IT HAD all the makings of a memorable Sunday baseball game.
The crowd, most of which rooted for the University of the Philippines baseball team, was treated to an intense and drama-filled penultimate game of the UAAP Baseball eliminations last Feb.1 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Park.
On one side, it was the heavily-favored UP Maroons seeking a sweep of the baseball tournament for an outright UAAP championship. On the other side, the underdog University of Santo Tomas Golden Sox were looking to avenge their only loss in the tournament to the same team and forge a Final Four showdown.
The heated rivalry between the two teams, which fought for the crown two years ago, escalated even more after UP center fielder Rhoy Landicho kicked UST’s Gil Encarnado on the chest after the former got tagged out by Golden Sox pitcher Sandy Cerillo as the Maroon Batter attempted to reach the home plate in the fifth inning.
Landicho’s action changed the complexion of the tightly-fought game, which nearly escalated to a brawl, as it enabled the rookie-laden Golden Sox to sneak from behind and score a 7-4 upset to set a Final Four meeting against Adamson University, a team they defeated twice during the elimination round.
Encarnado, a former UAAP Rookie of the Year (ROY) and the Golden Sox’s starting catcher, presided over the Golden Sox’s offense with three Runs-Batted-In (RBIs).
His RBI single in the bottom of the first inning enabled second baseman Francis Candela to give UST the early lead. On top of the third inning, UP countered with an RBI triple from Randy de Leon, which sent home Teddy Landicho, Rhoy’s cousin. Encarnado’s sacrifice fly in the same inning allowed senior center fielder Erasto Sarmiento to steal home from the third to take a slim 2-1 lead.
The Maroon Batters erupted with three runs on top of the fifth inning as they capitalized on errant throws and catching errors by the Golden Sox. An easy ground out on Maroon Jessie Natanauan turned into an RBI triple as Cerillo threw an errant high pass to first baseman Jerby Diego. Natanauan reached home on pitcher Darwin de la Calzada’s sacrifice fly in the ensuing play.
A catching error by Sarmiento and a throwing error by leading ROY candidate Francis Fuentes allowed Rhoy Landicho and Roswald Palacol to extend UP’s lead to 4-2.
For a while, UP seemed headed to snag its fourth crown in five years until Landicho’s errant kick, which was meted with an automatic ejection and a one game suspension. This proved catastrophic for UP as the Maroons were shut out in the remaining four innings.
Cerillo, Sarmiento, and Encarnado completed a double play as they also cornered Natanauan on the second base in that game-changing inning.
“Alam kasi nilang wala kaming pamalit sa tao namin at maganda ang pinapakita ni Gil (Encarnado),” says a fuming Golden Sox coach Jeffrey Santiago.
Stung by Landicho’s dirty play, Encarnado hit an RBI triple to the right outfield, sending Candela and Fuentes home in the bottom fifth to knot the count at 4-apiece.
In the next inning, Diego connected on a homerun to give back the lead to UST. Candela and Diego’s home plate steals in the next two innings finished off the Maroon Batters on top of the ninth inning.
Cerillo held his own against De la Calzada on the mound as he struck out six Maroons while only allowing six hits and three walks in a no-relief job in eight innings. De la Calzada had four errors, eight strike outs, and eight hits allowed.
“Tatapusin na namin ang Adamson sa semis para makapag-focus na kami sa championship,” said Santiago exuding confidence after the win.
If the Golden Sox hurdle the Falcons for the third time, they will face the winner of the UP-National University tiff. NU earlier ousted defending champion De La Salle University, 7-2.
UST and UP ended up tied at 9-1 card but the Diliman-based batters snagged the top seeding due to a superior quotient. UST lost to UP, 8-1, in the first round.
Muffed chances
The UST Lady Batters muffed their chance of owning a better seeding in the UAAP Softball Final Four as they wilted in the extension inning, surrendering a 2-0 loss to defending champion University of the East last Jan. 31 at home.
UE caught the Lady Batters flat-footed, erupting for two unanswered runs in the extension inning that bungled UST’s chance of avoiding a semifinals match against the Amazons.
With already two outs in the bag, UST’s ace pitcher Gedda Valencia cracked under pressure as she allowed Amazon Glaiza Libunao to hit a Run-Batted-In (RBI) double, which sent pitcher Syrel Ramos home.
UST coach Sandy Barredo contested Libunao’s hit to the right field, which seemed to be a foul ball as it passed just above first baseman Suzette Domingo. The umpire ruled otherwise and it was then that the Amazons took advantage.
Riding high on that great escape, UE came away with another run as Libunao completed a home plate steal from the third base on a fumble play of UST’s second baseman Esmeralda Tayag.
The Lady Batters still had a chance to steal the game but Floriza Pablo’s sacrifice bunt failed to send Esmeralda’s younger sister, Emily, home from the third base even as Domingo hit a flyout to send UST to its third loss in seven outings.
The loss relegated the Lady Batters to fourth place while the Amazons remained on top with an 8-1 record as they headed to the semifinals.
The defending champion Amazons will enjoy a twice-to-beat edge in the semifinals against UST, last year’s third runner-up.
The Lady Batters also lost to UE in the first round of the eliminations, 1-0.
Earlier, the Lady Batters nipped the Adamson Lady Falcons, 5-4, in extension for the second time in two weeks that sandwiched a 9-3 victory over De La Salle University.
After playing the highly-touted Lady Falcons to a 4-all deadlock in the regulation, UST went to the Tayag sisters to score the winning run that brought them to the semifinals last Jan. 28 at the UST field.
Emily Tayag scored on a home plate steal on Esmeralda’s hit to the centerfield.
Last Jan. 10, the Lady Batters also needed an extension to pull off a come-from-behind win over the Lady Falcons, 6-5.
Esmeralda Tayag opened the game with an RBI single, driving catcher Myrna Joy Daquiado to the homeplate.
But Lady Falcon Josselle Aguilar belted an inside-the-park homer to put the San Marcelino-based softbelles ahead, 3-1.
Gedda valencia stole the base after a flyout hit by third baseman Joan Locsin. Analyn de Guzman had a free walk home in the bottom fourth, to extend the lead 4-2.
Locsin’s steal and Valencia’s RBI double that allowed Princess Albay to score on top of the sixth and the seventh innings forged a deadlock.
In the extension, Emily Tayag brought her sister home on a sacrifice fly while Pablo hit an RBI single, sending rookie Mary Ann Cardaño home for a 6-4 score.
Lady Falcon Annie Marie Hilotin moved Adamson within one on Johanna Cauñga’s RBI double, but that proved to be their last run as Karina Aribal and Sarah Jane Agravante hit flyouts. Alder T. Almo
