The Philippine Men’s National Baseball Team is off to a blazing start in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, cruising to a perfect 3-0 record with dominant wins over Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.
On Monday at the Queen Sirikit Baseball Stadium, Team Philippines needed just five innings to dismantle Malaysia, claiming a 21-0 shutout.
Baseball makes its return to the SEA Games after not being played in the last two editions, and the Philippines is gunning for its fourth gold medal in the event.
Coach Orlando Binarao’s squad produced 21 runs despite recording just 10 hits, taking advantage of 11 walks and three errors by Malaysia to trigger the 15-run mercy rule.
“Kailangan talaga i-treat namin every game like it’s championship game, so hindi puwede magrelax-relax hanggang sa makamit ulit namin ang gold,” said Binarao, whose team also won the last SEA Games baseball tournament on home soil in 2019.
The offensive onslaught was led by Liam de Vera, who went 2-for-4 with four RBIs.
Paulo Macasaet also delivered a big performance, going 1-for-4 with three RBIs, while Nigel Paule drove in five runs on two hits.
John Matanguihan added three runs on two hits, Mark Beronilla contributed one RBI in a 1-for-2 effort, and Kenneth Maulit scored three times on one hit. Razhley Santos also chipped in with a run and an RBI.
Clarence Caasalan was untouchable on the mound, striking out six batters in three innings while allowing just one hit and no runs.
Kennedy Torres then stepped in to close the game, delivering two scoreless innings of his own, fanning three batters and allowing no hits or walks.
Together, the duo held Malaysia to a single hit and zero runs over five innings, completing a flawless shutout.
Earlier in the tournament, Team Philippines routed Indonesia, 14-0, and Singapore, 17-3, with both games ending early due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Up next, the Filipinos will face Vietnam on Tuesday as a tune-up before their highly anticipated showdown against host Thailand on Wednesday.
“’Yun talaga ang pinaghahandaan namin dahil may mga Thai-American sila, mga Thai-Japanese na players,” Binarao said.
“Pero alam namin na pinaghahandaan nila kami.”
The single-round eliminations will conclude on Thursday, with the top two teams advancing to Friday’s gold-medal match.
