THE DEFENDING champions Manila Sharks and the Cebu Dolphins will try to set up their finals showdown today as they take on separate rivals in the semifinal round of the Baseball Philippines Series 8 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The Sharks and the Dolphins, who finished 1-2 in the eliminations for twice-to-beat edges, need only to win one over the Taguig Patriots and the Batangas Bulls, respectively, to advance to the finals. A pair of reversals, however, will set the stage for sudden death games tomorrow.
Manila, the back-to-back champion, is fancied over Taguig in the 9 a.m. match while the Cebu-Batangas match at 1 p.m. remains a toss-up.
The Sharks topped the elims with a 9-1 (win-loss) record while the Dolphins posted an 8-2 slate to clinch the semis incentives.
Manila swept Taguig in their two faceoffs in the elims with the Patriots making their first postseason stint since the BP Series 4 in 2008. Cebu and Batangas, on the other hand, have previously met in the playoffs with the Bulls defeating the Dolphins in the BP Series 7 semis en route to a runner-up finish.
The Dolphins and the Bulls, likewise, split their two-game series in the eliminations. The best-of-three championship series is set July 16./Correspondent Jonas Panerio