Designated hitter Ferdinand Liguayan Jr. drilled a massive grand slam in the sixth inning to power the Philippine Dreamers to a winning start, 12–0 in seven innings, over Palestine in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Monday at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture.
The 33-year-old veteran capitalized on the control issues of Palestine’s third pitcher, Nicholas Barksdale, who issued two consecutive walks upon taking the mound. Liguayan then drove the ball well over the center-field fence to finally break the Philippines’ four-inning scoring drought.
For good measure, Mark Beronilla added three more runs with a bases-clearing home run in the following inning, sending the ball over the center-field fence to put the game away for good.
The Philippines will try to advance to the Super Round when it faces China on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Baseball Stadium.
The Nationals stormed out of the gates with four runs in the first inning on four hits, with Steven Manaig starting the scoring before Palestine’s defense eventually stifled the Philippine bats.
The West Asians, however, were never really in the thick of the fight as Philippines ace Romeo Jasmin Jr. remained unperturbed on the mound, allowing just two hits while striking out seven over six innings of work.
Liguayan finished with three hits and six RBIs in five at-bats, while Beronilla made his lone hit count with the home run, driving in three runs.
Manaig, meanwhile, was solid on both sides of the ball, going 3-for-5 at the plate while also catching all eight of the Philippines’ strikeouts, with the final one coming from closer Amiel De Guzman.
