Cebu sweeps Manila to bag 3rd PH baseball title

CEBU defeated Manila, 6-1 , yesterday to sweep their best-of-three series for Baseball Philippines Series 9 crown at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

National player Joseph Orillana blasted a lead-off home run in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 count then the Dolphins scored two runs each in the seventh and ninth frames to clinch the victory, their third after their title conquests in Series 2 and 4 of the league organized by Community Sports, Inc.

The win likewise ended the Sharks’ bid for a fourth straight championship.

Orillana, coming off an ankle injury that sidelined him in the playoffs, belted the 1-1 pitch off Warren Vispo for a home run as the Dolphins regained control after the Sharks tied the game at the bottom of the third.

Christian Maghanoy issued only six hits and a run in seven innings to win it as Cebu’s starting pitcher while Ronel Peralta had a one-hit relief effort against the Sharks.

Joennard Pareja, also of the Dolphins, led the cast of individual awardees in the league after capturing the MVP of the elimination round. Miggy Corcuera took home the Jun Bernardino Award for his attitude on and off the field.

Lorenzo Ubungen, who keyed Cebu’s thrilling 8-6 victory in Game 1 last Saturday, was named the finals MVP.

Pareja started the scoring load for Cebu with an RBI double at the top of the third but Edward Landicho countered with a run-scoring single at the bottom of the inning.

After Orillana’s four-bagger, Ubungen and Ram Casey Alipio had run-scoring hits in the seventh before the Dolphins made it a five-run lead on RBIs by Alipio and Miggy Corcuera in the ninth.

Other individual awardees were Ricky Jimenez of Dumaguete (Best Manager), Jarus Inobio of Manila (Most Stolen Base), Adrian Bernardo of Alabang (Most RBIs and Best Hitter), Ferdinand Liguayan of Dumaguete (Best Pitcher) and Tino Ubungen of Alabang (Home Run King). (PR)