AFTER winning their first game, the UST Golden Sox suffered four consecutive defeats to crash out of playoffs contention in the inaugural Philippine Baseball League (PBL).
The Golden Sox cruised to a 6-4 win against the University of the Philippines before succumbing to De La Salle University (6-13), Adamson University (9-15), Itakura Parts Philippines Corporation (4-8), and Ateneo de Manila University (12-13).
Despite their 1-4 win-loss record in the seven-team tournament, Golden Sox head coach Jeffrey Santiago said the PBL gave the rookies the exposure they need for the upcoming UAAP season.
“Ang goal lang naman namin dito sa PBL ay mabigyan ng exposure ang rookies para makita namin ang laro nila sa actual game at hindi lang sa practice, para na rin ma-evaluate na namin sino ang first nine namin sa UAAP,” the 56-year-old mentor told the Varsitarian.
Aside from exposure, Santiago also used the PBL as an avenue to scout the strengths of the other UAAP schools competing in the tilt, namely defending champion Adamson, Ateneo, La Salle, UP and National University.
The pre-season tournament served as Santiago’s way of assessing the Golden Sox’s mishaps in the three most important aspects of baseball – batting, fielding and pitching.
With fielding as one of UST’s main problems, Santiago required all the players to learn to play at least two positions.
“Kailangan nilang matutunan ‘yong madaming position para puwede namin paghaluin ‘yong magaling sa opensa at magaling sa depensa para solid ang lineup namin,” he said.
Even with the team parading 11 rookies, Santiago believes that this squad is “better and stronger” than last year’s team in terms of offense.
Despite their offense not translating into wins in the PBL, UST still averaged 7.4 runs per game, compared to their UAAP Season 80’s 5.7 average.
In their games against Ateneo and IPPC, the Golden Sox registered more hits than their opponents, 18-11 and 10-7, respectively.
But those numbers were not enough for Santiago as he still wants his wards to put more effort in batting to keep them in tiptop shape just in time for the UAAP.
He added that the team still lack the killer instinct he wants to instill in his players.
“Ang problema kasi, kapag lamang na sa pitch count, nag-re-relax. Kahit dalawang out na ang kalaban, doon pa nakakascore kasi nag-re-relax, sasabayan pa ng error ng infield. Wala pa kaming killer instinct na kapag lumamang, tuloy-tuloy na,” the tactician lamented.
With less than a month left before the tournament, team captain Alwen Cabang is confident that the Golden Sox will deliver this upcoming UAAP season.
“Mas malakas ang team ngayon kasi lahat may palo, lahat nag-ko-contribute sa opensa, lahat lumalaban talaga hanggang dulo,” Calbang said.
The Golden Sox will miss the services of third baseman Jefferson Vergara and second baseman Alzer Jacinto this season due to personal reasons.
UST will open its UAAP campaign against Ateneo on Feb. 17, Sunday, 7 a.m., at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
