RP, Japan dispute final berth

Team Philippines leaned on Sonny Boy Acuna’s steady pitching as it clobbered Chinese Taipei, 5-0, yesterday to complete a three-game sweep and arrange a storied clash with Japan today in the seventh Asian Softball Championship at the Rizal Memorial Ballpark.

Out to prove his worth in his first stint with the national squad, the 29-year-old Acuna struck out 10 batters and allowed only two hits for a win that clinched the Blu Boys one of the three World Championship berths in January next year in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The Blu Boys clash with the defending champion Japanese, who beat Hong Kong, 7-0, in the other encounter. They will dispute the first finals berth at 3 p.m. in the second game of the page system playoff with lefty Mark Rae Ramirez going up against the reigning titlists.

"The boys deserve it, they played really solid," said RP team coach Reynaldo "Baby" Manzanares in this event backed by Toyota, Cemex, PLDT, Philippine Tobacco Institute, Cathay Pacific Steel Corp., Dowell Container Packaging Corp., San Miguel, Asia Brewery, Maratex, China International Water and Electric Corp. and BA Securities. The tournament, sanctioned by the Softball Confederation of Asia (SCA), is also supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Department of Tourism.

"I’m really happy with the performance of the boys, they really played great. I just hope we could sustain this level of play against Japan," said Third District Manila Congressman Harry Angping, president of the organizing Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (Asaphil).

Acuna, a Zamboanga City native who was the last man cut off the Philippine squad in the last edition of this five-day meet five years back, was on his way to a no-hitter with one Taiwanese batter to go at the bottom of the seventh frame.

But Wang Kuang Shih and Huang Wen Ming each drove in a single to left field that put Chinese Taipei into scoring position, its flickering hopes for an upset fanned and Acuna tattled a little bit.

Acuna, however, held his ground as a pair of fastballs numbed Wang before a riser finished the Taiwanese off, sending the Blu Boys to a third win in row following 7-0 regulated game wins over Iran and India.

"Hindi ko na iniisip ang no-hitter dahil ang focus ko lang ay manalo ang team," said Acuna.

Manzanares said he would send Ramirez to pitch against the fancied Japanese.

"Si Ramirez ang gagamitin kong pitcher dahil siya lang ang kaliwete sa RP team at mukhang hirap sa kaliwete ang Hapon," said Manzanares.

After some anxious moments in the first two innings, Romeo Bumagat finally scored one for RP with a double to left field, sending Joel Binarao home at the bottom of the third for the Blu Boys’ first run.

Binarao added another run on a single to left field before an inside the park two-run homer by Ramirez, who had three RBIs in RP’s demolition of India Sunday, finished off the Taiwanese.

Earlier, India walloped Iran, 8-1, while Thailand edged Indonesia, 5-4, in a pair of non-bearing contests.