The Philippines faces defending champion Chinese Taipei to kick off the Super Round of the 12th BFA U15 Asian Baseball Championship on Thursday at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium in Taipei.

Limiting the Taiwanese’s runs will be the Nationals’ first order of business as they face off at 6:30 p.m. (Manila time).

The Filipino batters made the Super Round after finishing Group B with a 2-1 win-loss record.

An 11-0 win over Sri Lanka last Sunday and a close 3-2 victory over Hong Kong last Monday gave the Philippines a ticket to the next round, where it will go up against Chinese Taipei, South Korea and Japan.

Although they suffered a 0-10 loss to powerhouse Japan, the Filipinos are still oozing with confidence as they have already secured their spot in the Super Round.

The top two teams in the Super Round will advance to the gold medal match while the third and fourth-seeded squads will duke it out in the bronze medal match.

Philippine Amateur Baseball Association president Rodolfo Tingzon Jr. said the Nationals need to improve on their pitching if they want to compete against the Taiwanese.

“My expectations for them are that they go all-out. Our pitchers need to stop their batters,” Tingzon said in a phone conversation.

“If our pitching and defense are there, our batting will follow because we have a good hitting team.”