TEAM Manila-Philippines started its title bid in the Pony International 18-Under Girls Softball World Series with an 8-0 rout of the East Hemet Screaming Eagles on Wednesday at the Diamond Valley Park of the Valley-Wide Recreation District in Hemet, California (Thursday, Manila time).
Alma Tauli delivered a sterling performance with eight strikeouts in five innings.
A two-out RBI by Mary Nicole Padasas scored Jojielyn Lim and Angelu Gabriel in the bottom of the third inning.
The Manila batters ended the inning with a commanding 6 -0 lead, as Christine Bautista, Shaina Camacho, Khrisha Cantor and Shirlette Maygay also managed to score.
Tauli, a 16-year old daughter of a retired security guard and a housekeeper in Norzagaray, Bulacan, struck out three in the fourth.
Bautista drove in Padasas in the fourth and later scored on a catching error for the final count.
“Focus lang tayo lalo na sa next three games natin at hindi dapat sobrang kumpiyansa dahil hindi naman sila magiging traveling teams dito sa US ng ganun lang, syempre meron din ang mga yan,” said head coach Anna Santiago.”
“I think they (East Hemet) played quite well, but the breaks of the game were on our side. They are also fast-developing and could still be a contender in the semi-finals,” said Manila Softball President Rafael “Che” Borromeo.
The Manila Batters, backed by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, International Container Terminal Services, Inc. and the Adamson Alumni Association of Southern California led by Lilli Khan and Lucy Sakamoto, next face Redlands South California, which lost to the Valley-Wide Heavy Hitters.
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