The girls from Bago City, Negros Occidental, managed to overcome its first taste of adversity and move within two victories of claiming a historic championship in the Little League Softball World Series.
Riding on another stellar performance of ace Jacey Patojal, Bago nipped Milford, Connecticut, 1-0, on Sunday (Manila time) in Greenville, North Carolina, to set up a rematch with Delmar, Maryland, in the semifinals.
Delmar was the same team that handed Bago its first defeat, 2-0, a few hours earlier, but that didn’t deter the Asia-Pacific representatives from keeping its campaign alive in the tournament for female ballplayers ages 10 to 12 years old.
Bago and Delmar face off on Monday (Manila time) for a spot in the championship against either Chesterfield, Virginia, or Hewitt, Texas.
No non-American team has ever won the Little League crown since its inception in 1974, a trend Bago, which has been impressive since the tournament began while also receiving a team sportsmanship award from organizers, will try to break.
Shaking off the loss to Delmar that sent Bago to the loser’s bracket of Pool A, Patojal put on a stirring performance by striking out 10 batters in a three-hit shutout.
She also brought in the game’s first run when her single with two outs in the bottom half of the first inning allowed Audrey Matarong to score from second. INQ