By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Philippine Blu Boys dropped another tightly-contested match, a 3-2 defeat to a streaking Venezuelans side in the 18th WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup Group A stage at the Estadio Mundiallistas Hermosille nses in Mexico on Sunday, June 16.
The Blu Boys engaged their rivals in a fierce showdown right from the start and it was only in the 8th inning where the game tilted on Venezuela’s side – thanks to Veteran Rafael Flores who cracked a single for the winning run.
Flores was on target all game-long home, making all his four tries at bat – the last saw Carlos Alvarez scampering home for the marginal run.
Luis Colombo also starred for Venezuela by striking out six Blu Boys against three walks to help his team win for the fifth straight game.
Venezuela’s opening round sweep advanced them to the playoffs as the first seeded team while the Blu Boys are set to play Czechia later in the last game of the opening round.
The Blu Boys also fell to a 1-3 card to tie with Czechia and Mexico at the bottom standings behind second-running Dominican Republic (3-1) and Australia (2-3).
Prior to the defeat, the Blu Boys are coming off a stunning 3-1 victory against host Mexico the other day. Their previous losses came from Dominican Republic, 5-2, on opening day Thursday, June 13, and reigning champion Australia, 5-4, on Friday, June 14.
