Philippines vies in Asian U-18 baseball

MANILA, Philippines -The Philippines seeks to put up a strong performance when it competes in the XI Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) Under-18 Baseball Championship set Aug. 30-Sept. 4 in Taichung, Taiwan.

Ranked 29th in the world, the Pinoy batters face two higher-ranked sides in Group B – world No. 3 Korea, and No. 19 China – along with 32nd ranked Thailand.

World No. 1 Japan, host and world No. 4 Chinese Taipei, No. 25 Hong Kong, and No. 49 Indonesia comprise Group A.

Coaches Ruben Angeles and Wilfredo Hidalgo have assembled a 16-man team composed of collegiate stars led by UAAP Season 78 Season MVP and Rookie of the Year Julius Diaz of UST and promising high school standouts like Benjamin Sarmiento of Southridge and Fausto Eizmendi of Brent.

Phl IX has been training for the last three months as it aims to improve its fourth place finish in the 2014 edition in Thailand.

The Filipinos immediately face an acid test on opening day as they clash with defending champion Korea at Taichung Stadium. Next up are the Thais on Aug. 31 then the Chinese on Sept. 1.

Phl U-18’s stint in the world-ranking tournament serves as part of efforts to make it to the world championships next year and also possibly shoot for an Olympics berth in the Olympics in 2020.