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THE
opening-day winners took different paths in the Baseball
Philippines tournament yesterday at the Rizal Memorial
diamond.
The Cebu
Dolphins continued their winning form as they bested
fellow Visayans, the Negros Roosters, 9-4.
Darwin
de la Calsada and Ervick Viandre yielded nine hits, but
the Dolphins bombarded Joey Guerrero, Ramil Placides and
Ernesto Binarao with a total of 17 hits, including 12
from Fulgencio Rances and Manuel Bacarisas in the early
going.
That
resulted to an eight-run roll in the first four innings
as Cebu scored a follow-up to its 8-0 rout of Makati in
last week’s inaugural of the event presented by
Purefoods TJ Hotdog and organized by Community Sports
Inc.
“We were
hitting well early and that was the key,” said Cebu
coach Isaac Bacarisas.
Earlier,
Jon Jon Robles came to
Makati’s
rescue on the mound as the Mariners trounced the Manila
Sharks, 7-4, to tie their victim in second with 1-1
records.
Called
in to replace Ruel Batuto after the Sharks knotted the
count at four runs with two outs in the bottom of the
sixth inning, the left-handed Robles, 21, delivered at
once as he fanned out six batters he faced to key the
Mariners’ victory.
A
three-run binge atop the seventh inning keyed the win
for Makati, which notched its first win following a
harrowing 8-0 loss to
Cebu.
“He came
off fresh so I knew he’ll deliver,” said Makati coach
Jeffrey Santiago, also the mentor of reigning University
Athletic Association of the Philippines champion
University of Santo Tomas.
Robles’s
heroic came a day after he struck out 16 batters in
another relief job as he rallied the Tigers from 1-5
down after five innings to a 9-6 triumph over the Rizal
Technology U side in a youth tournament at the same
venue.
“He’s
our top guy, he never gets tired,” said Santiago of the
fourth year Education student and this year’s UAAP Best
Pitcher.
The
Sharks, who beat the Laguna Tigers, 8-3, last week, fell
in a tie with the Mariners in the tournament sponsored
by Gatorade, Harbour Centre, Industrial Enterprises Inc.
and Teleperformance Inc. and held under the auspices of
Major League Baseball of Asia.
The top
finisher after the single round robin series will clash
with the No. 4 team in the semifinals, while the Nos. 2
and 3 squads collide in the other Final-Four duel.
Winners will dispute the title in a winner-take-all
match. |
