Big League World Series: Manila softbelles fall short—again

Photo by Jonathon Gruenke, Kalamazoo Gazette

Team Manila picked the wrong time to play its worst game in the Big League World Series.

Surprisingly erratic, the Manila softbelles again fell short in the finals, bowing to defending champion Grand Rapids, 2-9, Thursday at the Vanderberg Park in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Except for pitcher Rissa Bernardino, who scored a home run and struck out 12, the Asia-Pacific champs couldn’t get anything going as their once-solid batting and defense deserted them in the tournament’s most important game.

Manila beat Grand Rapids, 4-1, in the elimination round, behind ace hurler Veronica Belleza. But Belleza reached the maximum pitch limit in the dramatic 8-7 win over Puerto Rico, forcing her out of the finals.

“We’re still proud of them,” said manager Che Borromeo of the Manila girls, who had to scrounge for funds at the 11th hour just so they could make it to the 10-team tournament.

“The girls have already achieved something, considering the sacrifices they made,” said Borromeo, who is hoping that Manila will be able to send a full 16-player team next year.

It marked the third time in four years that the Manila girls’ campaign ended in heartbreak—all coming at the hands of Grand Rapids in the finals. Grand Rapids was also the same team that bested Manila last year.

It was also a bitter end for the World Series careers of standouts like Belleza, Annalie Benjamen, Francesca Altomonte and Cindy Carol Banay.

Products of a grassroots program in Bacolod, Belleza and Benjamen both collected four second-place World Series trophies as well as two third place finishes since they started playing in 2004.

“The girls were tense and the errors killed us,” said Randy Dizer, who shared coaching duties with Ana Santiago.

Playing a game that was broadcasted live by sports network ESPN in the United States, the Manila girls wilted as their five errors nearly matched their six-hit tally.

They fell behind, 1-4, after four innings, before Grand Rapids dashed any hopes of a Manila comeback with a five-run explosion in the sixth frame.

The Manila softbelles’ campaign was backed by Allied Bank, Manila Vice-Mayor Isko Moreno and the City Council, Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines head Jean Henri Lhuillier, PSC commissioner Jolly Gomez, Edwin Galvez, Harbour Centre CEO Mikee Romero, Raffy Garcia, Doy Nucum, Jojie Almeda, Smart Sports Maynilad, and Filipino Masons of Illinois.