THE Philippines is hosting the 14th East Asia Cup baseball tournament scheduled from October 29 to November 3 in Clark, Pampanga.
Philippine Amateur Baseball Association (PABA) president Chito Loyzaga said preparations are underway not just for the hosting of the tournament, but also for the defense of the title Filipinos have won four times since the tourney's inception in 2012.
In 1995, the Philippines hosted the first-ever Asian Baseball Cup, which was later divided into the East Asia Cup and the West Asia Cup in 2012.
Loyzaga said games will be held at The Villages inside the Clark Development Corporation area, which hosted the 2019 Southeast Asian Games baseball competitions.
“The Philippines is hosting for the first time and we will have (teams) coming from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia who will participate,” said Loyzaga in a recent Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.
Recently, the Baseball Federation of Asia conducted an inspection of the facilities in Clark with PABA vice president Boy Tingzon and secretary general Pepe Munoz accompanying the officials.
“Everything is ok. We are set. We will have over three weeks for the scheduled tournament and we are confident that we will be able to finish all the preparations that is needed,” said Loyzaga.
Homefield advantage for the Philippines
Loyzaga said the national team coached by Vince Sagisi is excited to play an international competition in front of Filipinos after competing in numerous tournaments abroad.
“The team is prepared. If there is something that we are looking forward to is to maintain the dominance of the Philippines when it comes to the East Asia Cup. And to do it here on our own soil is very exciting for them. Our players always want to play in front of our home crowd and I’m taking this opportunity to invite everyone,” said Loyzaga.
Loyzaga said the East Asia Cup is among the activities that PABA has lined up to reinvigorate baseball in the Philippines after its programs was shut down during the pandemic.
“If not for COVID, we were on a good roll when we won the SEA Games in December 2019 and we had a good Asian Games performance (in 2018), tapos tinamaan tayo ng COVID kaya nahinto lahat ng programa at iba pang gusto naming gawin for the sport of baseball," said Loyzaga.
"We are now using the East Asia Cup as a platform to start up everything again and hopefully, encourage the youth to come and participate and become part of the baseball community."
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