Japanese too much for Filipino junior batters

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine junior baseball team was obliterated by Japan, 0-13, in the Asia 18-Under Baseball Championship at the Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei.

Despite this, the Filipinos crashed into the super-round of the tourney for the first time ever.

Japan was just too much for the Philippines, scoring six runs at the bottom of the first inning.

This set the tone for the rest of the way, as they scored two in the second inning, three in the third inning and two in the fourth inning.

After the Philippines failed to score in the fifth period, the game ended via mercy rule with the game already out of reach, 13-0.

Tsubaki Sakurai, Shinjiro Uno, Yusei Ishizuk and Haruto Hamamoto each had two runs. Ryoya Sakai, Yujiro Takayama, Kaisei Tokumaru, Yuzuki Hanada and Haruto Hakoyama punched in one each.

In total, the Japanese had 10 hits while forcing the Philippines to have a no-hitter.

But despite this performance, the Philippines will compete in the super-round after winning over Sri Lanka and Hong Kong earlier in the week.

The top three teams in the tournament will be Asia’s representative in the World Cup.

“This is the first time that our team will compete in the super round. This is a big deal for our players so they could show their capabilities against the best in the region,” Baseball Federation of the Philippines president Chito Loyzaga said.

“Japan is a five-time champion here, so it’s a good experience and exposure for them,” he added.

Loyzaga said the team’s performance is also an eye-opener, adding it is important to determine what the country needs to be competitive with other nations.