Two Filipino batters have been picked among the best baseball players in Asia.
Best First Baseman Diego Lozano and Best Second Baseman Jennald Pareja were named to a 10-man mythical first team at the recently concluded Asian Baseball Championships in Taichung, Taiwan.
Lozano, 22, is a product of the International Little League Association of Manila (ILLAM) and La Salle while Pareja, 29, came from ILLAM and Adamson, now playing for Air Force.
In the prestigious regional baseball tournament that wrapped up on October 21, Lozano finished with seven runs, eight hits, six RBIs, a double, two triples and a homer. Pareja had six runs, 10 hits, five RBIs, three doubles and two triples.
The baseball highlight of Lozano is when he scored the only run against China and cracked a four-bagger against South Korea.
Another Filipino batter who was cited by the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) was Erwin Bosito, 23. He’s from Los Baños and a protégé of the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association.
Bosito took the individual award for most stolen bases with five, two each against Pakistan and Sri Lanka and one against Hong Kong.
Of the 10 players in the mythical team, three were from Chinese-Taipei, two from Japan and the Philippines and one from Korea, China and Hong Kong.
The Philippines finished the tourney in 5th place with 4 wins and a loss.
The only loss was a 12-2 decision to Korea in the preliminaries. The Philippines beat Pakistan, 11-0, China, 1-0, Hong Kong, 10-0 and Sri Lanka, 7-1.
The Philippines was tied with China and Korea for first place in Group B at the end of the preliminaries but failed to qualify for the Super Round or Final Four because of an inferior quotient.
The Philippines is ranked No. 33 in the World Baseball Federation standings but in Taichung, defeated three countries that are ahead in rankings – No. 20 China, No. 24 Pakistan and No. 28 Hong Kong.
Host Chinese Taipei captured the crown after defeating Japan, 5-4, in the gold medal match, while China won the bronze medal after an 8-6 victory over South Korea.
Team Philippines saw victories this year, among them, the big win at the Junior League Softball Asia Pacific Championship, Major softball win against China at the Little League World Series, and the Bulacan softbelles placing Top 3 in the Little League World Series.
SEND congratulations in the comments below to our Filipino players for playing excellent sports at the Asian Baseball Championships!
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