The North Conference All Stars cashed in on the South Conference All Stars’ erratic play in the second and eighth innings and coasted to a 13-5 victory yesterday in Baseball Philippines’ All-Star Game at the Rizal Baseball Stadium.
Five errors by the Southerners turned a 1-all first inning deadlock to a 5-1 lead at the bottom of the second, and the Northerners never turned back.
“They just collapsed in the second inning and we capitalized on it,” said North coach Jhoel Palanog, who steered the Harbour Centre-backed Manila Sharks to a strong second place finish in Series 2.
Orillana, MVP of the first two seasons, was also out of sync and he was relieved after just two innings.
“Our game plan was to force them to take him out but we didn’t expect it to happen early,” said Palanog.
The North Stars bombarded the trio of 2007 MVP Joseph Orillana, Ernesto Binarao and Darwin dela Calzada with 15 hits. First baseman Virgilio Roxas led the North’s siege with two RBIs in five times at bat and went on to win the Most Valuable Player award in the first-ever All-Star Game backed by Mizuno, Gatorade, Purefoods, Industrial Enterprises,Inc., Phil. Transmarine Carriers, Harbour Centre, The Heritage Park and Welcoat Paints.
The Isaac Bacarisas-mentored North team came back to cut the deficit to 5-6 in the fifth on a six-hit, four-run binge highlighted by a two-run double by Cebu shortstop Jerome Bacarisas.
But threat ended there as South catcher Fulgencio Rances flied out to center field with the bases loaded.
The Southerners again self-destructed in the eighth, reeling into a maze of errors that gave the Northerners seven easy runs to pull away.