By Jonas Terrado
The national baseball team is confident that its performance in the recent Asian Baseball Championship will help in its quest to win gold in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
The national baseball team celebrates its 1-0 win over China during the recent Asian Baseball Championship in Taichung, Taiwan. (Photo from Baseball Federation of Asia)
Coach Egay delos Reyes’ squad settled for a fifth place finish during the tournament held in Taichung, Taiwan, though the Philippines nearly snatched a spot in the Super Round after winning its first two matches against Pakistan and China.
A lopsided loss to South Korea in their final Group A match denied the Pinoy batters a top two finish and a place in the Super Round.
“Medyo maganda nga yung performance namin dun sa Asian Championship ng men’s so hopefully madala nila sa SEA Games,” said Delos Reyes.
But the coach who steered the country to gold in the 2005 and 2011 editions of the SEA Games is wary that Thailand can pose a strong challenge in the event set Dec. 2 to 8 in New Clark City.
“Medyo ang watch to watch is yung Thailand kasi balita namin may mga Thai-American players sila,” he said. “Pero yung mga players na yan, tinalo na namin sa East Asia Cup last year.
The Philippines defeated Thailand 10-6 on its way to claiming the crown in the said competition held in Hong Kong.
“Pero hindi pa din tayo pwedeng maging kampante, kailangan tuloy-tuloy pa din ang training,” said Delos Reyes.
Delos Reyes is confident the likes of Kiko Gesmundo, Romeo Jasmin, Miguel Salud, Jennald Pareja, Diego Lozano, Erwin Bosito, Adrian Bernardo and Jonash Ponce can play key role for the Philippines in the biennial meet.
Gesmundo, Jasmin and Salud had impressive stints as pitchers during the Asian tilt, Jennald Pareja was hailed as the tournament’s best second baseman and Bosito received the Most Stolen Bases citation.
Lozano, Bernardo and Ponce also made good impressions with their bats.
Source: Manila Bulletin
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