The players of the CNMI U12 Baseball Team pose for a group photo during a break from practice at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field.
THE Natibu Sports Association and the Saipan Baseball League are helping the CNMI U12 Baseball Team prepare for the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation U12 qualifying tournament that will be held on Guam from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3.
According to Vincent Camacho Jr., an NSA member and parent organizer, the CNMI team is composed of the best 10- and 11-year-old players who saw action in the NSA Youth Baseball League.
“They are still young, and this is the first time the CNMI is participating in something like this. We don’t know for sure, but they may be undersized compared to their foreign opponents,” said Camacho. However, he said the CNMI team has talent and athleticism.
“The skills are there, so they just need to improve their mental game,” he added.
The CNMI U12 Baseball Team consists of Skyler Leon Guerrero, Lennox Sablan, Elijah Babauta, Liam Sablan, Nate Nekai, Dylan Barcinas, Khoen Torres, Jo’ell Passi Herman, Scott Muna, Juan Damian, Denzel Kaipat, Izaiah Haro, Nethaniel Neth, Keoni Rosario, Damian Sablan, and Roque Camacho Jr.
Their head coach is Ian Norita and the team lead is Herman Kintol.
The team began practicing in August, three to four times a week, at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field and the Miguel “Tan Ge” Pangelinan Softball Field. They have shown a lot of improvement throughout the past two months, Vincent Camacho said.
One of the main focuses of their preparation is to learn the new rules for the WBSC U12 tournament pertaining to pick-offs, balks, lead offs, and stealing bases.
“These are not the same as rules they are used to playing under the Little League program,” Vincent Camacho said. “Learning these fundamentals will be one of the key factors of their performance,” he added.
The U12 team players have elected Dylan Barcinas and Damian Sablan as their captain and co-captain.
“Both players have played in baseball tournaments and leagues for the Tanapag Braves these past two years, so they bring some experience to the team, although the CNMI hasn’t had an active Little League season for the past several years,” Vincent Camacho said.
Their primary goal is “to win the tournament, of course,” he added.
The winner of the tournament will play in the WBSC World Cup.
“Other than that, the team aims to gain experience with baseball and to travel and play against other countries. On the field, it’s just to play their best no matter the outcome and play safe and represent the CNMI well. Off the field they will gain some knowledge, meet new people, and have fun,” Vincent Camacho said.
As this is the very first time that the CNMI will participate in the event, he hopes it will open the door to more tournaments or to the CNMI hosting tournaments for different age groups in the future.
“We hope that this team will inspire other kids to pursue baseball and also to encourage the CNMI to bring youth baseball back. Other sports are great, and we’re grateful that there are many other sports available now for our youth, but we know that baseball is the CNMI’s number 1 sport, and we need to bring back youth baseball, otherwise there will be no future players for the CNMI.”
The team would like to thank the Natibu Sports Association, the Saipan Baseball League, and the parents for volunteering and working hard to make this possible.
The team flies to Guam on Nov. 27, and the games will be held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3.
The team is conducting two more fundraisers — a raffle on Nov. 16 at 3 p.m. at the Tan Ko baseball field, which will be livestreamed on Next Level Media’s social media pages; and a final hot lunch event on Nov. 19. Please see any of the players’ parents or coaches for tickets and orders.
