The 2002 Titans Series opened in dramatic fashion last Sunday as Team Crius Orange rallied from 6-1 and 8-4 deficits to eke out a draw with Team Atlas White. Jeff Rodriguez homered and drove in three runs while Vince Alimurung added another two to lead the Crius comeback, which also featured a probable national record 11 stolen bases, led by Eric Cuisia's four thefts.

The atmosphere was certainly a far cry from the laid back Sunday Morning Baseball Camps as both teams had their game faces on. Despite an uneasy shuffling of players, Team Crius looked poised on the field in playing an error-free game, getting key outs in the first, third and fourth innings to keep their hopes of a comeback alive.

Early on though, it looked like a rout. Bacchus Ledesma's three-run blast capped a four-run first inning off lefty Dale Amparo, who failed to retire each of the first five batters before finally getting into a groove. After Rodriguez responded with a solo shot in the bottom half, Migs Zuluaga added a two-run single to make it 6-1.

Crius got three back in their half of the second on Joey Ramos' rbi single and Rodriguez's 2-run single only to have Atlas scratch for two more when Jayson Santiago walked the bases loaded and Dick Semilla stole home.
Team Crius scrambled back with another three runs in the third when RT DeJesus stole home and Alimurung delivered a 2-run double, cutting the lead to one. Santiago then faced the minimum three batters in the next frame to set up the tying run in the bottom half. Rodriguez led off with a walk, reached third on an error, then crossed home on Rajah Singh's wild pitch.
Neither team scored in the fifth inning of the abbreviated game as Edsel Atienza induced Em Fernandez on a grounder to first with two on to end the dramatics.

CRONUS 15, ATLAS 10
Edmund Esguerra went 3 for 5, drove home four runs, stole three bases and scored another three as Team Cronus opened their Series with a 15-10 thrashing of pitching-weary Team Atlas. Joseph Orillana also scored three runs for Cronus, which managed only seven hits in the rout. Sloppy fielding was the norm for this game as both teams combined for 14 errors.
Cronus built a quick 5-0 lead behind Jun Veloso's pitching only to have Atlas claw their way on top with six unearned runs courtesy of four errors and six hits in a seven-run 3rd inning. Cronus went ahead for good in the fourth on a lead-off single by Orillana, a double by Veloso, an error by pitcher Singh and an rbi-double by Esguerra, with Esguerra scoring the go-ahead run on shortshtop Sky Rosales' throwing error.

Team Cronus put the game away with their own seven-run fifth inning on four walks, two singles, two wild pitches and three errors, chasing Santi Ledesma, who failed to retire a batter, from the mound in the process. Team Atlas never recoverd after that.