Team CNMI will leave this Friday, July 8 and will face the Philippines at noon on Saturday. They will play team Korea on Monday next week, take a break on Tuesday, and play Guam on Wednesday.
The top two teams from each pool will advance to the cross-over playoffs. Pool A’s second ranked team will play Pool B’s first ranked team and vice versa. The tournament ends in July 15.
This year’s Little League Baseball World Series is scheduled for South Williamsport, Pennsylvania on August 18-28.
