Blu Girls edge Thais, eye softball semifinals

MANILA, Philippines - First baseman Dione Macasu scored on a walk in a bases-loaded situation and gave the Philippines Blu Girls a 1-0 victory over Southeast Asian Games rival Thailand for its only win in four games in the Asian Games softball competitions Sunday at the Tianhe Sports Center.

With the bases loaded in the second frame, Elma Parohinog walked to force Macasu home and put the Philippines on the scoreboard.

Syrel Ramos, who fanned 11 of the 23 Thais she faced, conceded only two hits and only one base-on-balls, when she hit Waraporn Konyuen with a pitch.

“I feel very happy we finally won,” said Ramos.

The other half of the Philippine battery was catcher Luvelyn Maganda, who won the Most Valuable Player, best hitter, and best slugger honors in the ASEAN Championships in July.

Maganda also had two hits in three times at bat, with the other two coming from Macasu and relief pitcher Esmeralda Tayag.

“Our defense was good, but our offense went off again. Our batting has been our main problem in previous games. We will focus on batting next time,” Ramos said.

In an afternoon match yesterday, the Philippines lost to Japan, 0-4, for its third loss in four games for fourth place behind China (3-0), Chinese Taipei (3-0) and Japan (3-1).

 Korea and Thailand were tied at fifth-sixth place with a 0-4 mark each, making today’s Philippines-Korea match a deciding game for the last seat in the semifinals.

Korea and Thailand were slugging it out for the win that would put the winner at fifth (1-3) in a tie with the Philippines and the loser at sixth (0-4).

China and Chinese Taipei went head to head in the third game yesterday for the first (4-0) and second (3-1) rankings.

China had won three gold medals and Japan two in the Asian Games. Japan won the last two editions, first by beating Chinese Taipei and the next by beating China.

Japan has finished runner-up in the last three ISF Women’s World Championships, losing to the US on each occasion.

Japan is powered by Yukiko Ueno, the first hurler in Olympic history to pitch a perfect game in leading Japan to a 2-0 victory over China and a spot in the semifinals in Athens in 2004.

Her pitch, recorded at 117 kph, is regarded as one of the strongest in the game.