90 teams to vie in Li'l League Phl series

MANILA, Philippines - A banner field of 90 teams from all over the country will see action in the Little League Baseball Philippine Series scheduled April 8-16 at the Clark Freeport Zone parade grounds in Angeles City, Pampanga.

“Thanks to the support of Clark Development Corp. (CDC), we will have a huge number of 90 teams, which I believe is a record for the Little League Baseball Philippine Series,” said acting Little League Baseball Philippines (LLBP) administrator Chito Gonzales in yesterday’s PSA forum at the Shakey’s UN Avenue branch in Manila.

“We are honored and privileged to host the Little League Philippine Series at Clark as part of the Freeport Zone’s thrust of promoting sport tourism,” CDC president Atty. Felipe Antonio Remollo said.

Tournament director Mark Zialcita said the competition will be held in the major (11-12-year-old), junior (12-14), senior (13-16) and Big League (15-18) divisions in both the boys’ baseball and girls’ softball tournaments.

Remollo, whose teen sons are into baseball, said that the sprawling Clark Freeport parade grounds has three baseball diamonds to accommodate the participants who will be competing in the weeklong event.

“We have two 325-square meter diamonds and a 400-square meter diamond that will be used for the daily competitions once the Little League Baseball Philippine Series begins,” he said. “We will set up tents and bleachers for the crowd who will be watching the matches.”

The CDC chief added that the venue was also ideal for Visayas and Mindanao teams that can fly directly to Clark because of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.

Among the Visayan teams are Cebu and Bacolod while Zamboanga, Davao and Tagum from Mindanao are vying in the event, Gonzales said.

PSC commissioner Jolly Gomez, who was also at the session sponsored by Smart, PAGCOR and Shakey’s and who used to be the LLBP administrator, noted that Little League program “is one vehicle of promoting grassroots sports development through a private organization.”

“If we had more outfits like the LLBP that would vigorously promote their sport like baseball and softball among the young, then we can develop better athletes,” said Gomez, pointing out that majority of the baseball and softball athletes in the UAAP are Little League products.

Gonzales said that the champions in the different divisions of the Little League Baseball Philippine Series will represent the country in their respective Asia-Pacific regional elimination tournaments, whose winners will represent the region in the World Little League Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.