MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Barakos leaned on diminutive Atong Natanauan to dispose of the taller and heftier Russia, 20-0, for their second straight win in the first PONY International Bronco-11 Championships in Singapore yesterday.
Natanauan, last year’s Mustang championship MVP and one of the smallest players in the squad, pitched a no-hitter and went four-for-four at bat, his fiery play rubbing off on his teammates, who joined forces in tagging Russia’s hurlers with a total of 15 hits.
With the win, a follow-up to their 8-1 thrashing of Singapore the other day, the Barakos moved within a victory from sweeping the elims and advancing to the finals of the tilt, a qualifying event for the PONY Bronco-11 World Series in Chesterfield, Virginia on July 25-31, according to Philippine Tot Baseball president Boy Tingzon.
The Barakos will gun for win No. 3 against Indonesia today.
The Razcals, meanwhile, split their double-header assignments in the PONY International Asia Pacific Zone Mustang (9-10-years-old) championship, crushing Vietnam, 21-0, before bowing to a Singapore team made up of Japanese kids, 5-11.
The Razcals banked on Kenneth de los Santos’ no-hitter and a volley of hits from the rest, led by three players who slammed in home-runs in the victory over Vietnamese.
However, when they resumed their campaign after a 30-minute rest, the Razcals fell short against the hosts, giving up six unearned runs to absorb their first setback.