Dolphins, Unibikers open series for baseball crown Unibikers

Cebu opens its bid for a second Baseball Philippines championship as it battles Dumaguete at the start of their best-of-three showdown for the Series IV crown at the Rizal Baseball Stadium.

The Dolphins, winners of BP Series II, topped the classification round but had to go through a wringer to defang Series III champion the Batangas Bulls with a come-from-behind 8-6 victory in their rubber match for the first finals berth.

The Unibikers, on the other hand, overcame the Forward Taguig Patriots’ twice-to-beat advantage fashioning out a pair of 7-1 and 3-1 victories to clinch the other championship slot.

The All-Visayan team finale is set at 10:30 a.m. with the Dolphins out to capture a second BP crown and the Unibikers seeking their first title after losing the crown to the Bulls the last time out.

“We’re excited to be back in the finals,” said Cebu team manager Isaac Bacarisas, who steered the team to the Series II crown before crashing out in the semifinals in Series III.

Dumaguete pitching manager Lito Pulgo, for his part, has vowed to go all out to finally nail their first championship in the league organized by Community Sports Inc.

“We have another chance to win the title again, but we have to work harder to win it this time,” said Pulgo.

Mizuno, Gatorade, Purefoods TJ Hotdogs, Welcoat Paints, Industrial Enterprises, Inc., Harbour Centre, The Heritage Park and Agility Logistics are the tournament’s sponsors with Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, PABA, Sports Radio and Makisig Sports as partners.

Meanwhile, San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Fil-Am Eugene “Geno” Espineli will grace the title series while Makisig Sports will cover Game 2 tomorrow.

“It’s going to be an extra special day because we’re not only going to have a major league Fil-Am star as our special guest, there is also going to be a television coverage of Game 2 on Makisig Sports,” said Loyzaga.

Loyzaga said baseball fans can also tune in on www.baseballphilippines.com and DZSR Sports Radio 918 for the radio coverage.