Valencia, 19, carried the cudgels for the Blu Girls as she struck out eight, issued only three hits and scored in two runs right in the first inning for the victory that more than made up for their defeat at the hands of the Chinese under finger-numbing cold a day earlier.
"Sana magtuloy-tuloy na ito lalo na bukas. This is a good morale boost for our crucial game against Japan tomorrow," said Manila Congressman Harry Angping, who heads the 23-man RP delegation in this scenic city together with ASAPhil secretary-general Lisa Tingson-Rentero.
Valencia, an education sophomore at the University of Santo Tomas, kept the game under control with her superb pitching and grace under pressure as shown right in the first inning where she defused the Koreans’ scoring threat, striking out two batters with all bases loaded.
"Nag-adjust ako ng kaunti nung una dahil siguro medyo malamig pa ako," said Valencia, a two-time women softball World Series veteran. "Pero nakuha ko rin ang rhythm ko agad kaya hindi ako masyado nag-panic."
The Blu Girls’ efficient offense backed up Valencia’s impressive job on the mound, tagging the Koreans with seven hits in the day.
Valencia actually had her own hit, a big triple that sent home Karina Aribal and Esmeralda Tayag in the first frame.
Team Philippines made it 3-0 on a grounder by Sherylou Valenzuela then extended it to 4-0 on a single by Elaine Caladiao.
Tayag, Yocel Aguilar and Sarah Jane Agravante accounted for the other runs by the Blu Girls. Korea suffered its second loss after a 0-8 blowout to Australia.
"If we can continue to play like this, we’ll have a good chance at surprising Japan, which we all know is the team to beat in this tournament," said RP coach Roberto Ituralde.
The Blu Girls’ stint here is sponsored by Century Tuna, Oishi, the Philippine Sports Commission, Pagcor, Presidential Adviser for Chinese Affairs John Ng, Larry Villareal, Dowell Packaging, Colors, Cathay Pacific Steel and China Water, Inc.