Bulls win in a wild 12-inning affair
by Jonas Terrado
Bulls 5, Patriots 4
It could have over in the last inning but for the Batangas Bulls, they needed three more frames to finally defeat the Forward Taguig Patriots.
Jojo Apura delivered a base-hit to right field off pitcher Ernesto Binarao that enabled Carlo Banzon to score the winning run as the Bulls survived past the Patriots, 5-4, in a wild but thrilling 12-inning affair that lasted for about three-and-a-half hours.
The win ended a contest that saw two ties in extra innings, two wild pitches that resulted in runs, a home run and a game-tying hit from Taguig's playing manager Iking Jimenez.
In the end, the Bulls remained in first place after their fifth win against no defeats. However, team manager Randy Dizer was glad to survive the league's first extra-inning game since late November.
"Everytime we play Taguig, it's always close," Dizer said. "I think there was a case of overconfidence, considering our opponents' record but good thing we delivered when it mattered the most."
Taguig's loss extended their winless streak to five games to remain in last place.
The last time a game went into an extension was last November 29, when the Bulls lost, 5-4, to the Muntinlupa Mariners (now Alabang Tigers) in 16 innings.
Batangas appeared to have wrapped the game up in the bottom of the eighth frame when catcher Junifer Pinero drained his second home run of the tournament to make it a 3-1 game.
But the Patriots load up the bases with two outs in the ninth frame before Jimenez, who hasn't played a game in a long while, elected to put himself in to replace Rex Bangayan.
And Jimenez, who posted a batting average of .314 with eight runs-batted-in (RBI) in Series 4, didn't disappoint as he hit a base-hit to left field off a pitch by reliever Randy de Leon that enabled Fernando Badrina and Melvin de Castro to score.
However, through his disappointment, Chris Jimenez, who was intentionally walked earlier, gambled on giving the Patriots the go-ahead lead but was easily tagged out at home plate by Pinero to end the side.
The Patriots initially had a golden opportunity to take their first win of the tournament when Richard Siacor hit an RBI single to score Badrina for a 4-3 lead in the 11th frame, only for Chris Canlas to answer back for Batangas in the bottom half of the said inning by driving home Romeo Jasmin from second on an RBI single.
Both squads combined for 288 pitches with the Bulls' de Leon earning the win after tossing six innings and allowed Taguig to score three runs off six hits.
Binarao, who came in Ronaldo delos Reyes in the ninth, took the loss despite posting five strikeouts in three innings.
Forward Taguig took a 1-0 lead in the first frame on an run-scoring hit by Jeffrey Hardillo but trailed 2-1 in the fourth off two consecutive wild pitches thrown by Badrina, scoring Apura and Pinero, respectively.