Good pitching keyed Bago City’s Junior League World Series victory

By Peter Atencio

AGOOD pitching coach helped pitcher Erika Arnaiz and the Bago City softbelles hold almost every opponent they faced with a scoreless result in the 2023 Junior League Softball World Series title in Kirkland, Washington over the weekend.

Coach Francis Fuentes said this as he recalled the team’s preparations for the challenges they faced.

“Iyun ang pinagmamalaki namin. Sabi nga nila, bilog ang bola. Kung nag-training sila, as doble ang training namin,” said Fuentes in an interview on Sports Radio.

Fuentes gave credit to pitching expert Marciano Sta. Maria, a teacher at the Ramon Torres National High School for teaching Arnaiz to have the discipline and stamina to hold her own against rivals, who were much tougher than them.

Malixi routs Koo, battles Shoemaker next in US tilt

RIANNE Malixi eased out American

Ellie Koo with a birdie and an early run of pars, coming away with a 5&3 victory in the Round of 64 of the US Women’s Amateur Match Play at the Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, California Wednesday.

It was one of the few lopsided results in the first day of head-to-head duels that saw six matches go to extra holes, the most in a US Women’s Amateur since 2016 with top seed Briana Chacon surviving Olivia Duan on the 19th hole, breaking a sort of a medalist curse where six of the last nine No. 1 seeds have fallen to their No. 64 seeded rivals.

Malixi, who moved into the knockout phase at No. 23 after finishing tied at 18th in the 36-hole stroke play qualifying, pounced on Koo’s mishap on the par4 No. 2 to seize control, birdied No. 4 and won the next two holes on her opponent’s miscues to go 4-up.

Although she failed to match Koo’s birdie on the par-5 eighth after hitting two bunkers on her way to the green, the ICTSI-backed shotmaker birdied Nos. 10 and 11 to pull away by five holes.

She yielded the 12th on a bogey, regained the hole on next the with a par, lost No. 14 on another mishap but wrapped it up despite a bogey on No. 15 as Koo holed out with a double-bogey.

Malixi, runner-up in last month’s US Girls’ Junior in Colorado, faces American Bailey Shoemaker at 8:50 a.m. in the Round of 32 Thursday with the winner slugging it out with the victor in the Hailey Borja-Sara Im clash in the Last 16 in the afternoon expected to likewise test the surviving field’s staying power.

In the end, Arnaiz finished their campaign with a total of 85 strikeouts, including 15 batters in their final games. Her teammate, Buenafe, made two RBIs as the students of Ramon Torres National High School handed the Philippines its crown in 20 years in the girls’ 12-14 age bracket.

“Masaya po ako at napaghandaan namin ito,” said Arnaiz.

The Philippine team is made up of Arnaiz, Thereze Francine Fuentes, Ann Dyana Buenafe, Icelle

“He was more aggressive than me from the start,” Alcaraz said. “I tried to be solid and find my rhythm but I had some trouble. “But I’m happy to be through to the next round. Matches like this help to focus. I have to play better from now on,” added Alcaraz, who faces Polish 15th seed Hubert Hurkacz in the last 16.

Elsewhere Wednesday, French veteran Gael Monfils stunned fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, winning in straight sets to advance to the last 16.

The 36-year-old from Paris—currently ranked 276th in the world— powered past Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-3 in just under 90 minutes.

The win marked the first time Monfils has beaten a player in the top 10 since March 2022, and came against an in-form Tsitsipas fresh from winning the ATP Los Cabos title in Mexico last weekend.

Monfils, who reached the Washington third round last week, overcame 29 unforced errors to advance.

‘Stayed cool’

It took two match points for Monfils to get t he job done, with a shotmaking duel on the first winning chance ending in Tsitsipas’ fa vour before the French veteran closed out victory moments later. AFP