It took an extra inning for the Philippine baseball team to finally shake off their own doubts and take down host Thailand, staying unbeaten to secure a finals spot on Friday.
All of the Philippine baseball team's matches before this Wednesday were shutouts. Twice, they had to invoke the mercy rule. Today, the Philippine Baseball Dreamers found themselves in a tight match against host Thailand.
It took an extra inning for the Philippines to stay unbeaten in baseball preliminaries, dealing Thailand its first loss of the competition, 8-7.
"Actually, non-bearing naman itong laro. Pero itong boys ko, masyadong pressured eh. Masyadong gusto talaga manalo na convincing," coach Orlando Binarao told One Sports after the game. "Eh ganon na nangyari, naging pressure sa kanila. Lumamang pa kalaban. Bumaliktad ang sitwasyon."
The Filipinos are assured of a spot in the finals on Friday, December 12.
Despite coming into the match as defending champions from 2019 Manila, the Dreamers had plenty of concerns. The Thais had brought in a number of half-Americans and half-Japanese in their roster.
In the first two innings, the Philippines was comfortably ahead, 2-0.
The loud Filipino crowd, encouraged to watch for free during the holiday, buoyed the team with their cheers, small paper flags, and a quartet of drummers.
And then, Thailand got two runners ahead in the fourth. They added two more in the fifth.
All of a sudden, the Thais got the upper hand, 4-2.
For the first time in SEA Games 2025, the Filipinos were falling behind.
"Sabi ko naman, kayang kaya yun," Binarao recounted. "Nara-rattle na. Sabi ko naman sa kanila, every inning, kalimutan nyo na yung errors. Babawi tayo sa susunod na innings."
With renewed energy in the sixth, the Philippines paved the way for four runners to run the diamond to snatch the lead back, 6-4.
But Thailand did not want to back down and secured two more runs in the eighth. Things were tied, 6-6.
And then, unfortunate circumstances struck for the Philippines.
Jennald Pareja was chasing the ball when he felt something with his right hamstring and fell down. He tried to stand up, but had to be carried back by a teammate to the dugout.
"Pagtagpo niya sa first base, paglagpas niya doon, pumitik yata yung right leg, hamstring," Binarao said. "Hindi ako sure lung makakalaro sa championship. Hopefully makarecover."
Ninth inning ended scoreless, and the Thai crowd celebrated. They're still alive, and the game headed to a tenth inning.
There, Thailand got the first run. The Filipinos though refused to shut down.
Striking out the Thai batter, the Philippine Dreamers dug deep and sent two runners to complete their runs and the victory.
"Sana po sa next championship namin against Thailand, sana magbago ang laro nila. Sana mas magkaroon sila ng kumpyansa sa sarili nila."
Erwin Bosito was hailed by the Dreamers as the hero of the game with 2 RBI and 85% contact accuracy.
The Philippines, now at 5-0, will next face Laos on Thursday before facing Thailand once again on Friday for the gold medal match.
More than the half-Thais and the pressure of taking on the host country once again, the undefeated Dreamers of Philippine baseball have to beat their doubters—their own selves.
[ALSO READ: SCHEDULE | Team Philippines competes at SEA Games 2025 Thailand]
Katrina Alba is a sports journalist and producer, notably with SportsCenter Philippines before taking on her current role at One Sports.
She primarily writes about basketball and volleyball, with experience covering the SEA Games, Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup.
Outside of work, her hobbies include running, swimming, pickleball, yoga, arnis, and krav maga.