The Philippine men’s baseball squad opens its gold medal bid on a high note. (Roman Prospero)

NEW CLARK CITY—The Philippine baseball team kicked off its gold-medal bid in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games with a thrilling 3-2 victory over archrival Thailand at The Villages here.

The Filipinos needed a strong second inning in what was seen as the “championship match” between the rival countries.

But the road to victory was not easy, as Thailand came up with a run in the first inning before the Philippines got its groove in the second for a 2-1 count.

“Hitting is the main key, as long as we keep them busy we are on the right track,” said Philippine team manager Orlando Binarao.

After going scoreless in the next three innings, the Philippines finally scored and while Thailand had a run in the eighth inning, it could not get through the host’s tough fielding in the 9th to yield the match.

In the only other baseball match of the day, Indonesia opened its campaign with a 14-7 victory over Singapore.