POSTED BY: Eurobasket Center
SAIPAN Little League Baseball, Inc. is set to choose the All-Star teams of the Majors, Junior and Senior divisions today at the Gilbert C. Ada Gym conference room.
The selection meeting will start at 5:30 p.m.
Those who are selected will represent Saipan in the three divisions.
Saipan will battle the visiting Rota and Tinian All-Stars in the Majors division with the winner representing the CNMI in the Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament in July.
Saipan will host the district tournament where they will battle teams in the Majors division from Tinian and Rota for the right to represent the CNMI in the Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament in Hong Kong.
Saipan, which will also host the district tournament in the Junior and Senior leagues, will face the Tinian All-Stars this weekend. The champions will carry the Commonwealth flag in the Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia from July 9 to 14.
This will be the first time that the CNMI will have a district meet in the Junior and Senior divisions.
For the past five years, Saipan has represented the district in the Junior and Senior leagues where a slot in the World Series is at stake.
The opening ceremonies for the Junior and Senior League District Tournament will start at 9 a.m. on June 17.
The Saipan Junior League All-Stars will face their Tinian counterparts after the ceremonies while the Senior league games will follow immediately after the first match.
The games continue on Sunday. The matches are a best two-out-of-three championship series with the winners going to Jakarta.
The CNMI Junior League All-Stars, after losing to Guam in the 2000 Regional Tournament, went to the World Series for five consecutive years from 2001 to 2005. The CNMI has represented the Commonwealth in the Senior League Regional Tournament.
CNMI District Administrator James Ada welcomed Tinian's entry into the Junior and Senior league programs saying this will be a welcome challenge for the Saipan All-Stars.
SLLB president Mike Borja, named as the tournament director, appointed James Miwata as chief umpire, Roque Celis as chief statistician, Jess Ngeskebei as special assistant to the president, John Maratita and Ben Cabrera as assistants to the tournament director, Annie Flores and Lilian Ada as hosting committee members and Ting Duenas as tournament safety officer.
(Courtesy of Variety News)
