The Philippine national men’s baseball team will defend its title on home soil in the XIV East Asia Baseball Cup from 29 October to 3 November in Clark, Pampanga.

Philippine Amateur Baseball Association president Chito Loyzaga said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex that the players are eager to represent the country on home soil as this is the first time the Philippines will host the tournament since the competition’s inception in 1955.

The Philippines will be gunning for its seventh title in the competition as it competes against Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.

“Everything is okay and we are all set. There are still three weeks left in the tournament and we are confident we will finish all the preparations,” Loyzaga said.

“It’s huge for us. Preparations have been ongoing since the start of the year. The team itself is prepared and if there is something that we are looking forward to is maintaining the Philippines’ dominance in the East Asia Cup.”

“Doing it on home soil is very exciting for them. Our players wanted to play in front of the home crowd.”

National team coach Vince Sagisi, a former Major League Baseball scout, said the team has been improving its batting skills.

“We teach our hitters to hit at the left-center or the right-center because that’s where the hits are. That’s the different approach these guys have taken,” Sagisi said.

“They used to be dead pull hitters and now they can hit the ball to the off field. That’s what we want.”

Despite being tagged as the favorite to win again in the tournament, national team pitcher and third baseman Clarence Lyle Caasalan said he sees Hong Kong and Thailand as threats to their back-to-back championship bid.

The Philippines defeated the Hongkong batters, 10-2, in the championship last year while the Thais finished with a bronze medal.

“Hong Kong and Thailand are still contenders. They invest to train in Chinese Taipei for tune-up games and training,” Caasalan said.

“We focused more on our hitting this year. There’s a difference from last year.”