Sharks gain No. 1 seed in semis
Malig tags out Olivarez at 1st base. (Photo - courtesy of owner)TAGUIG - The Manila Sharks have again secured the No. 1 spot heading into the semifinals.
But will the Sharks be able to prove everyone they are the team to beat in the Dunkin' Donuts Baseball Philippines Series 6 and erase a stigma of losing in the games that mattered the most.
Behind a strong game, the Big City batters completed their near-flawless elimination round by beating host team Forward Taguig, 7-1, Sunday in front of a big-sized crowd at the Felino Marcelino Baseball Stadium here.
The pitching prowess of Charlie Labrador and Jonjon Robles coupled with the support from the offense, the Manila batters easily brushed aside the Patriots to end their elimination round record with four wins and one defeat.
Although the Sharks would end up tying the Cebu Dolphins, they will gain the No. 1 seeding thanks to the win-over-the-other rule. In their lone meeting, they were able to beat the Dolphins 9-8 three weeks ago.
Thus, Manila arranged a semifinal duel with the No. 4 Alabang Tigers on Saturday, also in Taguig, with the former holding a twice-to-beat advantage.
But will the third time be a charm for the squad of coach Jhoel Palanog.
The squad has earned two No. 1 seeding twice since they were formed in 2007 only to end up in disappointment.
In Series 2, Manila posted an 8-2 record and reached the finals against Cebu. But the Dolphins won the title highlighted by an unforgiving 20-5 rout in the deciding third game.
Manila advances to the Finals!!! (Photo - courtesy of owner) A tournament later, or what is called as Series 3, the Sharks rolled to a 10-1 record and eventually faced the Dumaguete Uni-Bikers in the semifinals with a twice-to-beat advantage.
However, the Uni-Bikers, bannered by ex-collegiate and national team standouts, some of them in their late-30's or early-40's, showed some gutsy determination to stun Manila.
Palanog and the rest of the crew hopes to erase the ghost of the past.
It will be a rematch of Series 5's semifinal series. The Sharks won 11-10 to advance to the finals but not after a grueling 14-inning marathon.
Labrador and Robles, who once were teammates for the RP national team during the Asian Baseball Championships and the Southeast Asian Games in 2007, combined for nine strikeouts and allowed just five hits to put the Patriots at bay.
The right-handed Labrador easily cruised past home squad retiring the first 15 batters and struck out six in seven innings pitched before Robles fanned three in the last two frames to finish the job.
Roel Empacis and Christian Galedo had two RBIs each for the Sharks to highlight the team's solid offensive production.
Empacis put his team up 2-0 in the third on a double to score Bambol Servo, who likewise hit a two-bagger in an earlier at-bat. He later drilled a single to push home Galedo on a single for a 6-0 lead.
Galedo, a former National University Bulldog, failed to make a hit but was able to produce runs in his own way. He drew a bases-loaded walk to score Nino Tator for the game's first run in the opening frame.
Then in the ninth, he hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to pull home Rommel Roja, who earlier started with a leadoff triple. That run settled the final score.
Taguig, egged on by the local crowd, got its only run on an RBI double by Christian de Leon that scored Jeffrey Hardillo.
The Patriots finished off their elimination round campaign with a 1-4 record thus missing the semifinals for the second straight tournament.