Houlton

Saipan team given $8,000

 By: Grant Wieman, gwieman@guampdn.com

A small community in Maine donated about $8,000 to a youth baseball team from Saipan last week, giving the players some hope before they made the long, uncertain trip home.

Members of the team from Saipan Little League, playing in the Senior League World Series in Bangor, Maine, each received a check for $300 at the series and tournament representatives are working to give even more.

“This is something we do here,” David Mansfield, director of tournament site Mansfield Stadium, said on the phone from his home in Maine. “We care about these kids and we care about people. Hopefully we helped in some way.”

The Saipan team left for the tournament early last week. The next day, while they were in the midst of traveling, their home island was hit hard by Typhoon Soudelor.

Electricity and phones were knocked out, so while the players knew their island was in danger, they were unable to contact anyone in their families to make sure they were safe.

The players eventually got through and learned their family members were all safe, according to the Bangor Daily News, but they weren’t without damage.

“A lot of our kids’ homes were destroyed, their houses got flattened and they’re without power and water,” Saipan manager Greg Camacho told the Bangor Daily News. “From the information we got as well as the clips that we saw, it’s really bad.”

Saipan was making its fifth trip to Bangor, and second in a row, so the locals were a bit familiar with the team and where it came from.

When they saw news of the devastating storm, they were able to put a face to the destruction.

“Everybody in the stadium was kind of talking about it,” Mansfield said.

Mansfield and tournament director Mike Brooker got to work, coming up with ideas to help. Mansfield, renowned for his ability to raise donations — including for the stadium, which was built by author Stephen King and donated to Bangor — started calling local businesses.

GoFundMe

One family in Bangor started a GoFundMe pledge drive account; Bangor Little League donated $500; other businesses made donations.

During Saipan’s games, local Little League players adopted one of baseball’s greatest traditions by passing the hat. They took a ball cap off and fans in the stadium filled it with whatever they could spare.

“It just took off like a balloon,” Chris Parker, lead umpire for the series, said on the phone from Maine.

Kevin Masnayon, an umpire from Guam who has been to the Bangor series a few times, called Parker after he heard about the typhoon and asked him to pass on warm wishes to the players and coaches from Saipan who were affected.

The tournament officials did much more, eventually raising more than $8,000.

“For them to do something like that, it made me tear up,” Masnayon said. “For them to reach out to people they don’t even know … It’s something else.”

The Saipan players were aware something was going on — there were announcements over the public address system during their games — but they were too focused on their families back home and their games to think about the gift coming their way.

“When the kids got here they were a little down in the dumps,” Parker said. “They were somewhat depressed, but they didn’t let that affect them on the field. They played their hearts out on the field.”

Saipan won its opening game, 10-5, against a team from Lazio, Italy, and then lost to the host team from Bangor 6-2.

Saipan played the same two teams again with the same results and finished the tournament 2-2 overall, tied for its best result in five trips to Bangor. West University Little League from Texas won the series for the second year in a row.

After the tournament ended the teams all gathered for a closing banquet. Each of the 10 teams was called up to the front of the banquet room to receive plaques, medals and participation certificates.

When it was Saipan’s turn to take the stage, Mansfield surprised them with a ceremonial check, marked at $5,000. The true value of the donation was about $5,400, with each player and coach receiving a personal check for $300.

Money kept pouring in after the ceremony, Mansfield said, and searching for a way to deliver the additional $3,000 to the team.

“The players and coaches were very, very appreciative,” Mansfield said. “Several of them came over and said thank you. They’re just 16, 17 years old. … I just hope it helps in some way when they get back home.”

Are you interested in helping out? Ever thought about being an umpire? Our umpires 'work their way up' through the local summer leagues to get the oppurtunity to work regional or even World Series tournaments in Little League.

Umpires starting out need to contact the local leagues (most leagues have an umpire assigner) to let them know that you are interested. They will give you a contact person to get in touch with to answer your questions. You may have a chance to work with experienced umpires in the local leagues and to gain skills needed to progress through the ranks.

There are different levels of competition that we need to cover such as: minor leagues, majors (60' diamond), juniors and seniors (90' diamond). As you prove yourself, you may be asked to work tournaments at the end of the season.

These tournaments include 9-10 year olds, 11 year olds, majors, junior and seniors (both baseball and softball). Many of these tournaments are also worked by experienced umpires who have worked all of these levels, as well as Regional and World Series tournaments. We have many umpires that also work middle school, high school and even college level games.

Contact your local league, and join the fun of working with the kids and enjoying some time outside. Check out some of the requirements on our website, if you are interested.