INQUIRER Sports

JAKARTA?The team with a penchant for comebacks pulled off yet another one Monday.

International Little League Association of Manila (ILLAM) scored three runs at the bottom of the seventh inning to squeak past CNMI (Saipan), 6-5, and secure the first finals berth in Big League baseball of the 2010 Asia-Pacific Little League Championships at the Senayan field here.

Franchino Santos singled off Saipan reliever Juan Iguel to score Cholo Dominguez and Gerald Mitra as ILLAM completed a second straight come-from-behind victory.

Mitra had earlier singled home Adriane Bernardo.

?They never gave up, they have this never-say-die attitude that Filipinos are known for? said ILLAM coach Edgar delos Reyes, whose squad also came from behind to demolish Indonesia, 13-4.

ILLAM?s rally started in the fifth inning when Bernardo doubled to centerfield to send home Mark Ong and Seba Martinez-Miranda, whose single earlier scored Kevin Ramos.

Muntinlupa bounced back from a 2-15 defeat to Chinese-Taipei with a 5-0 shutout of CNMI in Junior League baseball, even as Bacolod?s Major League softball team crushed Indonesia, 31-0.

The only blot to an otherwise big day for the Philippines was Muntinlupa?s 8-10 loss to Guam in an 11-inning Senior League baseball match.

Muntinlupa crumbled at the top of the 11th, giving up four runs on five hits and an error as Guam forged ahead, 10-6.

Justin Mathay?s single that brought home Ricardo Remollo, and Dylan Tantuico cut the lead to 10-8, but the surge fizzled out when Guam relief pitcher George Flores struck out John Charles Altomonte for the final out.

Muntinlupa, which beat Indonesia, 6-3, last Saturday fell to 1-1.

Carlos Manzano, Justin Mihalik and Paolo Salud combined to hold CNMI to just four hits as the Filipinos improved to 2-1, good for second behind the Taiwanese in Junior League.

The Bacolod Major Leaguers, the only team from the city to make it here after the two others failed to secure enough funds for their trip, peppered the Indonesians with 13 hits.

Celestine Palma drove in four runs, matching Jamaica Arribas? output as Bacolod followed up its 4-1 victory over Guam to take the solo lead.