Good
Guam All Mighty
Fundamentals help Guam advance to 2-0 in pool play
 By
Nick Williams
Flawless defense, timely hitting and great pitching is
what wins you ballgames. Just ask Guam.
Flawless defense: A six inning game with no errors,
which saw the slick Guam infield execute 10 ground ball
outs.
Check.
Timely hitting: A pinch hit single by Gerald Borja to
break the game open with one out in the bottom of the
third.
Check.
Great pitching: A one-hit, complete game performance
from Sean Manley.
Check.
For Guam, it’s what enabled them to beat Canada 5-0 and
move to 2-0 in pool play, strengthening their chances of
earning a spot in the next round of the Little League
Baseball World Series.
From the start, Guam was in command, particularly
Manley. The righthander retired the first three Canada
hitters he faced on three straight ground balls—an
indicator of what was to come.
In all, Manley retired 10 hitters on groundballs,
including four that he fielded himself. He finished with
six strikeouts, two walks, a hit batsman and a lone
single allowed in the fourth that broke up his bid for a
no-hitter.
“He was throwing strikes,” said Canada coach Glenn
Morache about Manley’s performance. “Our boys just
looked tired, maybe that’s what it was. But [Manley]
pitched a good game. He hit his spots. He got all those
ground balls. We were way ahead of him.”
Manley’s counterpart, Canada’s Jeff Degano, also went
the distance, allowing 5 runs (four earned) on eight
hits and five walks,
It could have been worse, if Degano hadn’t escaped a
major jam in the first when Guam was caught trying to
execute a double steal.
 Calvert
Alokoa drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a
groundout. Trae Santos then followed with a single that
knocked in Aloka for the game’s first run. A single by
Manley put runners on first and third with one out.
With Ryan McIntosh at the plate, Manley took off for
second. Catcher Matt Catonio fired to shortstop Justin
Atkinson, who was covering second. Atkinson tagged
Manley out and threw back to Catonio to get Santos
trying to take home, escaping what could have been a
potentially dangerous inning with only one run allowed.
“It’s just part of our technique,” Guam manager Shon
Muna said about his team’s aggressiveness.
In the third, Byron Quenga sliced a one out single to
right and stole second. After Alokoa drew another walk,
pinch hitter Borja singled to center to score Quenga.
When centerfielder Conrad Gallagher overran the ball
Alokoa ran threw the third base coach’s stop sign to
come around to score the second run of the inning,
making it 3-0 Guam.
“I just wanted to show my coach I can hit the ball and
play ball,” said Borja of his RBI base hit.
Guam made it 4-0 in the fourth on back-to-back wild
pitches from Degano.
McIntosh led off the inning with a double and advanced
to third on the first wild pitch. On the very next
pitch, Degano uncorked one into the dirt in front of
home plate. The ball bounced past Catonio and McIntosh
scampered home, sliding in just before Catonio’s tag.
Guam tacked on an insurance run in the fifth on a Joseph
Duenas RBI single that made the score 5-0 and sent Guam
on its way to their second pool play win.
Game Photos
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