San Mateo, Miriam crush softball rivals

MANILA, Philippines - San Mateo, Rizal and Miriam College came away with a pair of shutout wins to set in motion their respective campaigns in the 2015 National Inter-Secondary Girls Softball Championships at the Sto. Niño Baseball Field in Marikina yesterday.

The San Mateo belles flashed top form and demolished their rivals from Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, 11-0, to kick off their title-retention drive while Miriam also posted a lopsided 10-0 romp over Pampanga province at the start of the week-long tournament organized and conducted by the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (Asaphil) headed by Cebuana Lhuillier president Jean Henri-Lhuillier.

Lawyer Rolando Rivera, Asaphil board member and project director for girls youth softball, and Marikina Vice Mayor Jose Fabian Cadiz graced the opener of the tournament which drew 22 teams from all over the country.

This year’s field almost doubled the 13-team field, which saw action last year with a slew of talented players and upcoming stars backstopping the competing squads in the week-long event which stakes P25,000 to the champion.

“The difference is that we have a very big number of participating teams. Last year, we had 12-13, but this year it ballooned to 22 teams. There could have been more teams but the problem was conflicting class schedules,” said Rivera.

“We are expecting that we will be able to discover more potential from the provinces. And according to our president, Jean Henri Lhuillier, he’s looking for international tournaments for those who will be selected from this tournament to be the nucleus of the national youth team for future international competitions,” he added.

Rose Robrigado hit a three-run homerun late in the first inning as San Mateo, Rizal took control early then the defending champions added four more runs before Maica Mendoza and Ma. Teresa Blanco joined in the scoring binge to cap their romp.

The young guns of Miriam College likewise dominated their rivals from Pampanga from start to finish en route to duplicating San Mateo’s imposing triumph.

“This is a program of Asaphil under its president Jean Henri Lhuillier for the youth to gain more experience and for us to discover more young players from the different provinces of the country,” said Rivera.