UST Golden Sox Justine Rosales was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the UAAP Season 85 men’s baseball tournament at the UP Diliman Baseball field on Friday after being the top home run scorer and the best slugger in the season.
The second-year Golden Sox shortstop finished the season with three home runs and a slugging percentage of .865.
“Sobrang saya at sobrang nakaka proud kasi bata pa lang ako pinangarap ko ng maging MVP sa kahit anong liga man. Sobrang nagpapasalamat ako sa lahat ng naniwala sa kakayahan ko,” he told the Varsitarian.
The Golden Sox failed to secure a podium finish in Season 85 after ending the season in fifth place with a 4-6 win-loss record.
UST attempted a miraculous comeback in the second round of the season after losing all its matches in the first round. However, Adamson University put a stop to their plans of sweeping the second round in the final match of the season.
Despite the Golden Sox’s shortcomings in Season 85, Rosales said that he could not have bagged the MVP award without the help of UST’s baseball program.
Rosales was part of the Junior Golden Sox team that won the Season 82 championship.
“Malaki ang naging tulong talaga ng baseball program sa UST kasi bukod kasi sa pagtuturo ng nga coaches ng magandang disiplina ay talagang maiimprove pa nila ang mga knowledge sa paglalaro,” he said.
Rosales said that as MVP, he would try to be a better leader for the Golden Sox next season.
“Ang maitutulong ko sa team syempre [ay] ang magawa ko palagi ang 100 percent ko sa loob ng field, depensa man o opensa,” he said. “Papataasin ko palagi ang fighting spirit ng bawat isa para makapag-perform [sila] nang maayos sa oras ng game.”
Adamson University’s Raymond Nerosa and Bryan Castillo won the Best Hitter (.465 average) and Most Stolen Bases (eight SBs) awards.
Ateneo Blue Eagle Luis Capati was awarded the Rookie of the Year honors. with reports from Arwin Nathaniel A. Romano.
