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BATANGAS BULLS manager Randy Dizer was very vocal preaching defense
on the sidelines. His wards talked back with their bats on the
plate.
The Bulls exploded for seven runs on the bottom
of the sixth inning en route to their 10-3 thrashing of the tired
Dumaguete Unibikers Sunday in Game 1 of the Baseball
Philippines-Series 3 finals at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The scoring binge allowed Dizer to pull out top
hurler Vladimir Eguia entering the seventh inning. The 20-year-old
southpaw tossed a no-hitter and walked only one in six solid
innings.
“As long as we play solid defense we’ll be
hard to beat,” said Dizer.
Eguia anchored their defense by retiring 13
straight batters from the second to the sixth inning.
“Vladi [Eguia] is one of the best pitchers in
the country today. His presence boosts the confidence of our hitters
because they know Vladi has their backs.”
They lowered their guards on the top of the
seventh as relief pitcher Randy de Leon walked the first batter he
faced and gave up two hits. He worked his way out of the jam after
giving up two runs.
Jay Laurel closed out the game by striking out
Christopher dela Cerna with runner in scoring position.
It was tight in the first five innings as Darwin
dela Calzada, the hero in Dumaguete’s stunning semifinal victory
over the Manila Sharks Saturday, held his ground against the
dangerous sluggers of Batangas.
Carlo Banzon scored the only run up to that
point off a sacrifice fly by Virgilio Roxas on the bottom of the
fourth.
But fatigue eventually got the better of dela
Calzada, who threw a six-hit complete game in the do-or-die game
against the Sharks.
He was relieved with one out on the bottom of
the sixth after giving up three hits and allowing three runs.
Pinch-hitter Matt Laurel welcomed Dumaguete’s
relief pitcher with a three-run homerun to give the Bulls an 8-0
lead.
Justin Zialcita went 3-for-4 for the Bulls. He
and Roxas drove in two runs apiece.
Bambol Servo had an RBI-double while Edmer del
Socoro and Romar Landicho each had run-scoring singles for the
Unibikers.
Game 2 is set on Saturday with the deciding Game
3 to be played the following day if necessary.
-- Noli S. Cruz
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