Guam - With the 2010 Micronesian Games just a few months away, Guam is already putting together most of their national teams. In the 2006 games in Saipan, Guam's baseball team fell to Saipan in the championship game, leaving them to settle for silver. This time around with the games being held in Palau, Team Guam has only one thing in mind: bringing gold back home.

Head coach Al Tsutsui told KUAM Sports, "The pride that Guam has is that they don't like to be second, they like to be first. Our intent and goal is to go and bring back gold. The other incentive is if we win the gold, our understanding is that we get reimbursed for the airfare and we can use that for next year when we go to New Caledonia."  

The guys that have shown up for the tryouts include veterans such as Rico Castro, Joe Tuquero and other players from the BBL, as well as previous Team Guam players that have represented the island in the past.  Castro said, "We have a combination of power hitters with speed and we have great pitching. The pitching staff has been here for years and they know what it takes to win and get guys out. Offensively we need to do what we do and manufacture runs, lay down bunts, do hit and runs and just do all kinds of things to move guys over and get them to score."

Tuquero added, "Right now, we are really excited because this is a really good turnout. We see a lot of young talent. There is a mix of old veterans that are here that are still able to play the game and hopefully we can make up a good team and give it a good go for the gold. Saipan beat Guam in the 2006 games and I was a part of that and it doesn't taste good up to this day. Saipan put out a great team and they deserve it, but we are hoping to go back and bring it back home to Guam."

Roke Alcantra, Jr. was one of the pitchers on the roster that faced Saipan. He says that this year's trip is all business, and that Team Guam will look to settle the score in Palau.  "We're out for vengeance and were out for redemption and I think we have a really good squad that fits the job to bring back the gold to Guam," he stated.  "Other than that, the program here is about to start and we have a lot of fresh faces and new guys so hopefully we can establish a core and our main goal is to bring back that gold medal back here where it belongs."