Cebu moves on to the finals

Cebu started out with a barrage of runs in the first four innings to beat Alabang, 17-9, Sunday to advance into the finals of Baseball Philippines Series 9 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

The Dolphins opened the game with five runs in the first inning before splurging seven in the fourth to run away with the victory and claim a berth in the best-of-three championship series set July 14.

Top-seeded Cebu, holding a twice-to-beat incentive in the semifinal, dropped the opening match against Alabang, 9-6, but bounced back in a big way to move into the finals of the Community Sports Inc.-organized league.

“The twice-to-beat advantage we had was really crucial for us,” said Cebu coach Isaac Bacarisas. “We were able to recover.”

Joennard Pareja began the game with a triple before scoring on a wild pitch. Aprix Santos walked with the bases loaded while Miggy Corcuera, Ram Alipio and Santos crossed home plate on an error, 5-0, at the top of the first.

Cebu was leading, 6-2, when the Dolphins exploded in the fourth on just three hits on run-scoring plays by Ubungen, Alipio and Santos.

Ubungen added a solo home run in a four-run eighth to increase Cebu’s lead to 17-4, a gap that was only decreased when Alabang tallied five runs in the bottom of the eighth.

The league is sponsored by Gatorade, Emperador Light, Clark Development Corp., Harbour Centre, Philippine Transmarine Corp., Summit Water and Eagle Sky Inc. with backing from Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Amateur Baseball Association and the Philippine Umpires Association.

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