Sagada, Canlubang advance in Li’l League

MANILA, Philippines - The Ganduyan Bucks of Sagada, Mountain Province routed the Pampanga side, 13-1, to clinch a berth in the round-of-16 in major league baseball of the Little League Philippine Series at the Marist grounds in Marikina City yesterday.

Canlubang made a big comeback in the sport it lorded over the rest in the past, posting a 6-3 win over Los Baños to top Group A in the Southern Tagalog bracket for its fourth straight win.

The Junior Barons pulled away with a three-run binge in the fourth inning behind Patrick Delos Reyes two-run hit and Oliver Tumbaga secured the win by shutting out the LB side on the sixth,

“Big boost to our baseball program back home,” said head coach Rod Valencia.

It was the third win in four outings for Sagada, composed of players from the Igorot tribe, which joined Bulacan as representatives of Group A of the North/Central Luzon bracket.

“We’re happy to reach our goal of qualifying in the next round,” said Mountain Province coach Allen Angway, a physical education teacher at Bangsan Elementary School, in Pilipino.

Bulacan topped the group with a four-game sweep, including a 13-2 rout of Baler, Aurora in the tournament sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission through commissioner and Little League Phl administrator Jolly Gomez.

Canlubang’s other wins came at the expense of Sta. Cruz, 7-0, last Monday, Calamba, 10-2, last Tuesday and Dasmariñas, 33-1, last Thursday.

Calamba eked out a 7-4 win over Sta. Cruz, the only team that fielded girls and boys in one squad with eight girls and four boys.

ILLAM, for its part, stunned National Capital Region champion Muntinlupa, 11-8, to top Group A of the NCR bracket via a four-match sweep.

Fastball-throwing Fil-Am Reed Santos held Muntinlupa to just a run after taking over on top of the fifth inning while scoring five runs to anchor ILLAM’s victory.

Muntinlupa, which will represent the Big City in the Palarong Pambansa set May 4-10 in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, appeared to have wrapped up the match after rallying from three runs down at the start of the match for an 8-7 lead on a Peter Homellada single that sent substitute runner Rafa Bailon home.

But ILLAM fought back as Joaquin Mendoza belted a hit to right field that sent three teammates home, including Marcel Guzman and Zachary Urbina after Muntinlupa fell into a maze of throwing errors.

With the win, ILLAM sealed the top seed in its bracket with four wins while dropping Muntinlupa to No. 2 with a 3-1 card.

In Group B of the Bicol/Visayas/Mindanao bracket at Boystown, Zamboanga trounced Iloilo, 8-4, to snare the No. 1 seed also via sweep.

Despite the loss, Iloilo took the other slot after finishing with a 3-1 slate.

In Senior League baseball, Sta. Rosa dumped Zambales, 17-3, and Muntinlupa blasted Ragay, 15-1.

Antipolo, meanwhile, slammed Baguio, 20-8, in junior league baseball.