BULLS BOUNCE BACK; HAND SHARKS FIRST LOSS OF THE SEASON
After a sloppy loss to the Taguig Patriots last week, The Batangas Bulls bounced back with a morale boosting victory over the Manila Sharks – handing the Harbour Centre backed team their first loss of the season.
The Bulls find themselves nipping at the heels of the Dumaguete Uni-Bikers, who are currently in 4th place in the standings table. Batangas is only a half game behind the Uni-Bikers.
In the third game of the day, the Sharks got off to a good start when they scored a run in the 1st inning on Rommel Roja’s RBI single.
A half inning later, the Bulls tied the game when Jose “Pepe” Jose’s RBI double scored Junifer Pinero from 2st base. Manila however retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning when Edward Landicho led the frame off with a double, then scored on an error when Batangas failed to handle a sacrifice bunt.
In the top of the 3rd inning however, Batangas took their first lead of the game. They exploded for 5 runs, which was instigated by consecutive hits by Teddy Landicho, Randy De Leon, and Vio Roxas, to start the frame. The inning finally ended when Carlo Banzon flew out to Right field, but not before a total of six Bulls had already gotten hits.
With the Bulls in firm control of the game after 6 and a half innings, leading 8-2, the Sharks bit back and cut the deficit into half. They scored 2 runs on Larry Icban’s 2 RBI single.
With the momentum now shifting slowly towards Manila’s side, the Sharks capitalized on the opportunity and made the game an absolute toss-up. They managed to erase the 4 run deficit when, with one out, Manila managed to get 4 straight batters on board safely, three of which were through base hits. The inning finally ended after Landicho grounded out to the pitcher, but not before Manila had already tied the game by scoring 4 runs in the frame.
The Bulls however would not let themselves be disheartened by letting the lead slip away. They responded by scoring 3 runs at the top of the 8th – the go ahead run coming in through a sacrifice fly by De Leon.
With Batangas now back on top, they handed the ball over to De Leon to try to close out the game. Batuto had struggled in less than an innings work, after Vlad Eguia had produced a very solid 1 earned run, 6 inning outing.
In the bottom of the 9th inning, after Manila had managed to cut the lead into just 2 runs after Landicho’s RBI single with 2 out, the tying run was left stranded on 1st base when De Leon struck out Joey Sta. Maria to end the game.
The loss is the only blemish on the Sharks impressive campaign so far. They may no longer have a perfect season, but they should still take pride in the fact that they are most likely going into the playoffs as the 1st seed.
