Razcals out to gain Bronco, Mustang titles in Asian elims

MANILA, Philippines - Inspired by the success of the 2011 PONY International Asian Mustang champions called the Philippine “Little Razcals”, Tot Baseball is preparing two more teams for the next two-division Asian Championships which will be held in Singapore May 21-27.

One team will defend the Mustang (9-10 years old) Division Asian title, while the other team will try to be the first Asian Bronco-11 (11 years) Division titleholder.

If they succeed, these teams will represent Asia at the Mustang World Series in Burleson, Texas Aug. 2-6 and the Bronco-11 World Series at Chesterfield, Virginia July 25-30.

Expected participants are Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Russia, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Singapore and Indonesia remain as the top contenders of the tournament due to their very good programs at this age level. However, Vietnam has been getting a lot of support from Major League Baseball coaches for its PONY program and expects to perform competitively at the event.

The teams have retained last year’s lineups, with half coming from the province, particularly Tanauan City, and the other half from Metro Manila.

Tot Baseball president Boy Tingzon believes this system is ideal since it allows boys from diverse socio-economic classes of Philippine society to work together for a common goal – to give pride and glory to the country.

The Bronco-11 team has six veterans from last year’s Asian Mustang champions and is reinforced with highly qualified pitchers from Metro Manila. The Mustang team has only one veteran left, but the rest of the team have both speed and agility that fit into the run-and-gun strategy of the coaching staff.

 Tingzon is optimistic of their chances in Singapore but is still having all the bases covered with a daily practice schedule until the tournament to fine tune their skills.

 “We really want another crack at the World Series since we learned a lot from last year and now have made the necessary adjustments in our training system to do better this time around,” said Tingzon.

Looking at the two teams’ preparation for the Asian Championships, they seem to be destined to have a crack at the World Series in both divisions and will definitely make history in the annals of Philippine Sports.