International Little League of Manila storms to five finals

MANILA, Philippines - The International Little League of Manila teams set an all-Manila finale in the Senior Girls even as two other ILLAM squads gained finals entry, giving the host a chance of sweeping all five championships at the close of the 2009 Southeast Asian Youth Baseball and Softball Tournament at the Ateneo grounds today.

ILLAM secured top honors in the Senior Girls as Manila 1 topped Singapore, 15-4, then Manila 2 tripped Perth, 14-3, in the semifinals played under heavy rains at the Tokyo Tokyo diamond yesterday.

The two ILLAM teams dispute the crown at 11 a.m. today in the same field.

ILLAM also sent teams to the finals in Major Girls, Minor Boys, Major Boys and Senior Boys, setting up showdowns with Singapore in all four divisions.

The Manila 2 Major Boys team had an easy time disposing off Perth, 12-7, but the Manila 2 Minor Boys walked the tightrope before hurdling Jakarta, 8-7.

The ILLAM Minor Boys leaned on the heroics of Luis Locsin and Boo Barandriaran in the sixth inning to overcome the Indon boys in their semis match played over at the KFC Field.

Manila 1 failed to make it an all-Filipino finale as it bowed to Singapore, 8-2, unable to sustain the momentum of an early 2-0 surge.

With Manila 2 behind by three at 4-7, Locsin slammed a two-run homer that flew past the right centerfield fence in the sixth inning.

A little later, Barandriaran drove home Dan Laurel and Raf Eala to complete the team’s stirring come-from-behind win. – Nelson Beltran