THE Philippines bounced back from its opening-night loss in the XXVIII BFA Asian Baseball Championship Tuesday night at Tien Mou Stadium in New Taipei City as it pulled off a close 8-5 thriller over Sri Lanka.
The Filipinos broke free from a 5-5 standoff with a three-run spree at the bottom of the eighth to secure the win.
They improved their win-loss record to 1-1 in Group A after a 2-12 loss at the hands of host Chinese Taipei in their previous outing. The PH IX next faces Korea, which also dropped to 1-1 after a 2-3 setback to the unbeatean Taiwanese (2-0).
The Sri Lankans, who are winless after two matches, jumped the gun on the Pinoy U23 batters with a three-run binge in the second.
But it could not hold on to the lead long as Jonash Ponce blasted the equalizing three-run homer in the third. Then, the Filipinos went ahead after a run each in the fourth and seventh before the Sri Lankans pulled even with two runs in the top eighth. After that, the PH batters took the upperhand for good by sending three runners home in the bottom frame and shut their rivals out in the top ninth.
Peter Atencio
Romeo Jasmin Jr. was given the win for a no-run, no-hit performance over 2/3 innings.