The tournament is finished, and everyone has returned to normal life; some are back in Saudi, others are out there traveling, and many are back home relaxing for the summer. Williamsport is not on the schedule for us this year.
The Asia-Pacific-Middle East Region (still officially referred to as ASPAC) is an entirely different animal than our former region, the now-defunct Africa-Middle East Region. Of course, we knew this, but hope reigns eternal in the hearts and minds of anyone strapping in for such an adventure!
First up for us was Chinese Taipei. These guys ended up winning the tournament and will represent ASPAC in Williamsport in August. They are a great team!
You have to play perfect ball against CT, and we got off to a little bit of a shaky start. A dropped third strike on the leadoff batter, an error, a hit batsman, and a clean single allowed them to score two runs against us in the top of the first.
Alex G. immediately singled up the middle to begin the bottom of one, but a crisp 4-6-3 double play signaled the end of our offense for the day. CT methodically tacked on a seven more runs over the course of the next five innings, and we lost 9-0. Nathan and Chris pitched particularly well, allowing no walks and surrendering just two earned runs over the final 3 1/3 innings.
Thailand was up next. This was another excellent ball team. They began the game with a triple and a double. We slowed the bleeding as the pitching settled in and also with the aid of some fine defense. Nick A. scored our first run of the tournament, too.
After two innings Thailand was up 4-1. They broke it open in the third with a home run, two singles, a hit batsman, and a fielding error. The game ended after four innings with a score of 12-1. Highlights for us included Andrew's two hard, line-drive singles
CNMI (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) brought their bats to our next game. Our bats awoke a little bit, too, but CNMI pounded us 21-6 in a forgettable affair. One of their players hit two home runs in the first inning! On our side, Andrew had another hit (single), Marcus had a single and a double, and Alex S. smashed his first hit of the tourney, a single.
Our offense continued its resurgence in our next game, vs. New Zealand. This was an exciting back-and-forth game! NZ went up 3-0, then we were up 4-3, 5-3, 6-3, and 7-5 before they rebounded to go up 9-7 entering the bottom of the last inning, the sixth.
Alex G. led off our sixth with his second hit of the day, a liner into right field. Marcus doubled him home, and then the hot-hitting Andrew doubled home Marcus. Andrew's hit appeared to have a chance to leave the park for a walk-off home run, but it fell just short, nicking the bottom of the center field fence on its descent. The crowd gasped, and the game continued, now tied.
Shea smacked a hard, two-out single to right field, his third hit of the game, but Andrew was tagged out on the play as he rounded third, and the game went to extra innings.
Alex S. pitched shut-out ball the last four innings of the game, and we finally came through in the bottom of the ninth when Chris hit a roller toward third that scored Shea, who was pinch running for Will who had gotten aboard with a walk to lead off the inning. Final score: 10-9 Saudi Arabia!
Marcus had four hits, including three doubles. Alex. S. also had three hits on the day--a great overall game for him especially!
After feeling so overwhelmed at the tournament up until that point, we all exhaled. What a relief to get that first win!
The next day it was back to the reality of ASPAC. Korea, the eventual tournament runner-up, pasted us, 12-0. We did not get a hit, and nine of our 12 batters were struck out. Ouch.
Our consolation game was against Singapore, a team we appeared to match up with quite well. We fell behind early, though, by a score of 5-1, before battling back to grab a 6-5 lead in the fourth inning, a rally during which Luke blasted a long run-scoring single to right field for his first hit of the tournament.
Many of our younger guys were playing, and they were playing well! Nic W. made some smooth fielding plays, Aziz got on base, and Trace pitched great, allowing one unearned run in three innings, striking out two and allowing no walks, before running out of gas in the sixth.
Singapore tied it in the top of the fifth, but we regained the lead when Ziyad, after getting aboard on a perfectly-placed bunt, raced around on some sloppy fielding to make the score 7-6 in our favor heading into the top of the sixth inning. Three more outs, and we would have our second win of the tournament. Unfortunately, our pitching was drained, due in large part to the recent nine-inning barn burner vs. New Zealand...
Singapore's first five batters in the top of the sixth rapped out four hits, including a bases-loaded triple (the other batter had reached via error).
We couldn't muster a rally to match them in our half of the inning and went down in defeat, 16-7.
Nathan had two hits, including a double, and Marcus had his second four-hit game of the tournament.
In the final analysis, the ASPAC Tournament is our new Williamsport. The competition is awesome. There are a few teams in the region with which we can compete evenly, but most teams are stocked with 65 mph arms and many talented athletes.
My wife thinks we're crazy, but those of us whose kids will still be of age next year are already excited to return to Clark! Our young and inexperienced team gave it their all this year, and now we have a solid core of veterans returning and some very good ball players coming into the fold in September.
Thank you, Coaches! We will always have great memories of our travel team experience!
See you in the fall!
The Asia-Pacific-Middle East Region (still officially referred to as ASPAC) is an entirely different animal than our former region, the now-defunct Africa-Middle East Region. Of course, we knew this, but hope reigns eternal in the hearts and minds of anyone strapping in for such an adventure!
* * *
First up for us was Chinese Taipei. These guys ended up winning the tournament and will represent ASPAC in Williamsport in August. They are a great team!
 | |||
| The boys meet Chinese Taipei before the game. |
You have to play perfect ball against CT, and we got off to a little bit of a shaky start. A dropped third strike on the leadoff batter, an error, a hit batsman, and a clean single allowed them to score two runs against us in the top of the first.
Alex G. immediately singled up the middle to begin the bottom of one, but a crisp 4-6-3 double play signaled the end of our offense for the day. CT methodically tacked on a seven more runs over the course of the next five innings, and we lost 9-0. Nathan and Chris pitched particularly well, allowing no walks and surrendering just two earned runs over the final 3 1/3 innings.
 |
| Alex G. whacked this pitch to center field for a clean single to lead off the bottom of the first against CT. |
Thailand was up next. This was another excellent ball team. They began the game with a triple and a double. We slowed the bleeding as the pitching settled in and also with the aid of some fine defense. Nick A. scored our first run of the tournament, too.
After two innings Thailand was up 4-1. They broke it open in the third with a home run, two singles, a hit batsman, and a fielding error. The game ended after four innings with a score of 12-1. Highlights for us included Andrew's two hard, line-drive singles
CNMI (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) brought their bats to our next game. Our bats awoke a little bit, too, but CNMI pounded us 21-6 in a forgettable affair. One of their players hit two home runs in the first inning! On our side, Andrew had another hit (single), Marcus had a single and a double, and Alex S. smashed his first hit of the tourney, a single.
 |
| Heading back to the players' villas in a jeepney after one of our games. |
Alex G. led off our sixth with his second hit of the day, a liner into right field. Marcus doubled him home, and then the hot-hitting Andrew doubled home Marcus. Andrew's hit appeared to have a chance to leave the park for a walk-off home run, but it fell just short, nicking the bottom of the center field fence on its descent. The crowd gasped, and the game continued, now tied.
Shea smacked a hard, two-out single to right field, his third hit of the game, but Andrew was tagged out on the play as he rounded third, and the game went to extra innings.
Alex S. pitched shut-out ball the last four innings of the game, and we finally came through in the bottom of the ninth when Chris hit a roller toward third that scored Shea, who was pinch running for Will who had gotten aboard with a walk to lead off the inning. Final score: 10-9 Saudi Arabia!
Marcus had four hits, including three doubles. Alex. S. also had three hits on the day--a great overall game for him especially!
After feeling so overwhelmed at the tournament up until that point, we all exhaled. What a relief to get that first win!
 |
| The huge former drill field where all of the ball fields were set up for the tournament. Most of the fields were temporary fields. Around the fields were many restaurants, and farther in the distance mountains ringed the area, including Mt. Pinatubo, an active volcano. |
The next day it was back to the reality of ASPAC. Korea, the eventual tournament runner-up, pasted us, 12-0. We did not get a hit, and nine of our 12 batters were struck out. Ouch.
 |
| Here is a snapshot of the action in the championship game between Chinese Taipei and Korea. CT beat Korea and will advance to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. |
Our consolation game was against Singapore, a team we appeared to match up with quite well. We fell behind early, though, by a score of 5-1, before battling back to grab a 6-5 lead in the fourth inning, a rally during which Luke blasted a long run-scoring single to right field for his first hit of the tournament.
Many of our younger guys were playing, and they were playing well! Nic W. made some smooth fielding plays, Aziz got on base, and Trace pitched great, allowing one unearned run in three innings, striking out two and allowing no walks, before running out of gas in the sixth.
Singapore tied it in the top of the fifth, but we regained the lead when Ziyad, after getting aboard on a perfectly-placed bunt, raced around on some sloppy fielding to make the score 7-6 in our favor heading into the top of the sixth inning. Three more outs, and we would have our second win of the tournament. Unfortunately, our pitching was drained, due in large part to the recent nine-inning barn burner vs. New Zealand...
Singapore's first five batters in the top of the sixth rapped out four hits, including a bases-loaded triple (the other batter had reached via error).
We couldn't muster a rally to match them in our half of the inning and went down in defeat, 16-7.
Nathan had two hits, including a double, and Marcus had his second four-hit game of the tournament.
* * *
In the final analysis, the ASPAC Tournament is our new Williamsport. The competition is awesome. There are a few teams in the region with which we can compete evenly, but most teams are stocked with 65 mph arms and many talented athletes.
My wife thinks we're crazy, but those of us whose kids will still be of age next year are already excited to return to Clark! Our young and inexperienced team gave it their all this year, and now we have a solid core of veterans returning and some very good ball players coming into the fold in September.
Thank you, Coaches! We will always have great memories of our travel team experience!
See you in the fall!
