Makati holds off Sta. Maria, bags girls’ softball crown

MANILA, Philippines – Makati pulled through in a fierce final showdown with Sta. Maria, Bulacan and hacked out a 2-1 decision to capture the 2015 National Inter-Secondary Girls Softball Championships crown via sweep at the Sto. Niño baseball field in Marikina yesterday.

After trading a series of strikeouts in the first three innings, the Makati girls went to hurler Henna Santiago, who came through with a big hit, sending Tin Bautista home then pounced on their rivals’ errors on the top of the sixth to go 2-0.

Sta. Maria refused to bow out and fought back behind consecutive hits of Alma Tauli to narrow the gap at 1-2 but Makati toughened up on defense and stranded two runners on the second and third bases to preserve the lead and the victory in the week-long event sanctioned by the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (Asaphil) and sponsored by Cebuana Lhuillier headed by sports patron Jean Henri Lhuillier.

As the proprietor of the competition and an advocate of the sport himself, Lhuillier lauded the brilliant talent of the young athletes he has witnessed in the 2015 edition of the annual event which lured 22 of the country’s top teams.

“I’m so happy with results of the Inter-secondary tournament. The matches have been very competitive and exciting. Congratulations to the winners and we will do our best to sustain the gains we have made through our grassroots development,” said Lhuillier.

On their way to the finals, Makati, which swept the elims, toppled Manila, 12-5, while Sta. Maria crushed Miriam College, 6-0, in the other semis duel.

Santiago went on to bag the best pitcher and MVP awards while teammate Angelu Gabriel took the best hitter honors. Other awardees were Tauli (best slugger), Ma. Charlotte Sales, also of Makati, (most number of homeruns), Gabriel (most number of stolen bases), and Trisha Tiozon of Manila (most number of RBIs).

Meanwhile, Manila whipped Miriam, 12-0, to clinch third place honors.

The Makati lasses thus took the top P25,000 purse with Sta. Maria and Manila receiving P15,000 and P10,000, respectively.

Over in Baguio, University of Mindanao-Davao’s Irene Lumanas beat University of the Philippines’ Cochise Diolata in a pitching duel to power her team to a 1-0 win for a 4-0 mark in the 2015 Inter Collegiate Championships late Thursday.

In other results, Ateneo de Manila demolished Papua, Indonesia, 10-2, while the Polytechnic University of the Philippines beat Rizal Technological Institute, 4-1.