KNOWN for their resiliency under pressure, the UST Golden Sox chose to stick with their fighting image at crunchtime.
And the trick paid off as the Golden Sox overcame a rough start and the spirited challenge of darkhorse Adamson University to claim its second UAAP baseball title in three years via an emphatic 2-0 finals sweep last March 4 at the Rizal Memorial Ballpark.
Season 69 Most Valuable Player Jon-Jon Robles typified UST’s dominance at the mound once more as he struck out 11 batters and limited the bewildered Falcons to only six hits and three runs in nine innings of intense pitching to cap the best-of-three finals series with a 5-3 Game 2 victory.
“He (Robles) really made things easy for us,” coach Jeffrey Santiago told the Varsitarian. “Realizing that he is one of the keys to wrapping up the series, Jon-Jon (Robles) made sure that everything is going to fall into place, offensively and defensively.”
The Golden Sox’ rousing conquest of the Falcons gave UST its 22nd title, the most in UAAP baseball history, thus reaffirming the España-based batters’ stature as the league’s undisputed kings of the diamond. Far Eastern University and Season 68 champions University of the Philippines are tied for second place with 14 titles apiece.
UST cashed in on a no-out, bases-loaded situation on top of the fourth inning to set the pace of the match against the Falcons, who took an early 0-1 edge on Adamson shortstop Roger Landicho’s homer at the bottom of the third inning off a catching error by second baseman Julius Gerona.
Veteran catcher Jake Cumlat then keyed the Golden Sox’ offensive breakaway in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to far left that grazed past Adamson third baseman Melvin Vispo, allowing first baseman Jerby Diego and designated hitter Erwin Manuel to cross the plate unmolested for a 2-1 UST lead.
Exploiting Adamson’s defensive blunders anew, the Golden Sox made it a 4-1 affair as third baseman Israel Ona rifled a long ball into the stands for a quick homer that eventually drove reliever Marc Castillo home from center in the fifth inning.
Although Adamson managed to stop the bleeding in the seventh inning with a homer from Landicho, the Falcons’ resistance was short-lived as UST shortstop Ace Baquiran nailed the pivotal run in the eight inning to seal the deal.
Jasmin, who ousted five UST batters but surrendered five runs and six hits in the match, capped Adamson’s failed bid with a no-bearing single run in the ninth inning.
“At the end of the day, it is determination that would spell a team’s victory regardless of the players’ skills,” said Santiago, who led the Golden Sox to a “four-peat” title run back in the ‘80s.
The 20-year-old Robles, who was named Season 67 MVP, also bagged his second MVP plum to go with his Best Pitcher award this season.
Meanwhile, center-fielder Al-Denn Lozada was cited for Most Stolen Bases alongside Alexander Tolome (Ateneo de Manila University), Christian Galedo (National University) and Gelmart Ilao (Adamson); and Most Runs Batted-In (RBI).
Nail-biter
In Game 1, the Golden Sox clawed back from the pits of despair in a gutsy 4-3 upset of the Falcons last Feb. 28 at the Rizal Memorial Ballpark. Staring at a 0-3 hole, UST slowly closed the gap with two runs from Robles and a homer from Lozada at the bottom of the eight inning to knot the count at 3-3.
Moments later, Manuel, who stole third base on teammate Loreto Manalo’s sacrifice bunt, delivered the marginal run in the ninth inning off Bacquiran’s grounder to settle the outcome.
Earlier, the Golden Sox repulsed defending champion UP, 5-2, in Game 2 of their semifinals face-off last Feb. 25. UST’s win overcame the Maroons’ twice-to-beat advantage to secure a finals ticket against Adamson.
