GAMEDAY RECAP

Dolphins Tame Sharks In Series Opener

Dolphins 6, Sharks 3

MANILA - Left-hander Jospeh Orillana hurled a complete game three-hitter and the blue sky machine racked up 15 hits enroute as the Cebu Dolphins stifled the Manila Sharks, 6-3 in the opening game of the Baseball Philippines Championship Series on Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

The BPCS opener boiled down to what could ultimately be the timing of the Philippine National Team's participation in the recent Asian Baseball Championships and Southeast Asian Games that concluded over the weekend.

Team Philippines played 11 games in a three week span. Sharks ace right-hander Charlie Labrador took the hill on six of those occasions while Orillana, the Dolphins ace, barely threw a bullpen session.

When both pitchers faced each other on Wednesday for the third time in Series 2, the outcome was a stark reversal of their previous encounters; for Labrador at least.

Orillana almost single-handedy dominated the Sharks. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning and kept opposing hitters off-stride throughout much of the game. Only three balls made it out of the infield — none of which fell for a hit — while eight hitters went down on strikes.

Labrador meanwhile labored from the outset. After surrendering only ten hits in two complete game wins against the Dolphins this season, he gave up a mind-boggling 15 hits despite walking just one batter, yet somehow managed to stay out of trouble until the late innings when the Dolphins were on the verge of blowing the game open.

Cebu, the league's top-ranked offense in Series 2, could not get the timely hits it needed until there were two outs in the eighth inning and the score tied at 1-1.

Jonash Ponce, who went 4-for-5 at the plate, rifled a two-out double to left — one of six two-baggers in the game for the Dolphins — off Labrador and scored the tie-breaking run when Miggy Corcuera stroked a texas-leaguer into left center. Emerson Atilano then followed with what appeared to be to the game-breaking hit, a drive that just fell inches from the foul line in medium right field for a two-run double to give Cebu a 4-1 cushion and some breathing room.

"I was having trouble locating my pitches and getting my breaking balls over," said Labrador in tagalog. The righty appeared fatigued after his recent spate of international competition.

The Sharks however remained resilient and countered in their half of the eighth inning with a two-out rally of their own. With the bases loaded, Nino Tator smacked what appeared to be a routine grounder to shortstop Ruben Angeles. The ball never found Angeles' glove as it took a bad hop 15 feet into the air off the infield dirt allowing two runs to score and pulled Manila within 4-3. Edward Landicho then drew a walk to reload the bases and Manila appeared to have Orillana on the ropes.

The crafty Orillana however struck out Marvin Malig to thwart the rally.

"These kinds of plays have happened before. I maintained by composure and didn't allow myself to get rattled. I knew that our offense could always come back to generate a rally," said Orillana in tagalog. He also had a pair of hits to help his cause.

Cebu got a pair of insurance runs in the ninth on Ponce's rbi-double and a passed ball that chased Labrador from the game.

Manila went down in order against Orillana in the ninth.

The Dolphins drew first blood in the second inning. Atilano reached on a one-out single, advanced to third on Orillana's double and scored on a fielder's choice groundout to give Cebu an early 1-0 lead.

The Sharks broke Orillana's no-hitter in the fifth on Malig's single and tied the game in the next frame. Larry Icban reached on Atilano's fielding error, advanced to third on a pair of groundouts and scored on Angeles' rbi-single.

Cebu's victory halted Manila's season-high nine-game winning streak and puts the Sharks in a must-win situation on Saturday afternoon when the best-of-three BPCS resumes with Game Two. A deciding third game, if necessary, will be played Sunday afternoon.

Earlier, Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose "Peping" Cojuanco Jr. threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.

 

 

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BP COVERAGE - SERIES 2 POSTSEASON

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