By Jonas Terrado
The Philippines completed a four-game sweep of the eliminations to earn a finals berth in the 30th Southeast Asian Games baseball competitions at The Villages in Clark Field, Pampanga.
The Philippine men’s baseball team during the Asian Baseball Championship. (Photo from Baseball Federation of Asia)
The Pinoy batters capped off their dominance of the round-robin elims with a 14-1 romp of Indonesia to advance to Sunday afternoon’s gold medal match against the team that finishes second.
Thailand and Indonesia dispute the right to face the Philippines on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Blu Boys were relegated in a do-or-die match for a finals slot in men’s softball after bowing 4-3 to Singapore.
Singapore stunned the Philippine team that swept the three-game elims to gain the first slot in the finals.
The Blu Boys will face Indonesia on Saturday for a chance to meet the Singaporeans for the third time in the tournament.
A page system is being used for the men’s softball tilt, meaning that the No. 1 team and the second-ranked opponent meet for the first finals slot.
The loser of that match plays the winner of the game between the third and fourth placers for the other finals berth.
Over in women’s softball, the Blu Girls are favored to retain the gold after cruising to the gold medal match with four wins.
Source: Manila Bulletin
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