JAKARTA – The Philippines continued wreaking havoc on the opposition on Day 2 Friday when the Blu Girls swept Thailand and Indonesia to assure themselves of a seat in the gold medal play of the ASEAN women’s softball championshiup.
The Blu Girls needed only three innings and the combined efforts of veteran internationalists Mary Joy Lasquite and Corazon Sobere on the mound in another 18-0 victory over the Thais after encountering a token opposition against the host team, 6-0, in the first game.
Like rookie Julie Mary Muyco, architect of the Philippines’ 15-0 annihilation of Malaysia in the opening day, the battle-scarred Lasquite and Sobere starved the Thais to a measly hit, while their teammates rained Thai hurler Farima with 16, half of them coming in the first frame.As coach Ana Santiago expected, the Indonesian Red showed vast improvement since the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, but her Girls, nevertheless, hardly drew power from their arsenal in forcing their arch-rivals to collapse.
A pair of costly errors by Indonesian second base girl, in fact, accounted for the two runs the Blu Girls scored at the top of the sixth inning that also proved what they only needed in cruising to their fourth straight victory.
The Blu Girls were set to end their elimination round campaign in the one-round, five-team qualifying round against Singapore Saturday afternoon odds on picks to enter the title playoff with a clean 5-0 slate.
Tournament format calls for the two top teams after the elims coliding for all the marbles.
A two-run inside-the-park roundtripper by Veronica Belleza, who plays outfield when not manning the mound, highlighted the Philippines’ eight-hit, eight-run attack right at the top of the first againsts Thailand although Sarah Agravante, Cherrylou Valenzuela, Dione Macasu, Lovelyn Maganda, Esmeralda Tayag and Alex Zuluaga also gave a good account ofthemselves at the box.
Tayag, in fact, blasted a standing double in that murderous salvo and scored on that Belleza homer. Marlyn Francisco also had a three-base liner in that period in going a perfect three-for-three at bat driving three runs in the process, a feat matched by Maganda in her own 1.000 two-for-two percentgage.
So dominating in offense the Filipinas that Agravante, Valenzuela, Macasu and Maganda batted twice in that frame.
Despite the triumph over the the Indonesian Red, Santiago expressed disgust for what she said her Girls’ seeming lackluster show that allowed their hosts to last the full seven-inning distance.
“Sabagay, kaya naman talaga ang kalaban, pero delikado mag-kumpiyansa, marurunong din naman silang maglaro. Yung disgrasya na baka tayo masingitan ang iingatan ninyo,” he told the Girls aftger the game.
The inspoired Indonesians held the Blu Girls scoreless, in fact, in the first five frames until Valenzuela, with one down, forced the rival’s second base girl to drop a fast grounder that boarded her on first.
Another fielding error by the same second base girl followed saw Macasu pushing Valenzuela in scoring position at second. Maganda then drove the pair home on an extra base hit. The Girls though scored four more runs in the seventh and final frame.