Blu Girls stun Ireland to finish fifth in U18 Softball World Cup

The Philippines' Blu Girls salvaged a fifth place finish in the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup Group C after blanking Ireland, 4-0, to close out its campaign on late Monday in Dallas, USA. 

The Blu Girls scored four runs in the first three innings, including two in the second, while limiting the opponents to none en route to fifth place with an overall 1-4 slate while Ireland finished at sixth with a 0-5 record. 

Host USA swept the tournament with a 5-0 tally followed by Canada at second (4-1) and Mexico at third (3-2). Australia, meanwhile, emerged at fourth with a 2-3 card. 

With their top two outputs, the Americans and the Canadians will advance to the finals set next year also in the USA while the rest of the field are already out of medal contention. Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan, China, Puerto Rico, and New Zealand have also advanced to the finals. 

The Philippines took home a total of two wins in the tournament after also beating Ireland during the opening round, 5-2, before their rematch for the playoffs. They, however, fired blank against both Canada, 0-6, and USA, 0-7, while losing steam against Australia after absorbing a 4-7 defeat. 

—JKC, GMA Integrated News