Manila softbelles edge hosts, gain q’finals

Team Manila-Philippines bucked Redlands South California’s gutsy stand and pulled off a 4-3 victory to top the group play in the Pony International 18-U Girls Softball World Series in Hemet, California Thursday.

The win came on the heels of the Filipinas’ 8-0 romp over East Hemet, lining them up for a quarterfinal showdown with the winner of the match between Coachella Valley Chaos and Redlands South California, which both had two losses.

“It doesn’t matter now which team we would face in the quarterfinals. The girls will surely give them a good fight,” said Manila Softball president Che Borromeo.

A run by second baseman Nichole Padasas off an RBI by designated player Shaina Camacho put the Manila Softbelles ahead on top of the first inning.

But starting pitcher Mery Ann Ramos, who was supposed to give Alma Tauli a rest in preparation for the quarters, gave up two runs and a walk as Redlands grabbed a 2-1 lead at the bottom of the third.

Head coach Anna Santiago then called in Tauli, who responded by delivering another impressive performance to lead the Manila batters to the one-point win and on the top of the seeding phase with a 2-0 card.

Tauli, an incoming scholar of Adamson U, had four strike outs and yielded just one run in six innings to take control of the match for the Big City softbelles, whose trip here is backed by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI).

Padasas, the 18-year old veteran from Adamson and member of Team Manila Philippines to the 2015 Big League World Series, then silenced the Redlands crowd with a huge homerun at the top of the third to force a 2-2 tie.

Redlands regained the lead again on a home run in the bottom of the fifth but the Manila batters fought back on the top of the sixth that saw them load the bases, courtesy of center fielder Christine Bautista, Camacho and left fielder Khrisha Cantor.