WITH HALF of the team playing in the pressure-packed finals for the first time, the UST Golden Sox’s could not overcome its inexperience.
The Golden Sox sputtered against the grizzled veterans of the University of the Philippines as they surrendered the title in two games of the best-of-three UAAP baseball finals at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The first game saw UP’s Jessie Natanauan scoring on pitcher Darwin de la Calzada’s hard hitter at the onset of the fifth inning for a 1-0 lead. De la Calzada added another one on catcher Niño Tatur’s sacrifice fly.
Second baseman Francis Candela countered with a stolen home in the sixth inning.
UST was still much in the game as it looked for the equalizer that never came. UP erupted with three runs in the eight inning.
Teddy Landicho scored on his cousin Rhoy Landicho’s single hitter. Randy de Leon connected another one that sent Natanauan home in the ensuing play. Rhoy Landicho came away with another run on a hard grounder by De La Calzada for a 5-1 victory and a one-game edge in the series.
In the series opener, De la Calzada outplayed UST’s Sandy Cerillo on the mound as he struck out nine while only allowing two hits and two walks in a solid performance.
Cerillo finished the game with two errors and only three strikeouts while allowing the Maroon Batters to run away with nine hits and eight walks.
Last Feb. 15, the Golden Sox lost the game and the championship right from the start as UP made big runs in the second inning that lasted until the fifth inning.
Aided by some controversial calls from the three umpires, UP raced to a 2-0 lead at the start of the second inning as Landicho’s run-batted-in (RBI) triple enabled Roswald Palacol to reach the home plate. Teddy Landicho scored Natanauan in the next play.
Tempers flared at the onset of the third inning as Golden Sox’s asst. coach Sandy Barredo and UAAP baseball tournament director Emerson Barandoc were caught in a heated confrontation. Barredo questioned Barandoc why only three umpires showed up in the second game while four officiated the series opener.
The Golden Sox was visibly distraught by the controversial calls of the second base umpire as they were held scoreless for the first five innings.
UST’s centerfielder Erasto Sarmiento’s hard grounder scored first baseman Jerby Diego, then catcher Gil Encarnado hit the ball to the extreme right field for a Sarmiento run. But the two-run scored on top of the sixth inning hardly mattered as UP was already in control of the game, 10-2.
Rommel Mercado’s sacrifice fly scored Cerillo in the last inning to settle the count, 10-3.
“Magaling talaga ang UP. Talo kami sa experience. Pero next year, babawi kami,” Golden Sox head coach Jeffrey Santiago said after the game.
UST will remain intact going into the next season while UP saw the last of this season’s UAAP Most Valuable Player De la Calzada and best catcher Niño Tator.
Meanwhile, rookie sensation Francis Fuentes cornered three individual awards — Rookie of the Year, Best Slugger award and the Batting title. Alder T. Almo
