FILE – Philippine men’s baseball team. PHOTO/ Baseball Federation of Asia Facebook
The Philippines rolled past Thailand 11-1 in eight innings on Friday to claim a fifth-place finish in the men’s baseball competitions of the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Culture Center.
The Philippine batters scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to set things up for a one-sided seeding round affair that ultimately ended abruptly due to a 10-run mercy rule and yielded the best seeding among teams not in managed to get the super score. round.
Coach Orlando Binarao’s side also equaled the best finish produced by the Philippines in the diamond, achieved in Bangkok and Busan in 1998 and 2002 respectively. The country finished sixth in Doha in 2006, the last time the national baseball team participated in the Asiad.
The team was able to end the campaign on a high after two defeats against Japan and hosts China ended its bid to reach the super round that would put the Philippines on the mainland for a medal.
Before the qualifying round, the Philippines defeated Laos 7-0 on Tuesday.
On Thursday, the Philippines defeated Hong Kong 5-1, scoring three insurance runs in the seventh and eighth inning.
South Korea and Chinese Taipei were disputing the gold as of posting time.