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Friday, December 16, 2005
Davao batters eye Asian Games
By Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan
SOUTHEAST Asian (SEA) Games baseball gold medal players Ruel Batuto and Edmer del Socorro will resume training with the RP team starting to January to prepare for next year's Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
"Mubalik mi ug training sa January. Kadali lang among bakasyon diri (We would train again after our short vacation here)," said Del Socorro, who played shortstop for the country in the SEA Games.
Batuto went on to add that they might have international exposure before the quadrennial meet, although the Philippine baseball team will likely train in Manila most of the time.
"Naa man daw invitational tournament himuon sa Manila kon asa magdula pud ang Big Four sa Asia uban sa mga Southeast Asia teams. Mga professional teams ata nila ang muabot (There will be an invitational meet to be held in Manila where the Big Four in Asia and other neighboring countries in the SEA region will also
compete. I think they will send their professional teams)," the prized pitcher said in Thursday's Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum at the Tower Inn.
Philippine Amateur Baseball Association (Paba) regional director Joaquin "Boy" Sarabia added: "In our recent meeting, it was discussed that the invitational competition will be held summer of next year."
Sarabia said Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei will be among those invited to test the mettle of the nationals.
"It would be a good exposure for the team to play with powerhouse teams in Asia before the Asian Games," Sarabia said.
Del Socorro and Batuto thanked the people of Davao for their prayers and support to all the athletes who competed in the SEA Games.
"Daghang salamat gyud sa suporta sa mga taga-Davao. Salamat pud sa mga dyaryo nga nag-cover sa among mga dula ngadto sa Manila (We're thankful for the support of Dabawenyos and the coverage we got from the local papers)," said Batuto, who played a major role in the Philippine's gold-medal clinching win against Thailand by going 4-for-4.
Meanwhile, Del Socorro will be a strong force for the University of Mindanao's title-retention bid as the Davao City-Private Schools Athletic Association (DC-Prisaa) Meet formally opens at 9 a.m. on Sunday at the UM Matina gym.
(December 16, 2005 issue)
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