Palestine defeats Sri Lanka in group play finale
Undefeated in group play, Palestine looks to make history at West Asia Baseball Cup
Sunday afternoon’s 11-5 victory against Sri Lanka didn’t start off pretty. A few first inning errors put Palestine in an early 3-0 hole, but their timely hitting and base running helped seal their third win in a row.
The offense followed short stop Syam Lafi’s lead. He set the tone with a lead-off double. His teammates would add three hits and score 4 runs that inning before never looking back. Three different batters drove in at least 2 runs—Yunis Haleem, Dylan Ahmad, Yousef Abbasi and Charles Haddad.
Sri Lanka kept the game close for a majority of the matchup, but Palestine pulled away in the 7th and 8th innings. The loss will most likely end Sri Lanka’s chances of making it to the playoff round, while Palestine presumably locked in the number one overall seed.
After the rocky first inning, Starting pitcher Omar Shabluq settled in and didn’t allow another run. He pitched a total of 4 1/3 innings before being relieved by Paul Baba in the 5th with a 5-3 lead.
Baba completely shutdown Sri Lanka during his 2 2/3 innings. He didn’t allow a hit or a walk and struck out 3 batters before Patrick Khoury entered the game to pitch the final 2 innings. Khoury struck out three batters in his pitching debut for Palestine.
They will need their bats to stay hot in the playoffs. They will most likely be matched up with Iran in the first round with a chance at either India or tournament favorite Pakistan in the finals.
To upend the former champions and this year’s favorites, Palestine will have to play better defense. Their hitting and pitching was able to mask today’s six errors, but a veteran team like Pakistan will do a better job of exploiting mistakes.
The bad news heading into the playoffs is the team will most likely be without pitcher and infielder Ibrahim Shalabi, who injured his hamstring during the first game against India.
The good news is the team did not have to exhaust its pitchers during group play. Even though Brent Powers pitched a complete game, he told me he’s “locked in” and him and fellow pitcher Yunis Halim are “fresh.” Manager Oney Guillen did not have to use Halim as a pitcher during the group stage, giving them a huge advantage heading into the end of the tournament.
Palestine’s roster is filled with duel threats which allowed them to save their conventional arms for games with higher stakes. Guys like Shabluq, Shalabi, and Adam Musa, can play the field, hit and pitch when needed.
Most likely, Iran is up next but we will confirm the playoff schedule as soon as it’s announced.
