Philippine men’s baseball will look to pull off a repeat of its conquest six years ago on home soil as the sport makes a return to the Southeast Asian Games.
The Philippines launches its title-retention bid against Indonesia on Saturday at Queen Sirikit Sports Center in Pathum Thani with the first pitch set at 9:30 a.m. local time (10:30 a.m. Philippine time).
Veteran pitcher Romeo Jasmin, Mark Steven Manaig, Paolo Macasaet, John Vargas and Bong Liguayan lead the squad for the event that was not held in Hanoi in 2022 and Cambodia two years ago.
Team Philippines took home the gold during the 2019 event held in Pampanga, rolling past Thailand, 15-2, in the final.
The Filipino batters have won four of the five stagings at the SEA Games, with golden feats in 2005 at Rizal Memorial Stadium and 2011 in Palembang, Indonesia.
Its only dent was in 2007 when it lost to host Thailand in Nakhon Ratchasima.
That defeat may serve as one of the motivations of the Orlando Binarao-coached Philippine team, which will also face the host country, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam.
Other players listed for the Games are Kent Joered Altarejos, Mark Beronilla, Erwin Bosito, Clarence Caasalan, Mar-Joseph Carolino, Amiel de Guzman, Liam Alexi de Vera, Junmar Diarao, John Leonel Matanguihan, Joven Kenneth Maulit, James Vincent Nisnisan and Jennald Pareja.
Also in the team are Nigel Paule, Joshua Pineda, Renato Samuel and Kennedy Torres.