Teener Marlon Pagkaliwagan pitched a one-hitter as Pasig City smashed Cainta, 8-1, to post its third victory in a row in Group 1. The 18-year-old standout from Rizal Technological University also had two RBIs.
Pasig survived Agoncillo, 3-2, in the morning matches at the Barangka grounds in Marikina City.
"If we can continue to pitch well, we’ll have a chance at winning the tournament," said player-coach Ronnilon Pagkaliwagan, Marlon’s uncle, who was a pitching coach of China’s ladies juniors team for five years, in Filipino.
Pasig now has three wins to lead Group I, which also includes Muntinlupa, Pera Padala, Agoncillo and Montalban, with two matches to go in this event organized by the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines headed by former Rep. Harry Angping and sponsored by Purefoods, Monterey, Funchum, Accel and Cebuana Lhuillier group of companies.
In women’s play, UP, UST and Caloocan hurdled their respective assignments to remain at the helm with two victories each.
UP and UST both downed Northern Mindanao, 3-0, while Caloocan edged Mail and More, 4-3.
Other women’s result saw La Salle bounce back from a 2-6 loss to Caloocan Thursday with an emphatic 14-1 triumph over Makati as it stayed in the hunt for a place in the page system semifinals.
Meanwhile, Zamboanga City bashed Sultan Kudarat’s Tacurong squad, 8-0, while Laguna downed Lipa City, 2-0, to pace their respective brackets with two wins each. Other men’s results were Taguig over UP, 6-4, Cebuana Lhuillier over Antipolo, 6-0, Cavite over Cebu, 4-2, and Pera Padala over Montalban, 4-3.
Zamboanga, however, lost to Cebu in a heartbreaking 2-4 decision for its first setback.
Isaac "Saki" Bacarisas, part of the Blu Girls’ coaching staff, unleashed a three-run homer straight to centerfield to power the Cebu hurlers to the come-from-behind win.
"It was one of the best games of the tournament," said Angping, who watched games in all four venues — two in Marikina, one each in Rosario, Pasig and Taguig.
Down 1-2 with two outs and two strikes, Cebu went to Bacarisas, who is also mentor of La Salle’s softball team, who belted a hit way past the fences at centerfield to send the runners home and seal Cebu’s first win against a loss.