Blu Girls fall short vs Italians  

MANILA, Philippines — It was good while it lasted.

But when it all ended, the Philippine Blu Girls made sure everybody remembered.

The Filipina clouters did just that Wednesday as they showed incredible resilience against the highly favored Italians before eventually falling short in a 6-5 defeat that concluded their WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup campaign in Castions di Strada, Italy.

The heartbreaking defeat denied the Blu Girls a chance to fight one more time for that one last ticket to the eight-team World Cup Finals the Italians would again host next year.

Instead, the Japanese and the Canadians booked the Group C berths with the Italians assured of slot being the hosts.

“While this may not be the outcome that we were hoping for, I am still immensely proud of the Blu Girls. They never flinched despite being grouped together with higher-ranking teams like Japan, Canada, Italy and Venezuela,” said Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines president Jean Henri Lhuillier. “I believe that our girls will bounce back from this and come back stronger than ever at the next World Cup.”