Palayan, Tanauan open Little League bid with wins

MANILA, Philippines – Palayan City of Nueva Ecija and Tanauan of Batangas made their presence felt early, hammering out relatively easy victories to jumpstart their respective bids in the Big League Baseball of the Little League Philippine Series at the Sto. Nino field in Marikina on Monday.

Palayan City showed off its hitting power as it bamboozled Antipolo City, 22-4, in a regulated game that lasted four and a half innings while Tanauan flexed its muscle a bit in shutting down Muntinlupa, 11-0, in a five-inning result.

Ruben Matic and Ruben Libid batted in a combined eight runs, including five in the bottom of the first inning, when the Palayan batters unleashed a whopping 11 runs that set the tone for the lopsided triumph.

Matic, a 17-year-old standout recruited by Adamson, had a pair of doubles in the opening frame that netted three runs while Libid, an 18-year-old hotshot from National U, had a two-run double in the same inning to lead the way.

Matic and Libid belted a doubles each in the third inning for three more runs, finishing whatever was left with Antipolo, which fielded in a total of five pitchers hoping to silence the power-hitting pair but to no avail.

"We knew it’s going to be a slugfest but we didn't expect to finish them off in the first inning," said Palayan coach Alfredo Olivares, a 22-year-old former national team mainstay who is playing pro-ball in Japan, in Filipino.

"And we have to give credit to Matic and Libid for their energy," he added.

ILLAM, for its part, made its presence felt in other fronts with smashing wins over the Lipa Barakitos, 7-1, in senior softball (15 to 16 years old), Baguio, 30-0, in Junior Softball (13-14 years old) and Makati, 12-2, in Little League Baseball (11-12 years old).

More than 100 teams from all over the country took part in this weeklong series hoping to win possible slots to the World Series in various venues in country's shoe capital and some parts in Pasig City.

The baseball and softball teams, numbering 112,  are vying in the national championships in Little League (11-12), Junior League (14-under), Senior League (16-U), and Big League (18-U) divisions.

Winners of the weeklong Philippine Series will represent the country in the Asia Pacific regional championships in July in Clark, which will serve as qualifying to the World Series.

Little League officials expect competition to be high in this series, being held in celebration of the 75th year of Little League worldwide.

"Last year, eight different teams from different cities fought for the championship and we expect it to be as competitive this year," said LL Philippines district administrator Jolly Gomez, who recently received the Outstanding  District Administrator for Asia-Pacific award during the Little League International Congress in Minneapolis.

"We can never really tell who has the decisive edge here considering most charters are now stepping up," said assistant district administrator Chito Gonzales.

The tournament was officially declared open by Gomez, who is also a Philippine Sports commissioner, in elaborate opening rites at the Marikina Sports Complex last night attended by thousands of participants as well as host city Mayor Del de Guzman.