Munti nine enters Little League semis

Muntinlupa City overpowered Marikina City, 19-9, yesterday in a  showdown of unbeaten teams to barge into the semifinals in Little League Baseball play of the 2008 Little League Philippine Series at the Alabang Country Club grounds.

The win kept Muntinlupa’s card clean with its fourth straight win that sent them straight into the crossover semis while Marikina absorbed its first loss in four starts in this tournament staking a berth to the Asia-Pacific Regional Qualifier slated July 18-25 in Hong Kong.

Bulacan, meanwhile, sustained its awesome form as it walloped Agoncillo, 13-3, to boost its stock in Group B of this meet sponsored by The Philippine STAR, Novuland Phil., Inc., Integrated Waste Management, China State Construction, Pepsi and Gatorade. Muntinlupa City, Constellation Travels, Inc., Max’s Restaurant, Krispy Kreme, Enchanted Kingdom, Shakey’s Pizza, Dunkin’ Donuts, Silver Icon, Green Icon, Xcell Properties, Le Soleil de Boracay, Smart, Pagcor and www.muntinlupalittle.org are backing the event.

Defending champion International Little League Association of Manila edged a stubborn Talisay, 3-2, to notch its third triumph in four games that put it back on track after a stinging 4-15 setback to Bulacan.

Lipa City of Batangas, in contrast, had a chance to seize a share of the lead but lost to Talisay, 0-2, for its second defeat against the same number of wins.

In Big League Softball, ILLAM kept its title-retention hopes alive after it edged Manila, 2-1, to arrange a title duel against its recent victim.

The defending champion actually finished in a three-way tie with the Big City bets and Bacolod East with 4-2 records but the first two ended up with higher quotients in the tiebreak to force the rematch.

ILLAM’s Junior League boys baseball campaigners bested their Tanauan counterparts, 14-4, to remain at the top of the standings in that level with a clean 5-0 record, the same position their Big League teammates were after their 4-0 blanking of Palayan City.