Phl IX bats for SEAG gold

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine baseball team, a crew that nearly didn’t make the 26th Southeast Asian Games due to controversy that hounded its national sports association (NSA), positioned itself for a possible gold medal after completing a sweep of the eliminations yesterday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Filipino batters shut out host Indonesia, 4-0, at the Jakabaring Sports Complex to close out the preliminaries with an unblemished 4-0 mark (eight points) and gain a huge psychological advantage heading into Sunday’s finale.

The Indons ended the elims with a 2-1-1 slate worth seven points for No. 2, edging deposed champion Thailand (2-1-1, six points) for the other finals berth.

“Wala nang atrasan ito. Laban kung laban. Ipapakita natin ang tapang at galing ng mga Pinoy! (This is it; no more turning back. We’ll fight to the finish and show the stuff and courage of the Filipino),” said coach Edgar delos Reyes.

Phl IX barely made the cut in the Team Pilipinas delegation as its participation was jeopardized by the leadership problem of the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association and later the lack of possible sponsor.

But when they did get the go-signal and the funding for the trip, the Pinoy clouters immediately went to work on the diamond.

Determined to bounce back after missing the mint when baseball was last played in 2007, Phl IX kicked off its bid with a 9-2 trouncing of Thailand, the very team that foiled its title-retention bid last time around.

They followed this up with 10-0 annihilation of Vietnam and a similar wipeout of Malaysia behind the combined no-hitter of aces Charlie Labrador, Romeo Jasmin and Jon-Jon Robles, to virtually secure a championship berth.

Delos Reyes credited the victories to “impeccable defense” that held opponents to a combined two runs off 13 hits and “brilliant slugging” highlighted by 33 runs off 53 hits in four outings.