Iloilo, Munti save Pinoy clouters day

CLARK FREEPORT ZONE, Philippines – Philippine Series champs Iloilo Province and Muntinlupa romped off with emphatic victories to make up for the stinging losses the host nation suffered in other fronts yesterday at the start of the 2013 Little League Asia Pacific and Middle East tournament at the Clark Parade Grounds here.

Iloilo, the country’s representatives in Little League Softball, turned to Royeve Palma’s superb pitching in shutting out Indonesia in abbreviated fashion, 23-0, while Muntinlupa, the Pinoy bets in the inaugural intermediate 50/70 baseball division, flashed impressive form in a 16-3 drubbing of Saipan.

The twin victories restored the home contingent’s pride in the World Series-qualifying meet backed by the Clark Development Corp., the Philippine Sports Commission and KFC after the first two Pinoy squads fell to their respective foes.

Tanauan City, the Phl titlist in Little League Baseball, got ambushed by an Indonesia side beefed up by six Japanese expats and an American expat, 0-10. 

The Tanaueños’ Junior League Baseball crew didn’t do any better and got sideswiped by a merciless rival from Chinese-Taipei, 0-21, in what had been the first sports game the Filipinos and the Taiwanese played since political tension between them arose. 

Palma pitched a one-hitter and fanned out nine Indonesian batters she faced to lead Phl-Iloilo to the rousing triumph, which sent them closer to a World Series berth in the premier division for girls’ softball. Only two teams, the Philippines and Indonesia, are entered here and they have to battle it out in a best-of-five affair to determine the APME champ and qualifier to the world tilt in August in Portland.

“I’m not really surprised with the result. I have confidence in my No. 1 pitcher (Palma). She did well and was only one hit short of actually a pitching perfect game,” said Phl-Iloilo coach Rey Fuentes.

While Palma kept the Indons frustratingly swinging in the air and making fruitless reach base (except for a solitary single), the Iloilo batters took care of business on the offensive end.

The Phl softbelles unloaded five runs off two hits and an error in the first inning to take control then, making mincemeat of Indonesia’s pitching with 12 hits, took turns running to home plate for 13 runs and an unassailable 18-0 tear.

“My instruction to the girls is to treat every game like a championship game, let’s not give the opposing team a chance to gain confidence against us,” said Fuentes.

Phl-Muntinlupa also served notice of its bid for the regional crown in 50/70, a transition division for 11-13 year old utilizing a 50-foot pitching distance and 70-foot base paths, with its shellacking of Saipan.

The Pinoy batters quickly asserted themselves against the visitors as they unleashed a 10-run spree in the opening frame spiked by Luis Benedicto’s grandslam.

“We started well. Chris Clark pitched well in the first two innings and our hitting also clicked. When we got those first eight runs, I already knew we can do it,” said coach Joel Palanog. 

Phl’s Little Leaguers from Tanauan surrendered four runs to the Indons early on, including a two-run homer by Ega Alexander, and could never really recover and get going against their import-flavored Asean neighbors.

“We were surprised to see a different team from what we’re used to playing and beating. They were really good, especially the Japanese, plus our boys seemed to have difficult time adjusting,” said coach Romar Landicho.

It was a similarly sad story for the Tanauenos’ Junior Leaguers, who couldn’t match the Taiwanese’ firepower.

The visiting Taiwanese hit the erratic Filipinos with six runs in the first two innings and didn’t relent, adding eight more in the third and seven more in the fifth to leave no doubt who was the boss here.

The Phl’s Senior League Baseball and Big League Baseball teams, represented by ILLAM and Muntinlupa, respectively, were playing Thailand and Guam, in that order, at presstime.

The last of the Filipino delegation will debut today, with reigning Big League Softball champion Manila South commencing its bid against Guam at 11 a.m. Also making their first appearance are the Phl Senior League Softball team of Sta. Cruz, Laguna, and the Junior League Softball squad of Iloilo Province, which both tackle opponents from Guam.