MIRI, The Sarawak men's softball team went down fighting 8-9 to Johor in their opening Group A match at Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) Miri today.Sarawak fought back in the fourth and sixth innings after falling behind but still found Johor a tough nut to crack in the nearly two-hour match.Sarawak head coach Aaron Abel Donald was full of praise for his players despite the narrow defeat.'We gave a good fight although we found ourselves trailing 3-8 by the third innings. Although we tried to stage a fightback, luck was not on our side and we ended up losing narrowly.'Whatever it is, I'm extremely satisfied with my players' performance. We still have two more matches to go and I want us to win them so that we can advance further,' he told Bernama.Meanwhile, Perak edged Pahang 3-2 in a Group B clash.Softball, which offers a gold medal each in the men's and women's categories, began today and will end on Monday (Aug 19).Source: BERNAMA News Agency