RP IX upbeat despite lack of foreign stints

Despite the lack of exposure abroad, the national baseball team remains confident of its gold medal chances when the sport is played in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games beginning Nov. 28 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

The Nationals open their bid against Malaysia in the event’s opening day on Nov. 28 at 10:30 a.m. while Thailand clashes with Indonesia at 2 p.m.

Baseball head coach Edgar delos Reyes had hoped for some tune-up games overseas but for one reason or another, it never materialized.

"We made earlier requests through our NSA (national sports association) to allow us to go abroad for some tune-up games. Unfortunately, it was turned down," delos Reyes said.

Only six out of the 11 participating countries will compete in baseball’s debut as a medal event in the SEAG. They are Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.

Delos Reyes had originally planned to play some matches overseas so that the team would be exposed to high-level competitions. He intended to play at least 20 tune-up games before the SEAG starts.

"I wanted to play some games in Taiwan to toughen up our players because our hitters would be facing strong pitchers in the SEAG," he said.

PABA instead hired some foreign coaches, including Major League Baseball’s Envoy Program coach Tom Dedin, to conduct trainings and clinics for the RP sluggers. The MLB operates the Envoy program, which is one of the league’s international development programs.

The team actually had stints in Miasuki, Japan last May, where they beat the Thai national team, and beat the Malaysian national squad, 3-0, in a friendly series in Selangor, Malaysia last month.

However, reports gathered from the Internet, showed that Myanmar had trained in Japan for two months before the Games, while the other countries had stints in other parts of the region.

Still, delos Reyes remains confident of the RP team’s bid in the biennial meet.— Miko Morelos/Contributor