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MANILA
remained the only undefeated team in the Baseball
Philippines Series III tournament.
This,
after the Sharks beat the previously undefeated Antipolo
Pilgrims, 11-5, Sunday for its fourth victory in the
tournament played at the Rizal Memorial Ballpark.
National
player Niño Tator chalked up five RBIs (runs-batted-in),
including a pair each in the third and fourth innings.
He also blasted a solo home run off Fernando Badrina to
left field and out of the ballpark in the eighth to
punctuate his offensive onslaught.
Romeo
Jasmin started on the mound and held for four and
one-third strong innings, yielding only three runs in
five hits. He was relieved by Joseph Albindo, who gave
up only one hit and two runs in three-and-two-thirds of
work, before national hurler Charlie Labrador finished
the ninth by not allowing anyone on base.
Tator’s
RBIs actually were the cornerstone of a four-run binge
in each of the third and fourth frames that set up the
lopsided contest.
“The
boys were just determined. We just took it one hit at a
time,” said Manila-Harbour Centre manager Joel Palanog.
The
Pilgrims dropped to 2-1.
Batangas,
meanwhile, pulled off a come-from-behind victory on a
home run by Roel Batuto over defending champion
Cebu, 8-6, while Taguig notched its first win after four games by
defeating the Makati Mariners, 10-0, in seven innings.
Batuto,
a 28-year-old national player from Davao City, capped a
five-run sixth by sending last year’s Most Valuable
Player Joseph Orillana’s first pitch—a high fastball—to
the left field stands.
Vladimir
Eguia’s six-run, six-hit, no-relief job worked wonders
for the Bulls, who improved to 2-1 to tie the Pilgrims.
“The
players just settled down and did not lose their
composure,” said Batangas manager Randy Dizer.
Cebu
scored two on errors in the first but Batangas tied it
up with a two-run home run by Virgilio Roxas.
The
Dolphins, who dropped to 2-2, took the lead, 4-2, with
an RBI triple by Jonard Pareja to score Orillana, all
the way from first, in the fourth, and an RBI double by
Bacchus Ledesma to advance Miggy Corcuera, who singled
and reached second on a wild pitch before stealing
third, in the sixth.
Orillana
started four innings and gave up two runs in four hits
but returned to the mound in the sixth—after being
assigned at right field—to pitch three more innings to
replace an ineffective Sandy Cerillo, who gave up the
tying run in the sixth.
But
Orillana struggled in his return and gave up that home
run to Batuto.
*****
Lipa hosts softball national open
THE best
softball teams in the country will vie for national
glory in the 2008 National Open championship set from
May 31 to June 6 in Lipa City.
Jun
Veloso, Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines
operations manager, said they are expecting 12 teams in
the men’s and 10 in the women’s to participate in the
tournament.
Cebu is
expected to return to defend its men’s crown against
host Lipa, Zamboanga City, Marikina, Taguig, Laguna and
Rizal, while University Athletic Association of the
Philippines softball champion University of the
Philippines, Adamson, Polytechnic University of the
Philippines, De La Salle and Manila are expected to join
the women’s contest.
Veloso
said three Indonesian teams have also been invited to
spice up the competition. He added members of the Blu
Boys and Blu Girls will be spread out to the teams to
ensure the parity of the tournament.
Lipa City
community affairs head Danny Tobias expressed the city’s
readiness to host the tournament, which was staged in
Pasig City last year. Reuben Terrado |
