WITHOUT even breaking a sweat, the title-hungry UST Lady Batters shut out De La Salle University, 18-0, in a smashing opening game statement of their UAAP softball campaign last Nov.27 at the UST field.
Sending a roaring message to the rest of the teams, the Tigresses blanked their hapless Taft-based counterparts in what seemed to be an overkill as the umpire stopped the game midway in the fifth inning.
Even the absence of UST Head Coach Sandy Barredo was hardly felt by the Lady Batters who outclassed their opponents in every aspect of the game.
Assistant coach Joey Lao took over the coaching chores as the national team mentor was in Orlando, Florida for the Little World League Series. The team also missed the services of national team mainstays pitcher Esmeralda Tayag, outfielder Theresa Lagman and rookie Ivy Carlos.
UST ace pitcher Batac set the tone for the rout in the first inning silencing the Lady Archers’ offense.
On the other end, the Lady Batters buckled down to work early and registered a four to nil lead at the end of the inning.
With Batac shutting out La Salle’s offense with her fastballs, the Lady Batters stepped on the gas in the next inning as they increased their lead to six after a double Run-Batted-In (RBI) by Donna Mendoza and a home-plate steal by rookie Karen Tolentino.
The third inning saw a merciless massacre with Jacqueline Namit leading a 10-homer assault. In that run, Namit and Jeani Saclao scored two inside-the-park homeruns to the delight of the Thomasian crowd.
Prolific pitching
Batac’s precision pitching was so impressive that nobody from La Salle made it on the second base until the fourth inning when the game’s outcome was settled. However, scoring chance for the Taft-based batters went for naught as Batac hurled again another fastball en route to a strikeout.
Another inside-the-park homer from Suzzette Domingo capped the game-long brilliance of the UST Softball Team. A groundout to Namit and a strikeout to Valencia was all the La Salle could do to stop the massacre.
In the fifth inning, La Salle was greeted by two strikeouts from Batac before Saclao caught a fly ball to finally put a halt to the one-sided match.
The umpires applied the Mercy Rule before UST could further inflict any further damage.
Lao was elated that they began the season on a bright note. However, he was not surprised at all that they routed La Salle, who placed fifth, just a notch higher from the cellar-dweller Ateneo Lady Batters last year.
“Actually it was a no-play strategy. Talaga namang mahina ang La Salle kaya hinayaan ko na lang iyong mga bata na pumalo. After first inning pa lang, alam ko ng mananalo na kami,” Lao said.
