Sluggers beat rival Pinays for Group B crown of HK Baseball tournament

Philippine Sluggers whoop it up with Coach David Wong after their victory.

Philippine Sluggers crowned itself as Women Grade B champion in the Hong Kong Baseball League 2015/2016 season after beating rival Filipino team Buffalo, 24-6, on May 8 on the Lion Rock pitch.
The victory was a vindication for Sluggers, which slipped last season from Grade A amid a futile struggle to stay in the top division without a coach and amid a loss of its mainstays to migration to greener pastures.
Winning the group championship was also a huge morale-booster for the squad, whose president Cecil Calsas also patiently acted as its coach and trainer in the previous season as its Australian coach John Rostagno went to the Middle East on a job assignment.
Playing without sponsorships, the team of entirely domestic workers spent on their own gear and toughed it out with Calsas as they kept their side intact.
With their brilliant performance on the pitch catching the attention of baseball lovers, helping hands finally reached out to Sluggers.
“Hats off to all the people who helped the team financially and morally to overcome the many months of training and games,” Calsas declared on her Facebook post after the victory on May 8.
“David Wong, you rock! Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Ping and Tin Tin Cuisia Remollo for believing in the team's capability. You did it, ladies. Hello A league!” she exclaimed.
Sluggers set up the championship duel with Buffalo, the older all-Filipino team in the league, by pulverizing local side Fortissimo 18-1 in the Group B semifinals on Feb 28 at Hin Keng Field in Tai Wai.
Buffaloes, meanwhile, beat local squad Hare in Group A in March.
After hammering Fortissimo in February, coach David Wong, who came to Sluggers’ aid this season, read the writing on the wall.
“Our fixture has been great, the fielding, there were no errors and everybody peaking in the battings, and in terms of defense they were good, too,” said Wong.
He forecast that Sluggers would return to the A league next season.
This was the first time Wong coached Sluggers and has been with it for the past year, while coaching in the men’s A league.
Rostagno, who returned to the team this season after a four-year absence, also had faith in Sluggers saying it was a very good team. Unfortunately, he was not in Hong Kong to savor the victory with the team as he flew to Dubai shortly after the Tai Wai battle.