Tanauan bounces back, but Illam falls

MANILA—The Philippines bounced back in the Senior League but lost in the Big League on Day 2 of the Asia Pacific Baseball Championship yesterday at the Rizal Memorial ballpark.

Represented by Tanauan City, the Filipinos atoned for a 4-3 loss to Guam the other day with a 15-1 abbreviated win over Indonesia in the 14-16 age bracket.

An impressive 7-0 winner over Guam in the 16-18 division, the Filipinos, bannered by the International Little League Association of Manila (Illam), found CNMI Saipan a tough rival and went down, 2-6.

Saipan actually swept its two games for the day after earlier whipping Guam, 6-1, to lead the chase for a World Series slot in Bangor, Maine, in August with a 2-0 slate.

Illam fell to 1-1 with Guam at 0-2 going into the second round of the three-team tournament today.

Tanauan, also with a 1-1 card in another three-team event, meets Indonesia anew today at 1 p.m. in the last game of a three-game bill.

The Indonesians will actually open the day’s schedule against the Guamanians at 7 a.m. with Illam colliding against Guam in their Big League rematch at 10 o’clock.

Tanauan opened up with four runs in the first inning off Indonesian starter Hanin Dio Baskoro, who walked three of the first four batters he faced.

After Mandy Castillo scored, Andrew Mercado and Norvin Macayanan hit sacrifice flies before Jake Mendoza drove home another run with the first of his two hits.

The Batangueños added three more runs in the third before wrapping up the game with an eight-run splurge in the fourth.