PH baseball squad loses to New Zealand, fails to reach WBC qualifiers finale

By Celest R. Flores
INQUIRER.net

The Philippine men?s baseball squad. FILE PHOTO FROM WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC TWITTER ACCOUNT

MANILA, Philippines ? The Philippine men?s baseball squad failed to get a crack at a spot in the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) after bowing out of the qualifiers in New Taipei City in Taiwan.

Back-to-back losses doomed the Philippines? bid, absorbing a frustrating 6-10 setback in the hands of New Zealand Saturday night.

An error-marred performance proved costly for the Philippine batters, who, though, managed to mount a rally in the eighth inning.

It was only in the eighth that the Philippines, which lost 16-0 to host Chinese Taipei Friday, posted a real threat after trailing 2-10.

But New Zealand, which faces the Taiwanese in the finale, turned an inning-ending double play to halt the Filipinos and let out a sigh of relief en route to the win.

A lone spot in the 2013 WBC is at stake in the double-elimination tournament, which will be disputed Sunday at the Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium.

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Tags: Baseball , New Zealand , Philippines , Sports , WBC qualifiers

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Source: http://sports.inquirer.net/71660/ph-baseball-squad-loses-to-new-zealand-fails-to-reach-wbc-qualifiers-finale

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