Indonesia gets into the swing of things at Manila baseball event

Indonesia gets into the swing of things at Manila baseball event

Mariko Takayasu, Contributor, Jakarta

Baseball's popularity in Indonesia is growing steadily with
children and adults playing the game year round, rain or shine.

On weekends, scores of baseball players from Indonesia and
other countries descend upon Jakarta's prized baseball fields at
Senayan to perfect their hitting, batting and fielding in a sport
fast becoming a favorite.

It appears all this training is paying off as these ball clubs
begin competing in -- and winning -- regional tournaments.

This past week in Manila, the Jakarta Major League All-Star
team won the regional championship in its division, while Jakarta
teams made a strong showing in the five-nation Southeast Asia
Youth Baseball and Softball Tournament.

Three of the four teams from Jakarta qualified for the
championship game in their respective divisions, the first time
so many Jakarta teams had reached the final round in more than a
decade.

"Putting three teams into the finals is unheard of," said
Jakarta Youth Baseball Assn. commissioner Bernie McCloskey. "In
the previous 10 years we have had only three teams reach the
finals. In this one tournament, we were able to match the success
of the previous 10 years (combined)."

In a surprise, tournament officials named Jakarta as the site
for next year's regional tournament, which will see All-Star
teams from Jakarta, Bangkok, Singapore, Manila and Perth
competing.

The tournament hasn't been held in Jakarta since 1996.

"We've been waiting a long time for this tournament to return
to Jakarta," said McCloskey. "This will be a great opportunity
for Jakarta to showcase its first-class baseball facilities and
its wonderful hospitality."

In the final round of the tournament on Sunday, the Jakarta
Major League All-Star team, made up of boys aged 13 and 14, beat
Perth 10-2 as Jakarta's hard-throwing pitching staff limited the
division's strongest-hitting team on just four hits.

Jakarta first baseman Tyler Orton hit a two-run homer in the
third inning to put Jakarta ahead for good. It was Orton's second
home run of the competition, his first being a game-winning blast
against a strong Manila team earlier in the tournament.

Centerfielder Darryl Ratulangi also homered in an earlier
game.

Jakarta pitcher Kazuki Tsuji, who pitched the final inning and
struck out all three batters he faced, was named the Major
League's Most Valuable Player. He struck out 18 batters in the 12
innings he pitched in the tournament, including five shutout
innings on Friday against Singapore.

Tata Putra, who pitched three shutout innings in the
championship game against Perth, also turned in a dominating
pitching performance throughout the tournament, striking out 14
batters in 12 innings.

Jakarta's batters hammered out 13 hits in the final game,
including two each by Donovan Schneider, Tommy Paddock, Orton,
Kazuki and Darryl. Rama Danang, Yuya Oshima and Raghav Kao also
had key hits as the Jakarta batters kept up the pressure on the
Perth pitchers.

The team is made up of players from Indonesia, Japan, the
United States and India.

"It's great to see a multinational group of kids come together
so well as a team," said coach David Orton. "They don't have a
common language but somehow they were able to communicate with
each other and work fantastically as a team."

The Jakarta Senior League team, made up of boys under the age
of 19, was one out away from a victory over Manila in the
championship game, but saw the game slip away when a Manila
hitter slugged a towering two-run home run with two outs in the
bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game 3-3. Manila went on
to win 4-3 in the eighth.

The Jakarta Girls Softball team, led by pitcher Isti Dewiyanti
and power-hitting Jessica R.S. Prasetyo, reached the finals by
beating Singapore, Bangkok and Perth, but lost to a tough Manila
team in the final game 10-2.

Jakarta was particularly tough on rival Singapore in this
competition, with all four Indonesian teams, including the Minor
League team made up of boys aged 11 and 12, defeated all four of
Singapore's teams.