Makati softbelles rout Laguna, rule bracket

REMELI Herrero blasted a grand slam home run in the second inning as Makati City dealt Sta. Rosa, Laguna, in an abbreviated 15-0 rout Tuesday and clinched the first semifinal berth in the 2015 National Inter-Secondary Girls Softball Championships at Barangka Baseball Field in Marikina.

In a solid display of batting prowess, Angelu Gabriel, Charlotte Sales and Tin Bautista scored a pair of home runs each for Makati, which needed just four innings to put the enemy away.

The victory was the sixth in succession for Makati in Bracket A of the week-long tournament sponsored by the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (Asaphil) and Cebuana Lhuillier.

Fringe rains brought by Typhoon “Nona” also failed to slow down Team Cabiao of Nueva Ecija, which shut out Baguio City, 7-0, and Manila City which hammered Tuguegarao by the same score, at Sto. Nino Baseball Field, also in Marikina.

“I wanted them to straighten their arms to get better chances at a home run,” said Makati coach Yolly Sanchez. “This morning (yesterday), I had them do just that and they delivered.”

“We’re just in the middle of the tournament and we’re already seeing great potential,” said Asaphil president Jean Henri Lhuillier, also the president-CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier.

The top two teams from each group after the single-round elimiminations will advance to the crossover semifinals, with the winners disputing the title worth P25,000. Steve Silva, Contributor