The country’s Independence Day will be marked by a fierce showdown between the two best squads in the Baseball Philippines Series 8 as the Manila Sharks takes on the Cebu Dolphins today at 1 p.m. at the Aboitiz Sports Field in Mandaue City.
The game is dubbed “Baseball Philippines Independence Day Encounter.”
It will be the first time that the four-year-old league will have a game here in Cebu after having played their games mainly at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Coliseum. The league also played in Batangas and Laguna.
“Baseball Philippines is making an effort to bring the games closer to the people, especially in the provinces,” said Baseball Philippines executive director Nolan Bernardino. “We hope that with this move, we can attract more fans to watch baseball.”
FIRST TIME
It will also be the first time that the Cebuanos will get to see their Dolphins, which has carved a name for themselves in the league for winning the titles in Series 2 and 4.
The Dolphins and the Sharks are currently tied at the top of the standings with identical 7-1 (win-loss) records.
The Sharks dominated Dumaguete, 11-0, while the Dolphins destroyed Taguig, 15-3, in their respective games last weekend.
Prior to the game, the Dolphins and Sharks will also hold baseball clinics for children as part of the league’s thrust to propagate the game to the grassroots and for them to get to know the players. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio