Philippines, 17 Feb 2025
  Home >> News

 


BOXERS

CURRENT CHAMPIONS 

FORMER CHAMPIONS   

RATINGS                       

NEWS           

FORUM        

FIGHT GALLERIES        

RING CARD GIRLS        


 
 
News  


Sports Feature: The making of Julita Tayo, the world?s best left-handed pitcher


PhilBoxing.com



Julita Tayo.

She barely stood five-foot flat. Her arms and legs were short. She weighed competitively at 145 pounds, too heavy for her built. In short, she looked everything but a softball pitcher.

No less than the then United States Softball Commissioner Joe Barber pronounced her as such during a dinner tendered in honor of the Philippine Blu Girls in their visit to Stratford sometimes in 1968 in preparation for the second World Women?s Softball Championship set in Osaka in 1970.

?Miss Tayo here is the best southpaw pitcher I?ve ever seen. I reiterate -- she is the best!? Barber proclaimed in the presence of Rizal Provincial Gov. Isidro Rodriguez, then the president of the Amateur Softball Association-Philippines and other team officials.

In the same U.S. visit, this time in Ohio, another top Amerian softball official echoed the same observation, saying in one gathering: ?She (Tayo) is the best left-handed hurler in the world today.?

A wealthy lumberman, also in Ohio, offered Julita a high-paying job plus free education if only she plays for his team.
One noted Japanese official butted in: ?There?s no doubt about it. She is one of the best in the whole of Asia, if not the world.?

And there were basis for these observations. In two Asian championships, one world tournament coupled with a two-month tour of the U.S., this chubby, fat girl from San Miguel town in Bulacan, proved to be one of the big factors in the Blu Girls successes. Friends and fans alike nicknamed her ?Dari? sort for Darigold, a brand of locally-made milk owing to her size.

Philippine softball owed this to Julita?s father, Mang Adriano Tayo, a World War II veteran and a frustrated athlete who after his first child, a girl, with his wife Maria had been praying for a boy, had continuously been, all those years, frustrated.
The elder Tayo, from childhood, had dreamed of becoming an athlete. He tried many sports like volleyball, softball, baseball and even basketball to no avail. Had his second child been a boy, he often told friends and neighbors, he could hve trained him to be an athlete and satisfied his failure to be one.

With the birth of Leonisa and Julita, Mang Adriano could not do anything but think of what sports his two daughters can excel. And he finally thought of softball, a sport played by both men and women.

Juilita was only six when Mang Adriano thought it was time to try her in softball. She was then no more than three feet tall. Friends and neighbors alike cautioned him it was too early to expose his second baby to the rigor of training. Waking up at 4:30 in the morning daily, whisked to an open field back of their house and train from 5 to 7 a.m.

The young Tayo never complained.

The Tayo sisters were soon seen competing in the schools meet, representing San Miguel High School in the Central Luzon Athletic Association competitions nationwide.

They both made it to the Philippine Blu Girls team to the 1967 Asian Championship whith Julta merely playing backup to sister Leonisa and Purita Jacinto on the mound. With Leonisa heavy with her first child, only Julita made it as reliever to Ms. Jacinto in 1968 in Taipei where the Philippines retained runner up honors to Japan.

That also made her a cinch to the national squad to the Second World Championships in 1970 in Osaka where she finally came of age with her performance, including a 1-0 blanking of the United States as the Blu Girls barged into the championship round with their victims, eventual champion Japan, and defending titlist Aaustralia.

The Americans avenged thir elims loss to the Blu Girls on error, but nobody cared for the Blu Girls completed the Australians? dethronement with a 4-0 shutout to bring home the bronze medal, thus, gifting the country the distinct honor of emerging the third best softball-playing nation on the planet.

When the Blu Girls returned to the country, Julita, who became Mrs. Dela Cruz later, was already the Philippines? no. 1 pitcher besides making official, too, the recognition as the best left-haned pitcher in the world.


Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.


Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:

  • IM Chito Danilo Garma rules 5th AQ Prime Standard Open chess tournament
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Mon, 17 Feb 2025
  • Ryan Clark defeats Ross Rodriguez in Old-fashioned barnburner fight
    , Mon, 17 Feb 2025
  • Vince Paras Secures Impressive TKO Victory in Johor Bahru, Malaysia
    , Sun, 16 Feb 2025
  • Concio unbeaten for IIEE Quezon to advance to Finals of PTC-WED
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Sun, 16 Feb 2025
  • OSCAR "LA MIGRAÑA" DUARTE HANDS MIGUEL "EXPLOSIVO" MADUEÑO HIS FIRST CAREER KNOCKOUT LOSS TO CLAIM WBA CONTINENTAL AMERICAS SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE
    , Sun, 16 Feb 2025
  • US Olympics Silver Medalist Nabs Pro "Gold"; Keyshawn Davis Wins WBO Crown by Knockout
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Sun, 16 Feb 2025
  • Roy Jones Jnr and Israil Madrimov Break Down Canelo-Crawford Fight
    , Sun, 16 Feb 2025
  • April 5: Heavyweight Titans Richard Torrez Jr. & Guido Vianello to Collide at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas LIVE on ESPN+
    , Sun, 16 Feb 2025
  • Cleveland, OKC Keep Lead But Old Vets Dominate All Stars Squads
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Sun, 16 Feb 2025
  • IM Garma notches third win in 5th AQ Prime Standard Open Chess Tournament
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Sun, 16 Feb 2025
  • Business Handled: Keyshawn Davis Crushes Denys Berinchyk in Four to Capture Lightweight Crown
    , Sat, 15 Feb 2025
  • Secret is never retire
    By Joaquin Henson, , Sat, 15 Feb 2025
  • DUARTE VS. MADUEÑO WEIGH-IN RESULTS
    , Sat, 15 Feb 2025
  • "FIGHT NIGHT AT THE VETS CLUB III" Official Weights from Bridgewater (MA)
    , Sat, 15 Feb 2025
  • Denys Berinchyk Defends WBO Lightweight Title Tonight vs. Keyshawn Davis at Madison Square Garden
    , Sat, 15 Feb 2025
  • Weigh-In Results from Manchester: Catterall - 139.14 lbs; Barbosa - 139.10 lbs.
    , Sat, 15 Feb 2025
  • Experts Weigh In: Floyd Mayweather, Roy Jones Jr., and Errol Spence Make Their Picks for Canelo vs. Crawford
    , Sat, 15 Feb 2025
  • Berinchyk vs Davis: Fight Week Racism Only Adds Fuel to Keyshawn’s Fire
    By Chris Carlson, , Fri, 14 Feb 2025
  • Weigh-In Results: Denys Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn Davis
    , Fri, 14 Feb 2025
  • DUARTE VS. MADUEÑO FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
    , Fri, 14 Feb 2025
  • THE REMATCH: WBC INTERIM LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION WILLIAM "EL CAMARÓN" ZEPEDA DEFENDS TITLE AGAINST TEVIN “2X” FARMER IN HIGH-STAKES CLASH
    , Fri, 14 Feb 2025
  • Former World Champion Richard Commey is back! Feb. 23rd at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre
    , Fri, 14 Feb 2025
  • THE BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA JUNIOR OPEN DEBUTS – ENTRIES NOW OPEN!
    , Fri, 14 Feb 2025
  • Jerusalem Eyes Repeat, Yudai Shigeoka Seeks Redemption in WBC 105 Lbs Title Rematch
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Fri, 14 Feb 2025
  • CATTERALL VS. BARBOZA JR + UNDERCARD FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
    , Fri, 14 Feb 2025




  •  



     
    PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring
    Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general.
    Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com


    PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
    developed and maintained by dong secuya
    © 2025 philboxing.com.