Aleton Mesngon’s strong pitching forced the Saipan All-Stars in a tight grip, giving them a mere 1-0 lead at the bottom of the third.
Starting pitcher Joshua Jones kept Rota at a halt with 18 strikeouts, allowing only two hits with no walks.
“The game was pretty good. Both teams came out with their best players,” said Saipan’s manager Joseph Flores.
Team Saipan sparked its rally on Marvin Ngeskebei’s RBI walk, with two runs from Jeremy and Keoni Lizama in the bottom of the fourth. Short stop Juan Maratita delivered a run-scoring single to drive Ngeskebei in.
“On our side, our batting was a little bit off at the start. Our pitching was what helped us,” said Flores. “Rota’s pitching was working on our batters. We just had some defensive changes to try to put our runs in.”
Jeremy Lizama struck an RBI single to lift Saipan, 8-0 in the bottom of the fifth. Eli Aughenbaugh sent Harry Nakamura home on a sacrifice bat. Maratita went 3-for-4 on three singles.
Two consecutive strikeouts and a liner to first base ended team Rota in the seventh inning.
The Saipan All-Stars will now represent the CNMI in the upcoming Asia Pacific Regional Tournament. They and the Senior League champions will compete in the Philippines. Junior division games will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia. Majors division games are in Guam.
Venues remain the same for the Little League World Series: majors (South Williamsport, Pennsylvania), junior (Taylor, Michigan), senior (Bangor, Maine), and big (Easley, South Carolina).
