MANILA, Philippines - Delaware pulled off an 8-4 upset of Team Manila yesterday and created a mad scramble for the final slots in the 2011 Big League World Series in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
With the result, five teams are suddenly in the battle for the final slots with Central (Michigan) leading the pack with a 6-1 record followed by the Philippines (Asia Pacific) at 6-2.
Sporting similar 6-2 records are Kalamazoo (host), which lost to Team Manila the other day, Delaware (East) and Puerto Rico (Latin America). Each team plays nine games in the eliminations.
A victory over Delaware could have sent Team Manila straight into the finals. Now, it will face a must-win situation against Puerto Rico today in its last game in the elims.
A four-way tie for first play could ensue. In this case, the winner-over-the-other rule and the low-run tiebreak system will be applied to determine the two finalists.
“The World Series became a bit more interesting,” said Little League Philippines district administrator Jolly Gomez. “All the games are crucial from this point onward.”
Rizza Bernardino pitched the entire game for Team Manila, and the early innings saw both teams trading homeruns. Team Manila scored anew in the third and fourth innings before Delaware equalized in the fifth.
Delaware then took control of the game in the last four innings, with a two-run homerun by Asia Brittingham breaking the backs of the Filipinas.
“This goes to show the quality of the teams in this World Series. They are among the best players in the world and the Philippines is among them,” said head coach Randy Dizer.
“This tournament is far from over for us. Everything is up for grabs and we will win the Championship to prove that the Philippines is a strong country,” he added.