Manila’s hot bats batter Guam nine

TEAM Manila’s Lorna Adorable (blue) tries to avoid a tag-out by Guam players in yesterday’s girls’ Big League softball match in Clark Field. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CLARK FREEPORT—Big League Softball World Series champion Manila wasted little time making its presence felt in the 2013 Little League Asia/Pacific and Middle East Tournament yesterday at the Clark Parade Grounds here.

Wielding hot bats, the Manila girls overpowered Guam, 14-0, to spark a string of victories on other fronts for the Philippines in the weeklong event.

Manila put on a scintillating show of firepower with 19 hits before closing out the Guamanians in six innings of the girls’ 16-18 division.

While the Manila softbelles are the reigning World Series champions, they still need to rule the tournament to earn the right to defend the title in the United States next month.

Queeny Sabobo, one of the three holdovers from the World Series-winning team last year in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Angelie Ursabia accounted for seven hits, seven runs and three RBIs each.

“So far so good,” said Manila coach Ana Santiago, whose squad faces Indonesia next in the double-round-robin tournament. “We can’t afford to relax in the tournament.”

The Manileñas were also solid defensively with Hazel Anque striking out all batters she faced in three innings, while Baby Jane Raro and Mary Ann Antolihao completed the shutout win.

Other Filipino teams flexed their muscles including Iloilo Province which mustered enough strength to down Indonesia, 10-6, to move within a victory of clinching a World Series berth in the girls’ 11-12 Major League category.

Tapering off after a 23-0 demolition of their rivals in the series opener Monday, the Iloilo clouters of coach Reynaldo Fuentes needed four runs in the last two innings to put away the Indonesians.

“We got a little overconfident but the girls responded well under pressure,” said Fuentes, who has steered eight other teams from Bacolod to the World Series since the late 1990s.

Iloilo can clinch a spot in the World Series in Portland, Oregon, starting Aug. 5 with a victory in Game 3 today.

Iloilo also got off to a rousing start in Junior League Softball with an 11-0 drubbing of Guam. In the Senior League division, Santa Cruz, Laguna, debuted with aplomb after a 7-0 win over Guam.

Atoning for a couple of losses by Tanauan in two divisions in baseball on opening-day, Muntinlupa slipped past Saipan, 4-2, in the Big League division of the weeklong tournament backed by Clark Development Corp., Philippine Sports Commission and KFC.