SEASONED player Manny Sablan was selected by the Saipan Baseball League board of directors as the team manager of the men’s team that will represent the CNMI in the 2022 Pacific Mini Games which Saipan will host.
SBL President Jay Santos and the rest of the SBL board presented Sablan and his coaching staff during a press briefing in the Northern Marianas Sports Association’s conference room on Thursday.
For his coaching team, Sablan chose fellow SBL players/coaches Gary Cruz and Derron Flores. He also picked Joey Tudela to help get the players into “baseball condition.”
Santos said the selection process took longer, but the SBL board members felt that “we did it the right way.”
He said there was a good number of individuals who wanted to lead the CNMI baseball team in the mini games so it was a “tough” selection process.
“There was a lot of back-and-forths, but at the end of day, the board made the right decision,” he added.
One of the ace hitters of the SBL champions, the GSM Brewers, Sablan led the CNMI men’s team in the 9th Micronesian Games in Yap. He was also part of the CNMI team in the 8th Micronesian Games in Pohnpei in 2014; the South Pacific Games in New Caledonia in 2011; the 7th Micronesian Games in Palau in 2010; the 6th Micronesian Games on Saipan in 2006; the Mini South Pacific Games in Palau in 2005; the 5th Micronesian Games in Pohnpei in 2002; the Mobil Games on Saipan in 2001; and the Mobil Games on Guam in 2000.
Sablan grew up playing in the Saipan Little League with the Koblerville Hustlers before he moved up to the Saipan Major League which is now known as the Saipan Baseball League.
CNMI men’s national baseball team manager Manny Sablan, center, his coaching staff Gary Cruz, second left, Derron Flores, fourth right, and Joey Tudela, second right, with Saipan Baseball League President Jay Santos, right, and other SBL officers pose for a photo after a press briefing in Northern Marianas Sports Association conference room in Susupe on Thursday.
