SMASHING SHOWING: Filipino batters slam HK, win fifth BFA East Asia Cup title

CLARK, Pampanga — For the fifth straight time, the Philippines has dominated the BFA East Asia Cup.

The national men’s baseball team delivered a 9-2 victory over Hong Kong in the championship round to cap its undefeated campaign at the Clark International Sports Complex.

This gives the Filipino batters a ticket to the Asian Baseball Championship scheduled next year.

With a 4-2 lead at the bottom of the eighth inning, John Vargas and Harper Sy scored two runs to give the Philippines some breathing room.

Steven Manaig then hit a crucial home run in the deep left field that sent him, Mark Beronilla, and Jennald Pareja to home plate.

With Romeo Jasmin, who was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, at the pitcher’s mound in the ninth inning, he sealed the title for the Philippines with solid defense as the Hong Kong batters weren’t able to score a run.

National team head coach Vince Sagisi said unlike their close 4-2 win over Hong Kong in the Super Round, they made sure to field their strongest players from the get-go to secure the win.

“When we made the change to putting in our A-team, I knew we would win. There is no stopping these guys,” Sagisi said.

“They are very talented, disciplined, and smart. When we started our main guys, we had a chance to win today.”

The Philippines started out its campaign strong with blowout victories over Indonesia, 13-1, and Singapore 15-0, in the preliminary round.

Against Thailand, the Philippines delivered a 9-5 win last Friday to clinch a seat in the championship round.

The Filipinos finished the competition undefeated with a 4-0 win-loss record with their victory over the Indonesians not counted after they got eliminated.

Philippine Amateur Baseball Association president Joaquin “Chito” Loyzaga was happy to see not only the team succeed but also the Filipinos watching the games live and online.

“I’m very happy for the team. This is their victory,” Loyzaga said.

“This is the first time to host this event in the country and we wanted to use this opportunity not just to showcase our team to our kababayans but also to promote the sport of baseball to them.”