Pilipinas Agilas Snags Medal at Int’l Baseball Event

The Pilipinas Agilas team with their coaches and team manager Bobbit Casillano (third row, leftmost), after receiving their runner-up award at the end of the Pinto 8U Coach Pitch International Baseball Classic in Mt. Vernon. (Soy Molina photo)

CHICAGO 17 August 2018 – A team of young Filipino batters aged 8 and under took home a runner-up medal at the 2018 Pinto 8U Coach Pitch International Baseball Classic in Mt. Vernon, Illinois on 19 to 21 July 2018.

The Philippine Consulate General in Chicago assisted the “Pilipinas Agilas” with a bus that took most of the players and their accompanying parents and coaches on a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Chicago to Mt. Vernon.

In their final match, the Agilas tried to repeat their first-round victory over the home team, but the Mt. Vernon boys erased a two-run lead in the closing innings to eventually upend the visitors from Manila, 10-07.

The Philippine contingent ended up tied for fifth in the overall standings, which was topped by a squad from Aruba.

On the opening day of the competition, Deputy Consul General Romulo Victor M. Israel Jr. visited the team and met with Philippine TOT Baseball President and Protect Our Nation’s Youth (PONY) Southeast Asian Region Director Rodolfo Tingzon Jr., who organized the qualifying PONY tournament in the Philippines.

Mr. Tingzon said several teams from the Philippines are competing in PONY League baseball and softball competitions in various parts of the U.S. this summer. He stressed the importance of the support extended by the respective Philippine Foreign Service Posts and Filipino-American Communities in ensuring the successful and gainful experiences of the young Filipino athletes.

Deputy Consul General Israel noted that the Association of Filipino Physicians in Southern Illinois stepped up to the plate in cheering and hosting the Agilas during their brief sojourn in Mt. Vernon.

In addition, the Philippine Medical Association in Chicago and Philippine Independence Week Committee provided for the rental of a bus that ferried the entire team from their hotel to the Cusumano Sports Complex for the duration of their stay.

To help prepare for their journey, the Cathedral Filipino Network likewise helped arrange the players and their families’ partaking of the Holy Eucharist at the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, where they received special prayers and blessings from a Filipino priest Don Cambe on the eve of their trip to Mt. Vernon.

Team managers Bobbit Casillano conveyed the team’s heartfelt thanks for the teamwork of the Consulate General and the Filipino Community, who came together and delivered genuine Pinoy hospitality, support and concern. END

For more information, visit www.chicagopcg.dfa.gov.ph; www.chicagopcg.com or https://www.facebook.com/PHinChicago.