Defending champion Education Training and Center School-Domingo Lacson National High School blanked International Little League of Manila, 11-0, yesterday to top the opening-round of the girls' Junior League 13-14 division of the Philippine Series in Tanauan, Batangas.

Substitute pitcher Michelle Lentija got a rare start and did not disappoint, Analie Benjamin came through with a solid relief job, while Cindy Carol Banay and Clariz Palma proved lethal at bat as ETCS-DLNHS clinched its second win in as many games. They will play a double-header today against their first victim, Nueva Ecija and ILLAM today with two victories assuring them of a twice-to-beat edge in the championship match.

"The girls played really well today (yesterday). But we haven't reached our target yet. We can only hope that the girls would have enough energy for the double-header," ETCS manager Lagrimas Ciokon told the DAILY STAR.

Palma and Banay belted a homerun each, while Lentija pitched four scoreless innings, before Benjamin finished the demolition in fifth and sixth frames.

Another team representing the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Little League Charter, Bacolod City National High School kept its title hopes alive in the girls' Big League 14-18 division, following a 5-3 win over Makati.

The City High girls lost a tight battle against ILLAM, 0-1, Tuesday.

The Ba-Neg LL Charter's lone setback yesterday came in the boys Little League 11-12 division, where the batters from Talisay City absorbed a 7-9 defeat at the hands of Palayan, Nueva Ecija.

Talisay coach Alex Ayagan said they led 7-4 at the end of the fourth inning but a hand injury on catcher Isagani Ocames, a key player on both offense and defense, hurt the team's chances. "We could have taken the game had Ocames did not leave the game," Ayagan, whose team is composed of players from Efignio Enrica Lizares Memorial School, said.

The Talisay batters, quarterfinalists in last year's tournament, face host Batangas today in the first of many make-or-break matches. Meanwhile, the ETCS girls Little League 11-12 team tries to get its campaign back on track after two straight losses when it battles Muntinlupa at 8 a.m. *CPT

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