Lady Falcons-laden RP Blu Girls score crucial wins to seal seat in Softball World Cup playoffs
Date Posted: August 18, 2023 at 11:10 AM
The RP Blu Girls stayed alive in the XVII WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup as they scored a pair of crucial victories to secure a slot at the tournament’s Group C playoffs.
After dropping their first three assignments, the Philippine team registered a clutch 5-3 win over hosts New Zealand and a 6-5 nailbiter over world no. 8 Italy, at the Campo Comunale da Softball in Castions di Strada.
With a game needed for them to move on to the next phase, the world no. 26 Philippines managed to edge their Italian foes via a walk-off hit from Lady Falcon Alaiza Talisik that scored her fellow Adamsonian MJ Maguad.
Italy then walked another Lady Falcon, Elside dela Torre, to load the bases before her AdU teammate Angelu Gabriel punched a grounder that the opposing pitcher failed to control, scoring the winning run for the Blu Girls.
The upset improved their ranking to fourth in their group with a 2-3 win-loss card. They are now slated to have a match against the hosts for third place.
The Ana Santiago-mentored team need to overcome Italy once again and beat the losser of the Canada-Japan match to advance to the final stage.
In the New Zealand game, it was Gabriel, once again, who carried the scoring load, driving in three RBI’s (runs-batted-in) to lead her team to the much-needed win.
