Dolphins force do-or-die with Bulls
by Jonas Terrado
Dolphins 6, Bulls 1
The Cebu Dolphins wanted to be seen in the finals by the audience, instead of them watching who will win the championship of Baseball Philippines Series 5.
Entering the semifinals as completely the underdogs, the Dolphins came out with an all-out effort on the field to stun the erstwhile Batangas Bulls, 6-1, and forced the series into a winner-take-all duel for the last finals berth.
After finishing with an even 5-5 record and are coming off a grueling quarterfinal win over the Dumaguete Uni-Bikers, Cebu erupted for four runs to brake a scoreless tie in the fifth frame even as Batangas struggled on both ends of the field.
Their surprising win handed the Bulls their first loss in the tournament after they cruised to a 10-game sweep of the classification round to gain the top seed in the semifinals.
"I told them that we don't want to be the ones watching the finals, we should be the team that should played for the championship," said Cebu team manager Saki Bacarisas, whose team is aiming to repeat its Series 4 title conquest.
The three-week layoff obviously affected the Bulls, no thanks to the weather disturbances that forced the league to postpone the games for two consecutive weekends.
Not helping them also was the long wait for the marathon 14-inning game between the Manila Sharks and the Alabang Tigers to be finished. The former secured the first finals seat with a wild 11-10 win.
With Alvin Peralta on third and Manuel Bacarisas at second, the latter's brother Jerome Bacarisas put Cebu on board on an RBI single off losing pitcher Vladimir Eguia.
After Bacarisas scored from third on a fielders' choice, Miggy Corcuera stretched the Dolphins' advantage to 3-0 on a one-run double before the heavy first baseman surprisingly stole third and reached home plate on a throwing error by catcher Jose Jose for the team's fourth run.
Pitcher Sebastian Uichico threw four shutout innings before Bacarisas hurled the last five frames, including the ninth when he sealed the win with Batangas threatening to bounce back with a bases-loaded situation.
He did, however, gave up the Bulls' only run of the contest on a one-run single by Elcid Angeles that scored pinch runner Miggy Zuluaga.
Bacarisas also did well offensively, finishing with three RBIs (runs-batted-in), two of which came on a single that pulled home Lloyd Cabigon and Bacarisas.