TWO UST-LADEN teams missed the finals of the ninth season of Baseball Philippines after dropping their respective do-or-die matches at the Rizal Memorial Stadium last July 1.
The Dumaguete Uni-Bikers yielded to three-time champions Manila Sharks, 10-12, while the Alabang Tigers faltered against the Cebu Dolphins, 9-17.
The Uni-Bikers got the services Golden Sox aces Arvin Plaza, Amber Plaza, and Carlo Conge, while the Tigers paraded Thomasians Arcel Aligno, Gerald Mitra, Harry Galapon, Mario Cerda, and Bernardo Siaotong.
Dumaguete, which posed a stellar performance in the elimination round to finish second and enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals, wasted an early 4-1 lead as the Sharks unleashed a 9-1 onslaught in the fourth and sixth innings.
With two batters struck out in the last inning and Dumaguete down by two, Arvin Plaza kept the Uni-Bikers alive with a base-hit to the right field. But his effort went for naught since the batter that followed him got the boot at the first base.
“We had several errors in the game and we could’ve done better jobs at our base-running, pitching and hitting,” Uni-bikers Assistant Coach Marlon Caspillo said.
The Uni-Bikers rolled to a hot start, putting up a 3-0 lead in the first inning punctuated by a Bambol Servo two-RBI (Runs Batted In) single that allowed Plaza and Ferdinand Liguayan to reach home plate. Nelson Salazar added one when Karl Peralta’s hit went deep into the left field.
But the Sharks shook off their bad touches and came alive at the bottom of the fourth just as the Uni-bikers began struggling. The Sharks scored on a two-run double of Emerson Atilano and a two-run single courtesy of Jennald Pareja to take over, 4-5, and never looked back.
In the other game, the top-seeded Cebu Dolphins were too much for the sluggish Tigers, who gave up five runs in the first inning.
The Dolphins buried the Tigers deeper in the fourth by scoring seven more points to put the game away for good. In the eighth inning, Dolphin Lorenzo Unungen smashed a solo-homer to take a commanding 17-4 lead.
“When errors occur, they tend to lower the composure of young players and that would tend to cause more errors,” said Alabang’s and UST top-recruit Bernardo Siaotong.
