MANILA, Philippines - Asia-Pacific representative Manila South bungled a big lead and suffered a 4-6 loss to USA Central to crash out of the semifinals of the Big League Softball World Series at Layton Field in Sussex Country, Delaware yesterday (Manila time).
Aiming for a crucial win in a frantic bid to salvage a Final Four berth, the Manila softbelles stormed to an early 4-0 headstart against Indiana District 11 and even maintained a 4-2 spread after six completed innings only to give up four runs in the final frame to relinquish their crown.
The Pinay clouters, made up of three holdovers from the 2012 winning team and a number of new faces, thus ended Pool B elims with three straight losses for a fourth-best 1-3 card. Their conquerors from South Bend, Indiana wound up second with 3-1 and joined unbeaten Host District III (4-0) in the crossover semis against Pool A topnotcher Latin America (4-0) and No. 2 USA Southwest (3-1), respectively.
Manila, whose campaign is backed by ICTSI Foundation and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, was relegated to the consolation phase and will dispute seventh spot with Pool A No. 4 USA West (represented by California District 51) today (Manila time).
It was basically the same sad story in two other fronts as Senior League bet Laguna and Little League entry Iloilo Province both lost in extra innings after taking control of their respective rivals early on.