PHILIPPINES – With the Batangas Bulls reeling from their 16-inning loss to the Muntinlupa Mariners, the Forward Taguig Patriots took advantage late.

The Patriots broke a 5-5 tie at the resumption of their suspended game and a 7-7 deadlock in the eighth to defeat the Bulls, 11-7, and finished the classification phase on a winning note.

An hour after losing to the Cebu Dolphins, Forward Taguig erupted for a four-run binge in the eighth inning behind the efforts of Fernando Badrina and Tawi delos Reyes.

With the win, the Patriots finished with an 8-2 record, tied with the Cebu Dolphins. But, they will take second spot after losing the tiebreaker and will meet either the Dumaguete Uni-Bikers or the Manila Sharks in the semifinals.

Badrina, acquired from the now-defunct Antipolo Pilgrims, delivered a base-hit to right off losing pitcher Randy de Leon to score Ernesto Binarao from third before delos Reyes padded the lead to two runs on a single to left that drove in Rizel Santos.

Delos Reyes took the win after finishing the Bulls in the last two innings in relief of Binarao.

Chris Jimenez led the Patriots with four hits in five at-bats with playing manager Ricky Jimenez, Ryan Garcia and delos Reyes making two RBIs apiece.

Both squads resumed their suspended game held last November 8 when the fading sunlight forced baseball officials to halt the game at the fifth inning.

At that time, the Patriots took the upper hand by taking a 4-0 lead in the second inning as playing manager Jimenez hit a two-run single to center. But, the Bulls slowly mounted a comeback, as Matt Laurel and Chris Canlas each connected a solo homer in the second and fourth frames, respectively, before Jojo Apura drilled a single to center that scored Alex Tolome from third to tie the game at 5-5.

Batangas centerfielder Carlo Banzon was perfect in four times he batted with an RBI but it wasn’t enough to give the Bulls a 3-7 record after the classification phase to finish in fifth place.

The Bulls will meet the Muntinlupa Mariners in a one-game playoff to decide who will face the Cebu Dolphins in the semifinals.

Uni-Bikers Claim Fourth Spot

Despite a disappointing campaign, the Dumaguete Uni-Bikers were able to finish the classification round on a winning note, and earned a much-better position heading into the playoffs.

The much-rested Uni-Bikers took advantage of a restless Muntinlupa Mariners for a 5-4 win for claim fourth spot in the postseason.

Darwin dela Calzada pitched four shutout innings while a pair of youngsters Boc-boc Bernardo and Justin Payongayong sealed the win after the Mariners made a run in the last four innings.

Dumaguete finished the elimination round tied with Muntinlupa at 4-6 but the latter still won the tiebreaker despite the loss.

The Lito Pulgo-managed squad will meet sixth-seed Manila Sharks in the first round of the playoffs.

Catcher Edmer del Socorro had three hits in four times he batted while 41-year old first baseman Kiko Ramos made three RBIs off a hit in four at-bats to help the Uni-Bikers’ cause.

Ramos drove home the first run of the game when his groundball pulled home leadoff runner Saxon Omandac in the opening frame. Dumaguete extended the lead to 3-0 in the third after Denver Largo scored from third on a passed ball while del Socorro scored all the way from first on an error by Muntinlupa first baseman Andoy Velasquez.

Ramos, then hit a two-run in the fifth inning that enabled the Uni-Bikers to grab a commanding 5-0 lead. But Muntinlupa threatened to pull off a comeback when Jerby Diego hit a two-run single in the sixth before Wilfredo Hidalgo drilled an RBI single to scored Hashim Omandac before touching home on a passed ball that narrowed down the margin to a single run.

However, Payongayong, who took over for Bernardo in the seventh, settled down and retired six of the last seven batters to secure Dumaguete’s victory.

Payongayong, a 16-year old standout from Makati, gave up two hits and walked two batters but left two runners on base.

Dela Calzada had a decent four-inning outing, fanning four batters and yielding just two hits to get the win.

Jonas Terrado is the Chief Writer for the Baseball Philippines league website.

Tags: Philippines