The DLSU Green Batters’ season disappointingly came to an end after the AdU Soaring Falcons were crowned champions after winning Game 2 of the Finals, 13-6, yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Diamond. La Salle took the early 5-0 lead, but Adamson responded with 13 unanswered runs to bring home the victory.
Jerome Yenson, who was awarded Finals MVP, was once again the star for AdU as he was stellar on the mound and at the plate to help the Falcons end their eight-year championship drought. He ended the day three for five, with three runs batted in.
While Adamson took home the win, the day started exactly how La Salle could have hoped for. Two runs in the first inning, courtesy of RBI hits from Ignacio Escaño and Boo Barandiaran, gave the team confidence early on. DLSU would then tack on three more runs, highlighted by Angelo Tantuico’s RBI double, to chase starting pitcher Lexter Carandang and force AdU to bring in Yenson in just the third inning.
That, however, would ignite a 13-run onslaught by the Falcons. After Yenson’s RBI single in the third, the hits kept on coming for Adamson. They tacked on two more runs in the frame before tying the game on a Yenson sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. Two batters later, Kyle Villafaña would drive in two more AdU runs for the team’s first lead of the game, 7-5. They would not look back after that.
While Yenson would not let DLSU score again until the eighth inning, a myriad of different Green Batter pitchers struggled against the feisty Falcon batters. Diego Lozano, who started the game, was taken out in the third inning by Coach Joseph Orillana, while Arvin Herrera and Julio Arrastia were both unable to silence AdU’s offense. Kiko Gesmundo, though, was able to keep the Falcons off the board in his three innings of work.
The damage had already been done, however, as everything was going AdU’s way. When Yenson miraculously caught an Escaño hot shot in the seventh, it seemed like destiny for Adamson. Rafael Pascual was struck out looking to end the game, 13-6, and give AdU its first championship since 2010.
This is a disappointing outcome for a team that finished number one in the standings, with a 9-1 record, in the elimination rounds. However, even after beating them twice in the regular season, the Soaring Falcons were just the better team in the finals.
La Salle will look to bounce back next year but the team will be without graduating players Paul Naguit, Andre Palacios, and Cholo Dominguez.
