Filipino batters East Asia champs a fifth straight time

Philippines. East Asia Baseball Cup

CLARK, PAMPANGA—All Mark Steven Manaig wanted in the eighth inning was to tack on at least a run or two that would extend the Philippines’ lead over Hong Kong in Sunday’s final of the East Asia Baseball Cup.

Instead, Manaig cracked a shot that went over the left field wall for a three-run homer that eventually sealed a 9-2 win and the Filipinos’ fifth straight title at The Villages here.

“I didn’t expect it,” Manaig, the Nationals’ top catcher from the baseball hotbed of Tanauan City, Batangas, said in Filipino. “I was just looking at the best pitch possible so that I could add to our lead.”

The shot off Hong Kong sidearm reliever Sam Leung was the decisive blow that enabled the Philippines to conquer Hong Kong for the second straight year.

“I thank the Lord for giving me that kind of power,” said Manaig, who turned out to be playing the whole tournament with a heavy heart after his grandfather died recently at the age of 79.

Jasmin wins MVP

Coach Vince Sagisi paid tribute to Manaig for doing his catching duties with aplomb and hitting the homer that was the “icing on the cake.”

Manaig worked the battery with ace pitcher Romeo Jasmin, the MVP for the second straight year who worked six innings with four strikeouts.

The win, though, didn’t come without some scary moments.

Jasmin gave up the only run he allowed in the fifth on Cheuk Kiu Chan’s single that cut the Filipinos’ lead to 2-1. Hoi Ting Cheng singled on the next at-bat to load the bases with one out, but Jasmin forced Andy Lo to ground into second baseman Aids Bernardo, who set up a 4-6-3 double play to escape the jam.

“I told myself that if I can do it against Japan or South Korea, I can also do it in this situation,” said Jasmin, the oldest player on the team at 36. INQ