Softbelles succumb to US foes

MANILA, Philippines - Iloilo Province held off USA Host District through four innings but suffered a meltdown in the last two to yield a 0-10 defeat in the Junior League Softball World Series pool action Monday in Kirkland, Washington.

The Asia-Pacific representatives fell into a maze of errors and gave up four runs to the home town bets in the sixth frame and surrendered six more in the seventh to fall to their second straight loss in Pool A after an opening day 5-16 setback to USA Southeast.

The Ilonggas will try to get on track when they take on fellow winless Canada (0-2) Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) .

Iloilo’s misfortunes against the softbelles of Kirkland National started when an error allowed Tatum Kawabata to reach base. Kawabata then advanced to second off a single, stole third then got to the plate off a wild pitch, fueling a four-run spree for the hosts in the sixth.

The Pinays failed to stop Kirkland’s rampage as Lisa Nelson, Tori Bevins, Kristina Warford, and Kayla Henry took turns slamming run-scoring hits to settle the outcome once and for all.

The other Phl entry in the world series – International Little League Association of Manila (ILLAM) – didn’t do any better against an American rival cheered on by a hometown crowd.

ILLAM bowed to host Maine District 3, 1-3, at the start of its campaign in SLB Pool A in Bangor, Maine Monday (Tuesday in Manila).

Jordan Derrah batted in Sam Huston with his single then Nick Moore followed it up with a base-hit scoring Ryan Brookings and Andrew Elston as Bangor seized a 3-0 cushion at the top of the second.

The Filipinos made a last ditch stand in the bottom seventh but managed to put just one on the board behind the error-aided run by Phonso Balagtas.

ILLAM will face pacesetting USA West (2-0) on Tuesday (Wednesday).