Blu Boys wind up 10th after blanking South Africa
Philippine Blu Boys ended their campaign at the Men’s World Softball Championship on a high with a 4-0 win over South Africa on Saturday at Rosedale Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
A homer in the park by Justine Rosales broke the ice in the fourth inning even as Leo Barredo put on another strong performance on the field to give the Blu Boys another win at the close of the ratings round.
At the end of the tournament with consecutive wins, including an 8-0 win over Denmark the previous day, the Blu Boys ranked 10th out of 12 nations.
The Philippines lost all five matches in the opening round to group A teams the United States, defending champions Argentina, Cuba, hosts New Zealand and the Czech Republic before bowing to Japan at the start of the qualifying round.
Rosales’ strike into the right half of South African hurdler Grant Olivier with a fourth-half goal gave the Philippines the lead.
The Blu Boys took a 2-0 lead in the next half when Mark Gaspi scored after Julius Diaz made a mistake on the save.
Both runs aided Barredo, who eventually hit 14 strokes while only allowing two hits in a full-time effort.
—Jonas Terrado
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