THE female batters from Cebu Province are hoping to pull off another stellar performance as they face the country’s top young teams in the Batang Pinoy National Championships at the Benguet Sports Center.
The Cebu Province girls’ softball team was the surprise in the Batang Pinoy Visayas Qualifiers in Dumaguete City in November last year when they bagged the gold medal. They’re hoping to do the same, but this time it would be a tougher task with teams from Luzon and Mindanao in the field.
“All of the teams here are qualifiers and are contenders. Our target is to top our bracket, make it to the semis and hopefully to the championship round,” said coach Darwin Gallardo.
Despite being a less-known sport compared to other team events, softball has been a steady force for Cebu in various competitions.
The team, which is composed of players from Compostela and Tuburan, took advantage of the series of holidays last month to prepare for the national championships organized by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
“The series of holidays we gathered to take advantage of the time. We practiced in Tuburan,” said Gallardo.
Gallardo said the players in Cebu are competitive, but they can improve if there are a lot of batted tournaments. Right now, only a handful of batted sports are held in Cebu.
“After high school, if a player wants to play college, they have to go to Manila because there’s no school in college here that’s offering a scholarship for softball and baseball,” he said.
Gallardo said their motivation for this tournament is the chance to play in the Asian Youth Competition. He said they were told the organizers will select players for the Asian Youth event.
“Aside from the incentives that will be given by the Cebu Provincial Sports Commission (CPSC), there is also a chance that the players will be selected in the Asian Youth. So I told them to play their best,” he said.
Cebu Province slugs it out against Sta. Maria, Bulacan on their first game as of press time, Cebu Province will play four teams in their bracket in the elimination round.
On the other hand, Cebu Province futsal team scored a double-win in the Under-15 division at the St. Louis University, beating Mandaluyong and Candon City the other night.
Cebu Province blanked Mandaluyong, 3-0, with Rae Mikella Tolentino scoring two goals and Catlean Delos Santos pitching in one goal.
Cebu Province continued its dominance in the next game and annihilated Candon, 7-0.
Kyza Stepha Colina scored two goals, while Delos Reyes, Lexie Louise Chan, Argen May Garcia, Regine Quillope and Danica Pongasi added one each.
The Cebu Province’s next assignment is against Caloocan, Baguio and Benguet. Every team will play six games. The top team after six games will win the gold medal. In case of a tie, goal difference will be used.
In volleyball, the Cebu City Niños boys’ team defeated Angeles City, 25-18, 25-19, at the Recoletos Gym to remain unbeaten after two games.
Cebu City’s female duo Hannah Xyrah Cabansay and Natalia Reo Labiste also inked their second win in the beach volleyball tournament at the Baguio Athletic Bowl after dominating Makati, 21-13, 21-5. (RSC)