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By Eddie G. Alinea, Contributor
IT was championship encounter that took the form
of a massacre.
Cebu manhandled Manila, 20-5, in the most
lopsided title victory in the local baseball scene in memory to
capture the 2007 Baseball Philippines Series 2 crown Sunday at the
historic Rizal Memorial Stadium.
With lefty Joseph Orillana manning the
Dolphins’ first line of defense besides contributing largely in
the new champs’ 21-hit offensive thrust, Cebu took command right
at the upper half of the opening frame with an error-aided one-hit,
one-run salvo, and was never threatened, throwing the game wide open
with four runs in the second, three in the fourth and eight in the
sixth in more than making up for a monumental fold up in the
league’s First Pilot Series a few months ago.
In that Series, the Dolphins of coach Zacky
Bacarisas topped the five-team elimination round only to lose steam
in the Final Four and did not even figure out in the championship
playoff.
Orillana, playing out of La Salle in the UAAP,
held the Manila batters at the palm of his hands in the first five
innings where he surrendered merely five hits that produced a measly
one run before relaxing a bit in the ensuing periods when everything
was over but the shouting as he allowed the enemies to tag him with
eight connections.
The Dolphins were equally merciless on the other
side of the field, raining five Manila pitchers with 21 hits, eight
in the sixth where they completed one full batting cycle with stocky
first baseman Miggy Corcuera, Orillana himself, second baseman
Emerson Atillano and third baseman Jerome Bacarisas trooping to the
plate twice each.
The most-applauded batter in that period though
was actor-turned versatile athlete Richard “Goma” Gomez blasted
a run-scoring standing triple that practically put the house down.
Goma, a former national rower before turning to
fencing and shooting shotgun, had three trips to the batters’ box,
boarding in his second when hit by pitched ball and striking out
standing the last time around.
“That was the most lopsided win I’ve seen in
my whole lifea as a player and coach,” baseball/softball legend
Filomeno “Boy” Codiñera attested after the one-sided contest.
“It was a case of Cebu having the steadier pitcher and consistent
hitter than its Manila counterpart.”
“Lahat ng-click, pati reserves namin,” Cebu
mentor Zacky Bacarisas, who only two weeks ago gifted the
country the men’s softball championship in the just-concluded 24th
Southeast Asian Games, said by way of describing his boys’
whooping triumph that brought the Dolphins’ personal record with
the Sharks to 2-3.
“I’m happy with our win and we dedicate that
to our manager, Mr. Cabarrus [head of the engineering firm (IEI).
This is only a start, I hope we could give the team more
championships in the future,]” Bacarisas, who was later adjudged
the best coach of the series, said.
Orillana, was voted season MVP (including the
First Series) and this Series, too. Named best pitcher was Charlie
Labrador of Manila, while John Joseph Apura of Marikina the best
hitter.
Apura was also named home run king along with
Virgilio Roxas of Manila.
“Maganda ang hitting nil [Dolphins] at masama
ang simula namin,” was all Manila mentor Jhoel Palanog could only
murmur ion reference to Labrador’s poor start when he was tagged
with seven hits in the first two innings that netted five runs in
the first two innings.
Even reliever Romeo Jasmin could not do any
better as well as Juan Castro, Mick Natividad and Roger Landichao,
who Palanog dispatched one after another in an effort to quell the
conflagration.
Meanwhile, the league organized by Community
Sports Inc. and backed by Purefoods TJ Hotdog, Gatorade, Mizuno
Sports and Harbour Centre, will resume next year on March 23 with a
record eight teams confirming participation.
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