BASEBALL PHILIPPINES, riding the crest of its successful pilot series last July, unveils the BP Series 2 today with six teams, led by inaugural champion Makati, vying for the crown at the Rizal Memorial baseball stadium.
Makati, which stunned fancied Negros, 4-2, in the finalA to rule the pilot series, opens its bid for a second straight championship against Taguig, one of the three newcomers in the league, put up by Community Sports Inc. (CSI) not only to provide support for baseball but also to sustain the resurgence of the sport in the youth and adult sectors.
Negros actually begged off for the BP Series2 with a promise to return next season but with Taguig, Marikina and Dumaguete joining Makati, Manila and Cebu, the chase for top honors in the community-based league is expected to be as fierce as ever the next three months.
Three matches are on tap each Sunday till the end of the double-round elims in December with Manila and Marikina kicking off hostilities at 7 a.m. and Makati and Taguig, backed by Mayor Freddie Tinga, clashing at 10:30 a.m. Cebu and Dumaguete slug it out in the 2 p.m. main game.
The event, backed by Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs, Gatorade, Mizuno Sports, Harbour Centre, Inc. and Industrial Enterprises, Inc., also serves as training venue for members of the national team gearing up for the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in December.
The Makati Mariners will be led by RP team mainstays Jon Jon Robles, Wilfredo Hidalgo and Chris Canlas while Taguig will be spearheaded by national team members Ernesto Binarao, Ferdinand Recto and Roel Empacis.
Cebu will bank on RP team members Joseph Orillana, Jonash Ponce and Fulgencio Rances; Dumaguete will be led by Jeffrey Sinangote, Kelly Culubong and Lito Pulgo; Manila will lean on Charlie Labrador, Nino Tator and Rommel Roja; while Ruel Batuto, Junifer Pinero and Roy Baclay make up the core of the Marikina squad.
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