After losing its first game in the elimination round, Isle of Man seemed to have started on the wrong foot.
The team, however, quickly changed step and turned into a potent force enroute to winning the 3rd M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Softball Tournament at the San Roque Parish ball park in barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City.
Isle of Man punctuated its title run with a convincing 9-5 victory over Pau de Arco in the final.
Before that, Isle of Man defeated Pau de Arco 6-3 to take the first championship berth.
The loss, forced Pau de Arco to play a rubber match for the last final slot with defending champion M. Lhuillier Sports Development Foundation (MLSDF).
Earlier, MLSDF disposed off Pusok Selection in the other semifinal pairing.
Isle of Man scored three runs in the first inning of the championship game forcing Pau de Arco’s Felix Custodio to replace pitcher Sherwin Fernandez.
The new pitcher worked his way with the batters of Isle of Man but still gave up two runs in the next innings, giving Isle of Man a 5-0 lead.
Pau de Arco had its best moment at the bottom of the sixth inning where it scored three runs but Isle of Man answered back in the succeeding innings to wrap up the match.
Isle of Man received the champion’s purse of P5,000 and Pau de Arco collected P3,000 from Cebu Amateur Softball Association (CASA) and MLSDF Executive Director Eddie Ybañez.
Santino “Sandy” Ladisla added glitter to Isle of Man’s crown after bagging the coveted Most Valuable Player and the Best Hitter award while his teammate Err Igloria took home the Best Pitcher honors.
The rest of the members of the triumphant Isle of Man team are Alinton Adolfo, Kling Klang Deniola, Teofilo Sadaya, Emie dela Cerna, Louie Ramos, Joshua Rafanan, Marc Bonjoc, Ian Empacis and Allan Defensor.
Pau de Arco won over MLSDF, 5-4, in extra innings during the rubbermatch. The latter settled for third place and the P2,000 pot cash. — Caecent No-ot Magsumbol