Baseball Phils IV: Dumaguete, Cebu to dispute title

MANILA, Philippines – Dumaguete and Cebu will dispute the Baseball Series IV title following victories on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium. Dumaguete pulled off a 3-1 upset win over No.2 Forward Taguig while Cebu scored an 8-6 triumph against Series III champions Batangas to arrange the title showdown which will start on Saturday in the same venue. The Unibikers forced a winner-take-all match in its semifinal series against Taguig Saturday with a dominating 7-1 win. Batangas followed suit with a 9-2 decision to force a rubber. Both Cebu and Taguig entered the semis with twice-to-beat advantages after finishing as the top two teams in the standings. Dumaguete pitcher Darwin dela Calzada held Taguig to one run on five hits while striking out eight batters to help the Unibikers reach the best-of-three finals. “He (dela Calzada) is the heart and soul of the team and I’m very happy he delivered," said Dumaguete team manager Lito Pulgo. Dumaguete entered its second consecutive championship match after losing to Batangas in three games during the Series III finale. “We’re happy to be back in the finals," added Pulgo. “We hope we can go all the way this time." The Dolphins, on the other hand, posted a come-from-behind win, scoring three runs in the last inning to capture the other finals berth. - GMANews.TV Box scores: First Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Forward Taguig 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 2 Dumaguete 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 X 3 9 1 Second Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Cebu 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 8 7 4 Batangas 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 6 10 2 Finals, Saturday 10 a.m. – Dumaguete vs Cebu