BY JONAS TERRADO
CLARKFIELD, Pampanga – The Philippine Blu Girls gave their two departing players a fitting sendoff by blanking Indonesia, 8-0, to retain the gold in women’s softball of the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Clark International Sports Complex here.
The Blu Girls scored all of their runs in the second inning while Ann Antolihao and Lyca Basa combined to pitch a shutout to expectedly keep the Philippines’ softball supremacy in the region.
The win turned out to be more important for catcher Cheska Altomonte and shortstop Garie Blando, who made it known that the game will be their last for the national team.
Altomonte, 25, said it was time to give the younger players a chance while shifting on focusing on the management aspect of the team while Blando is putting full focus on becoming a doctor.
“I think I’ve given everything to the team from leading it to managing it to doing administrative stuff,” Altomonte said. “I think this is a good time for the young pool to come in and train for the next tournament.”
The Blu Boys, however, suffered a 6-1 loss to Singapore to settle for silver in men’s softball.
Singapore erupted for three runs in the second inning to deny the Philippines the gold for the first time since the 1997 Jakarta Games.
It was the third defeat by the Blu Boys against the Singaporeans this year, including the World Championship and the Page System semis of these Games.
