Blu Boys bow to Indons; Blu Girls unscathed

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — The Philippine Blu Boys took a shocking defeat to Indonesia, 3-5, in the ASEAN Softball Championship at the Victoria Institute grounds yesterday, making the Indons the biggest threat to the Filipinos’ bid for the gold in the Southeast Asian late this year in Manila.

The Blu Girls, however, made up for that sorry loss as they slammed the host Malaysians, 16-0, in a match shortened to just three innings due to the "mercy rule."

Joy Lanting, a La Salle standout who is also secretary-general of the Athletes Commission of the Philippine Olympic Committee, pitched a no-hitter to power the Filipinas to their second straight victory.

Florante Acuña, who took the place of an ailing Roger Rojas at the mound, reeled from a disastrous fourth inning where the Indons piled up four hits and five runs that cost the Filipinos their first loss in three games and virtually put them out of the title race.

RP faces Malaysia today but a win by Indonesia against the host country, playing at presstime, would render it as non-bearing since the Indonesians would be completing a four-game title sweep.

The loss was particularly bitter for the Blu Boys, who have looked forward to exacting revenge on the Indons following a shattering 0-2 setback in final of the SEA Games eight years ago in Jakarta.

"We outhit them but the breaks went their way plus the fact that our top pitcher was down with diarrhea," said RP coach Ofring dela Cruz, who vowed to make up for it by copping the gold medal in the 23rd SEAG slated Nov. 27-Dec. 5 in Rosario, Pasig City.

"It’s a wake-up call for us and we have three months to correct our mistakes," said RP softball chief and delegation head Harry Angping. The Team RP’s trip is backed by Philippine Sports Commission, Jean Henri Lhuillier, Burlington Socks and Accel.

Nelia Lara, a native of Banago, Bacolod City, belted two homers in the second inning that highlighted the Blu Girls’ sizzling 14-hit game that took the fight out of the game Malaysians.

The Blu Girls, who finished a strong fifth in the Asian Women’s Championship in Manila last year, then whipped the Thais, 7-0, late in the day to join the Indonesians atop the heap with three wins apiece. RP and Indonesia collide at 8 a.m. today for the women’s title.

The Blu Boys connected with nine hits against the Indons’ four, including an RBI (runs-batted-in) double to center field by Jasper Cabrera, scoring Apol Rosales and Mark Rae Ramirez and cutting a 0-5 deficit down to three, 2-5, at the bottom of the fourth.

With two outs in the sixth, Orlando Binarao singled to second and cruised home after a catching error by shortstop Madi Saputra off a Fidel Moncera line drive that closed the gap at 3-5.

Moncera then stole third base and Rosales got into second on another Saputra catching error but Romy Bumagat defused RP’s own threat when he was struck out in the ensuing play.

RP had one more chance in the seventh and final inning to tie the count after Manuel Bacarisas went into scoring position but Indonesia bucked the RP offensive with superb defense.