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| Fate and Red Castle members strike a friendly pose after the game. |
By Emz Frial
All-Filipino softball team, Fate, has blasted its way through the first two Sundays of competition in the 2017 Festival of Sports (FOS), an annual contest organized by the Hong Kong Softball Association.
The rules provide for all softball teams to play against each other, and the only team left standing will be declared as this year’s champion. Fate trounced all of its three opponents in the knock-out games held on Mar 26 and April 2.
On opening day, Fate finished off CUHK Phoenix, 8-1, after an initial hiccup.
The game started with Fate as the away team. Unfortunately for the team, none of its first three batters managed to reach home base.
First batter Ynez Badajos was caught with a fly ball by Phoenix’s third baseman, while Myra Japitana was put out on second base, and team captain Don Gaborno, on third base.
When the locals took their turn to bat, it was immediately clear they were determined to take the upper hand. Wong Ka Wing did not disappoint when she managed to reach home base safely, giving Phoenix the chance to score first. But the momentum was soon lost when the team suffered three successive outs.
Fate walked into the second inning determined to again prove that they are the team to beat. And prove they did, with seven players all contributing a point each. Those who scored were Ma. Eva Mendez, Lyka Algonez, Cherry Octaviano, Romela Osabel, Emily Mabaquioa, Rubielibe Ondayang and Badajos.
Phoenix did not lose heart, showing their best form in the third inning, while trying their best to keep Fate from scoring again. On the fourth inning, Ondayang managed to break free to make the score 8-1 in favor of Fate.
It was stalemate once again on the fifth, so the match ended with the score still at 8-1, for Fate.
The competition at Shek Kip Mei field became more intense on Apr 2, when Fate had to knock out two more opponents to surge ahead.
In the first game played at 10:30am, Fate again showed its brand of resilience when it knocked out another local team, Red Castle, 7-2, in six innings.
Fate scored three points in the second inning, courtesy of Badajos, Percy Jayme and May Amar Ledesma. They added two more in the second inning, through Ondayang and Katherine Gerpacio. On the fifth inning, Myra Japitana added one more point, while Badajos completed the scoring in the sixth inning.
Red Castle’s two points were made in the first and third innings by Chan Tsz Yan.
At 2:30pm of the same day, Fate faced another local rival, Celsius. The game proved to be an easy one for Fate, as it piled score after score, with Celsius failing to respond. Gaborno’s fast balls, helped by the tight defense of the team’s basemen and fielders, led to most of the rival’s batters being called standing out.
After four innings, the score was at 10-0 in favor of Fate. Umpires had to stop the game then because of regulation.
Those who scored in the first inning were: Japitana, Mendez, and Gaborno. In the second inning, Ondayang, Hidalgo, Badajos, and Japitana added a point each. In third inning, Ondayang again scored, while two more points were added by Mendez and Gaborno in the fourth inning.
Lending support to Fate’s usual cheerers at the games were some members of Philippine Sluggers, an all-Filipino baseball team. As always, Fate’s manager Law Wai-ho was grinning ear to ear as he witnessed his team sail home from one victory to another.
Fate is now poised to play in FOS’ championship round.
