PH baseball squad loses to New Zealand, fails to reach WBC qualifiers finale

The Philippine men’s baseball squad. FILE PHOTO FROM WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC TWITTER ACCOUNT

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine men’s baseball squad failed to get a crack at a spot in the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) after bowing out of the qualifiers in New Taipei City in Taiwan.

Back-to-back losses doomed the Philippines’ bid, absorbing a frustrating 6-10 setback in the hands of New Zealand Saturday night.

An error-marred performance proved costly for the Philippine batters, who, though, managed to mount a rally in the eighth inning.

It was only in the eighth that the Philippines, which lost 16-0 to host Chinese Taipei Friday, posted a real threat after trailing 2-10.

But New Zealand, which faces the Taiwanese in the finale, turned an inning-ending double play to halt the Filipinos and let out a sigh of relief en route to the win.

A lone spot in the 2013 WBC is at stake in the double-elimination tournament, which will be disputed Sunday at the Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium.