The Philippines were crowned Champions of the 2018 Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) East Asia Cup on Thursday, June 28, at the Sai Tso Wan Recreation Ground Baseball Field in Singapore. Competing against four other neighboring countries, the Philippine National Baseball Team pulled out a gutsy 7-5 victory over the host to claim the gold.
Donning the blue, red, and white, four Blue Bloods from Ateneo — veterans Javi Macasaet, Fausto Eizmendi, and Dino Altomonte, alongside their UAAP coach, Adrian Bernardo, bore the country’s stripes with pride.
Among all the players in the tournament, four Filipinos and two Blue Eagles were endowed with All-East Asia Cup Team honors: Macasaet stood out at third base while Bernardo shone as shortstop.
The Philippine nationals steamrolled past both Singapore and Thailand, allowing a total of one run, to gain two quick mercy-rule victories.
Their following match with Indonesia, however, was no walk in the park. The Philippine squad found themselves down one run heading into the sixth inning, but a fiery four run inning provided the Philippines their first lead which they would never relinquish, coming away with the 5-2 victory and setting up a possible do-or-die match with Hong Kong.
In their final match, the Philippine batters were in control for most of what was a rather uneventful game, leading 7-1 as they headed into the seventh. Hong Kong gave their all in an attempt to stage a final comeback; they came away with 4 crucial runs in the eighth inning, but the Philippine crew held them off to win the game and seal the title.
The dominant performance secured the Philippines slots in the 2019 Asian Baseball and the 2019 Asian U23 Baseball Championships and brings them one step closer to a ticket to the 2018 Asian Games.
“I believe this could have a huge impact [in promoting] Philippine baseball, because we now qualify for two more tournaments next year,” shared Macasaet on the significance of the crown.
“Our goal is to inspire the youth and show [them] that there is potential in our sport,” he added.
