PH BATTERS MAPAPALABAN SA INT’L TOURNEYS

MAGIGING abala ang Philippine Amateur Baseball Association (PABA) ngayong taon, kabilang ang paglahok sa international tournaments na naapektuhan o naantala dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic.

Sinabi ni Boy Tingzon, ang vice president ng PABA, sa online version ng Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum kahapon na naghahanda sila para sa Women’s Baseball World Cup na nakatakda sa  March 1-9 sa Tijuana, Mexico.

Kung hindi magkakaroon ng delay o postponement, ang Philippine under-23 team ay umaasang magpapamalas ng magandang performance sa prestihiyosong event upang umangat ang world ranking nito sa No. 15.

“This is the best time for us to move up in the standings in the world. We can even break into the top 10,” wika ni Tingzon, na sinamahan sa forum ni PABA secretary-general Pepe Munoz.

Sinabi ni Tingzon na hinihintay ng PABA ang go-signal mula sa Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) para sa pagpasok ng koponan sa bubble training sa Laguna — sa Los Banos o Calamba.

Aniya, ang mga player ay sasabak sa bubble training bago sila umalis patungong Mexico upang harapln ang powerhouse teams tulad ng Ja-pan at Chinese-Taipei, at Canada, Mexico, United States, France, Australia, Dominican Republic at the Netherlands.

“This is a world event,” dagdag ni Tingzon sa webcast.

Ayon kay Munoz, nakahanda rin ang PABA na magpadala ng mga koponan sa men’s Asian Baseball Championship sa October at sa men’s youth 12-under, 15-under at 18-under tournaments. Ang 12-under at 18-under events ay orihinal na nakatakda noong 2020 subalit naurong dahil sa pandemya.

“Now, they (international federation) are slating everything this year. But it will still depend on the progress of the vaccine. Unfortunately, there is no baseball in this year’s SEA Games. But even without the SEA Games we’re going to be quite busy,” ani Munoz.

“But our primary concern is the women’s team to the World Cup,” dagdag pa ni Munoz patungkol sa koponan na kinabibilangan ng mga player na tumalon sa baseball mula sa softball.

“They don’t have enough (baseball) experience but if they perform well, we can be a contender. We’re happy that we’re in the World Cup. Korea, which is number seven (world) and Hong Kong, at number 10, will not be playing,” aniya. CLYDE MARIANO