MANILA, Philippines – The Manila team won their first Big League Softball World Series with a 14-2 victory over Westchester, California at the Vandenberg Park on Wednesday, August 8.
After losing the finals in 2008, 2010 and 2011, Manila — representing the Asia-Pacific Region — rapped out 14 hits and clinched a five-inning triumph over the American side, according to online sports news site MLive.
Rizza Bernardino picked up the pitching win for Manila, allowing five hits.
Huge lead
The Philippine team scored in every inning, ringing 14 hits and building a 7-0 lead after two innings before scoring five in the fifth to build a 14-0 lead before the West Region representative from the Los Angeles area strung together three hits to get on the board and spoil Bernardino’s shutout bid.
The right-handed Filipina pitcher allowed two earned runs on five hits in five innings.
She had no strikeouts, but also zero walks. The cleanup batter helped her own cause at the plate with a two-run home run in the second and scored three runs.
All nine players in the Manila lineup had at least one hit, and the team batted .438 for the whole tournament.
Manager Ana Santiago was proud of her players after the match.
“I said to them (Tuesday night) in the hotel, ‘Hey, talk to your errors and just tell your errors that they will be here in the meantime in this (Santiago’s room) and that I’ll be back after the game. They’ll come with me, ok?’” said Santiago, who joined the coaching staff in 2005 and took over the manager role in 2008.
Bernardino added, “This is a fighting team.”
Filipino pride
The softball team celebrated their victory and said it is another reason to be proud of being Filipino.
“We traveled 8,000 miles to come here because we wanted to be a champion; we wanted to be recognized; we wanted to be proud – Filipino proud,” noted Santiago.
The manager explained that “this was a special game for us because before we started, I told the girls, ‘If you want to be a champion, play like a champion.’”
Santiago also took the opportunity to remember the scores of people affected by the floods in Manila.
“This game will be dedicated to the people from the Philippines who are experiencing a huge flood. We will dedicate this game to them.” – Rappler.com
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