JR. NATIONALS PROVE BEST OF UOG BASEBALL CLASSIC

PRESS RELEASE – On Saturday afternoon, the Guam Junior Nationals beat the UOG Tritons 11-2 in the UOG Baseball Classic Championship  game. The Jr Nats finished the tournament 5-0-1 and the Tritons ended with a 4-2-1 record.  

The championship game opened with a pitchers duel. Jr Nats starting pitcher, Nolan Cruz, had 8 strikeouts with no runs  scored in the first 5 innings. Tritons’ starting pitcher, Dominic Pangelinan, had 6 strikeouts in his 6-inning battle, and one  run scored. The Jr Nationals led the game 1-0 for the first 5 innings of play.  

It was in the 6^th inning after both teams implemented a pitching change, that runs would start to roll in. Dominic  Pangelinan would hit a two-run RBI triple in the first half of the 6^th inning to give the Tritons the lead 2-1. In the bottom  of the 6^th, the Jr Nats would also score 2 runs off an error with two runners on base. After 6 complete innings, Jr Nats  regained the lead 3-2.  

The Jr Nats, having already hit against Tritons’ second pitcher, Oneil Yobech, would bunt their way towards an 8-run  inning. The Jr Nats’ aggressive base running and smart hitting would lead to an influx of errors on the Tritons’ defensive  end.  

Going into the top of the 7^th inning, Jr Nats coach repeatedly chanted, “0-0 score mindset.” This was to ensure that his  young squad would keep their composure and focus on defense. The Tritons could not muster the energy for a  comeback while the Jr Nats were still feeding off their 6^th inning at-bat adrenaline and retired the Tritons three up, three  down at the top of the 8^th.  

The Tritons were able to avoid a ten-run rule and had one last at-bat to fight for the title.  

UOG had a scoring opportunity with bases loaded and two outs, but Arren Yatar would end the game with a strikeout  and a final score of 11-2 after 8 and a half innings.  

All-Tournament Team

MVP: Arren Yatar (Jr Nationals) 

Matt Murciano (Braves) 

Herbert Pinaula (Braves) 

Chris Sablan (Cardinals) 

Ton Chaco (Cardinals) 

Jathan Muna-Barnes (UOG Tritons) 

Kyle Martinez (UOG Tritons) 

Dominic Pangelinan (UOG Tritons) 

Javen Pangelinan (Jr Nationals) 

Javier Concepcion (Jr Nationals) 

Frank Ninete Jr (Jr Nationals)