The formidable PH Blu Boys are set to take the field at the Asian Men’s Softball Asia Cup 2023, which kicked off in Kochi, Japan on Sunday.
Governed by the Softball Confederation of Asia, the Asian Men’s Softball Championship is the main tournament among the national men’s softball teams in Asia, usually consisting of six countries, namely Japan, Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Japan has the most number of gold medals at nine, followed by the Philippines with three, while the rest have yet to win one.
“We are excited to see how the Blu Boys will do at this year’s Men’s Softball Asia Cup. They have trained well for this moment, and we have nothing but all-out support for the team as they do their best in taking home that much-coveted gold,” said Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines president and Blu Boys’ backer Jean Henri Lhuillier.
The Blue Boys’ line-up for the three-day tournament consists of John Israel Antonio, Jerome Bacarisas, Leo Barredo, Denmark Bathan, Melvin De Castro, Lyonas De Leon, Juliuz Dela Cruz, Mark Janzen Gaspi, Francis Generoso, John Norwen Lucas, Efril Ian Mercado, Micheal Pagkaliwagan, Reagan Parco, Gerone Riparir, Justine John Rosales, and Kenneth Torres.
Teams under ASAPHIL are also set to compete in three world championships this year—the WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup, the WBSC Co-Ed Slow Pitch Softball World Cup and the WBSC World Cup Under Girls-15 Women’s Softball.