Nothing new here, Blu Girls still queens of softball
BANGKOK—The Philippine Blu Girls continued their dominance in women’s softball of the Southeast Asian Games on Friday, winning the gold to be a perfect 11-for-11 in the event.
But it didn’t come without some resistance from Singapore before the Blu Girls came away with a 4-1 victory at Queen Sirikit Baseball Stadium in Pathum Thani.
It took a three-run sixth inning for the Blu Girls to finally break free, before southpaw pitcher Royevel Palma capped off her big outing by closing out the Singaporeans in the seventh and final inning.
Palma struck out 10 batters in a complete-game effort as the Blu Girls repeated their feat from six years ago when the sport was held back home in Clark, Pampanga.
But the Blu Girls had one of their toughest championship runs, as their opening assignment had to go through an extra inning to be decided.
Softball has double
The Philippines defeated Singapore, 2-1, on a walk-off in the eighth before winning its next three in lopsided margins.
The rematch saw the Blu Girls buck a 1-0 deficit when an error by Singapore allowed Mary Joy Libaton to score.
An error also enabled Nicole Hammoude to score the go-ahead run in the decisive sixth, while Angelu Gabriel added two more with a double as the Blu Girls extended the gap.
Their triumph made it a double gold for softball in the 33rd edition of the Games.
A day earlier, the Blu Boys downed Singapore, 3-0, behind a 17-strikeout performance from lefty pitcher Jehanz Coro.
A week earlier, the men’s baseball squad downed Thailand, 5-3, to win the gold at the same field.
