THE UST Golden Sox rode on a torrid start to dominate the University of the Philippines via a mercy rule, 11-1, in the UAAP baseball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Ballpark last December 5.
The team is poised to improve on its fifth-place finish last season with league-leading 3-0 win-loss slate in the first round. The National University (NU) is second with a 2-1 record.
“This is the actualization of our hard work. Their skills and capabilities are really showing now. If they [UST] continue playing like this, I think we can make it to the Final Four,” said coach Jeffrey Santos, noting that his wards had immensely improved on the mental aspect of the game.
Rookie Arvin Plaza circled the bases to orchestrate a homerun early in the first inning with a solid hit that sent the ball beyond the right field grounds, 1-0.
In the sixth inning, Plaza sent another teammate, Gerald Mitra, to the home plate while Nikko Reyes, who sent the ball to the centerfield in the same inning, reached home with two runs batted in, courtesy of Argel Kasulhay and Plaza, 10-1.
In the seventh frame, Haruta Estanislao, who is in his fifth playing year for UST, gave the final point for the Golden Sox after being propelled to the home plate by Amber Plaza’s left field hit.
UST earlier won against NU (8-5) and thrashed perennial rival Adamson University (10-2) last November 28 and December 2, respectively.
Early struggle
Defending champions UST Softbelles succumbed to a more experienced University of the East (UE), 0-3, en route to their first loss in three games last December 8 at the Academic oval in University of the Philippines-Diliman.
“They had a more experienced pitcher than us,” coach Sandy Barredo said. “The team also struggled offensively and defensively.”
UST went scoreless the rest of the game despite efforts by Melanie Laserna in the vital seventh inning, reaching as far as the second base but was eventually caught off guard by the UE defense.
Capitalizing on UST’s crucial fielding errors, the red-and-white softbelles drew their much-needed firepower from Maricar Barrientos, Maria Brenda Bacarisas, and Barbara Lauriquez to clinch the win for UE, which is now tied at first place with Adamson with identical 3-0 win-loss cards.
Previously, the Softbelles clobbered the Ateneo de Manila University, 8-0, last December 4, three days after shrugging off their first game jitters with an easy 11-0 slaughter of the De La Salle University last December 1. Frauleine Michelle S. Villanueva and Anne Marie Carmela L. Dayauon
