The Sports Leigh-Out August 15-21, 2026

Hafa Adai and Tirow sports fans, this is Leigh Gases with this week’s Sports Leigh-Out brought to you by Joeten Motors!

Let’s take a closer look at what our athletes have been up to in off-island competitions and on their home turf—whether it’s on the pitch, mat, courts, fields, track, pools, or the beautiful ocean.

Saipan's Lady Tribe players are gearing up for Labor Day tourney

Local softball players are preparing and are fired up to compete off-island once again in the 21st CNMI Labor Day Softball Tournament, which will be held at Delta Park Sports Complex in Portland, Oregon, from Sept. 4-6.

Listen to Regene Palacios, Trina Palacios, and Kiana Camacho following their Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association game on Sunday, Aug. 16. They are competing for the women’s division defending champions, Lady Tribe, as they set their sights on defending their title at the highly anticipated event. Other local players are also heading to Oregon to compete with different teams—stay tuned for that report.

Pirates defend T-Ball 'ship

The sun was back on Saturday, Aug. 15, as the NMI Softball Association x Division of Youth Services 3rd Annual Summer T-Ball Tournament finally wrapped up after being postponed due to rain the previous weekend.

The tournament ended with a championship thriller at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Baseball Field between defending champions the Pirates and the Comets. When the smoke cleared, the Pirates defended their crown with a 23-21 win.

Third place went to the Blue Jays, with the Lady Jays in fourth place and winning the Sportsmanship Award.

The Pirates roster was made up of Zeke and Huck Bauer, Paloma and Phoenix Blue, Kion Borja, Jace Brennfleck, Zachary Deleon Guerrero, Makai Owens, Juriah Santos, Ceylon Willsey, Sander Jordan, Isa Manalo, Cayden Masga, and Aaden Das-Duenas.

The tournament was a joint effort between DYS and NMISA to keep youth active through a positive outlet following two super typhoons while also helping them develop their bat-and-ball skills.

NMISA president Froilan Camacho said he was grateful that the association was able to field four teams out of the 10 teams initially expected and get the tournament started despite a late start.

DYS Administrator Vivian Sablan said, “Although we started a little late this year because of what we’ve gone through with the disasters, we’re glad that it did happen, even if it was a very short period of time … four out of 10 is still a great blessing.”

She added that DYS’ goal is to create prevention programs and said she is thankful for partners such as NMISA, which is always willing to serve as a community-based prevention group. Sablan also recognized the parents who brought their children to the tournament and supported them throughout the competition.

Read more on our website.

Over 80 participate in 2nd girls softball clinic

Just before the start of the 2026-2027 school year, more than 80 girls and volunteers gathered at the Oleai Sports Complex over the weekend for the second annual Girls with Game Softball Clinic.

Over at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Pangelinan Softball Field, the clinic brought together girls ages 8 to 16 as Saipan Little League works to build the girls’ program ahead of the upcoming season this November.

League commissioner Moriah Sablan said this year’s turnout was up from last year, when about 60 girls participated. The age range was also expanded from 8-to-12 last year to 8-to-16 this year.

The girls rotated through stations covering batting, infielding, outfielding and pitching—with a new addition of base running this year.

The clinic was postponed because of the recent typhoons, but Sablan said she felt it was important to give the girls an opportunity to get back on the field. “I didn’t really want to delay, but I just felt really bad for a lot of the families here. Everybody is still going through some stuff with the storms, but I just know the kids need something to do,” she said.

Even with the disruption, Sablan said she was pleased with the progress she saw from the players, especially compared with last year.

“It’s crazy. They’ve done so well … they’re all really great players, picking up the skills,” she said. “We have like seven or eight new girls here, but they’re hanging in there and the older girls are helping them out. It’s really good.”

The clinic also gives the league a chance to see where the girls are skill-wise ahead of the season, which is expected to start around November. Sablan said they are also looking at how much interest there is and whether they need to bring in more players.

Read more on our website.

Olfactory Creative hosts Sunset 4K in support of Rota

Guam’s Olfactory Creative, in collaboration with Matchakase Guam hosted a Sunset 4K on Saturday, Aug. 15, with all net proceeds donated to the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance to support ongoing typhoon recovery and community resilience efforts in Rota.

Cycling fed hosts 1st qualifier for Pacific Games

The CNMI Cycling Federation hosted its first qualifier for the 2027 Tahiti Pacific Games on Sunday, Aug. 16 at Kalabera Cave. The route featured an 8K course, with a total of 15 bikers. The next qualifier is a 20K course on Sunday, Sept. 6 at the Banzai Cliff, and the third is another 8K course on Sunday, Sept. 27 at Marpi.

The federation is aiming to take four men and four women to Tahiti.

Orrin in Korea for World Masters Champs

CNMI’s track and field athlete Orrin Pharmin is in Daegu, South Korea to compete in the 100m race of the World Masters Athletics Championships 2026 that will be held from Saturday, Aug. 22-Sep. 3.

The championships are for women and men aged 35 and up. There are 34 events overall, divided into 17 track, 11 field, and 6 road events. Stay tuned for Pharmin’s results after his competition today.