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| The Blu Girls huddle up before their game. |
By Dugout Philippines
COLUMBUS, Georgia, USA--The Cebuana Lhuillier-backed Philippine Blu Girls suffered back-to-back setbacks at the start of the USA Softball International Cup currently being held at the South Commons Softball Complex.
The hard-working Blu Girls lost an early lead and dropped a high-scoring game against China, 9-6, in the morning schedule before succumbing to the USA national team, 8-1, later in the day.
"We had a close game against China. We had a good, strong start but we need to finish strong, too," said Jean Henri Lhuillier, Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (ASAPHIL) president and Cebuana Lhuillier president and CEO.
"We lost to a better playing USA team in the second game but again, our girls can only get better by playing higher-ranked teams. Nonetheless, the experience it taught our girls is a good one."
Against China, the Philippines opened up scoring in the first inning with a solo homer from Angelie Ursabia, who went 3-for-4 at the plate.
The Blu Girls recorded a total 11 hits in the game but failed to contain Xu Jia, Chen Jia, and Lu Ying, who all had multiple hits for China.
In the second game, Riflayca Basa took the loss for the Philippines. She lasted for two innings and allowed five hits and four runs while walking one.
The host team also totaled nine hits in the game and did not commit a single error in the field.
The other teams participating in the tournament are USA’s under-19 team, world No. 2 Japan, No. 4 Puerto Rico, No. 5 Mexico, No. 6 Chinese Taipei, No. 20 Peru and the Scrap Yard Fast Pitch.
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