Phl baseball team in WBC impresses American coach

TAIWAN – American baseball scout Kelly Broder said the Philippine squad is well equipped to improve on its current standings and eventually produce top-tier players.

Broder is a scout for the Minnesota Twins and has been regularly covering the region to tap talents for their major league team.

Broder said he’s impressed with the Fil-Ams-backed Phl squad, which opened its campaign in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) with an 8-2 romp over Thailand at the Xinzhuang Baseball stadium last Thursday.

“They’re well coached, they play a disciplined game and they seem to enjoy the game very well. I’ve seen them a few times here and every time, they seem to be very well prepared and play very enthusiastically,” said Broder.

He added that it is helping the team a lot now that minor league players are part of the squad and that it may be only a matter of time before the country reclaims its lost glory in baseball.

The American scout said the Philippines stands a good chance against WBC rival Chinese-Taipei and world No. 8 in their faceoff at press time. The Philippines is ranked No. 34 in the world.

The winner between Taiwan and the Philippines will advance to the finals tomorrow while the loser will get the chance to claim the second finals seat in a knockout match against New Zealand today.

“Anything can happen in a short series and even in a one game match-up because in baseball you can’t assume anything,” added Broder.

Last Thursday, not even the presence of Major League Baseball star Johnny Damon could help highly ranked Thailand overcome the splendid game of the Philippines in their WBC opener.

The Filipinos relied on their 12 hits and pitching depths en route to an 8-2 drubbing of the Thais. Ryan Pineda and Fernando Laurel each had three hits in the game.

Thailand actually took a 1-0 lead when Joseph Daru singled on a ground ball to Pineda, the team’s shortstop, that led to Thai Nathan Lorentz scoring in the first inning.

“It was more of calming down the nerves. They wanted to smash the ball early, especially the Fil-ams but after the second inning, the nerves settled down,” said team manager Marty Esmendi.

The Philippines started their scoring binge at the top of the fourth inning via Andres Vazquez who was able to score after Alec Rosales doubled off on a line drive to Daru, Thailand’s center fielder with Laurel going to third base.

California-based coach Jim Ramos said the momentum shifted to their favor when they changed pitchers with Vladimir Eguia replacing Jon Jon Robles.

The move resulted in Eguia popping out Damon on a 3-1 pitch in the ensuing play.

“That got us out of the inning where there was only one out with a man in second and third at that time,” said Ramos.

Also praised by Ramos were pitchers Darwin De la Calzada and Charlie Labrador who together with Eguia and Robles allowed the Thais to only seven hits.

It was a disappointing performance for Damon who only had one out of three at-bats in Thursday’s game. Damon’s mother is from Thailand.

Damon who just celebrated his 39th birthday last November 5, played for seven Major League clubs, winning two World Series rings as outfielder for the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and the New York Yankees in 2009.