Coming off a win against the UE Lady Warriors, the DLSU Lady Batters converted their momentum in another heavily contested win against the UP Lady Maroons, 4-3, earlier today at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Diamond.
The early stages of the game were not favorable for the Green-and-White. Defensive lapses from their side allowed the Lady Maroons to go 2-0 in the first inning. A dry spell was cast during the second and third innings, but also defensive efforts from both teams. The Lady Batters had significant chances of scoring a run but failed to get past the shortstop.
Regaining their confidence, the team scored their first three points of the game in the fourth inning. The tides have turned when Chinny Ejar notched an RBI to bring team captain Arribas home. This was followed by another Benson RBI to send Pam Concepcion home. Consecutively, in the last offensive play of the inning, Nica Velasco scored the last point through Dela Rosa to finally gain the lead.
The final inning was a late game thriller due to the crucial points earned by both teams. The Lady Maroons gave the Lady Batters a run for their money when Erika Olfato brought the game back to stalemate. Grit and focus helped the team captain give them the winning play. Arribas hit a long ball to the shortstop and allowed Velasco to escape the opposing defense for the win.
When asked about the close game, Arribas emphasized that they did not give up despite being down. “Kasi unlike [the] last, kapag naunahan kami, parang bumibigay kami. Ngayon talaga, tuloy kami na lumalaban,” she shared. “Kanina nunglast inning, sinabihan kami naone at a time lang at focus lang kami at tsaka mag–hold onkami,” she said as she gives credit to her coach who motivated them to keep on. Arribas added, “Ang laki talaga ng tiwala, grabe, ng mga coaches namin sa amin.”
(Because unlike the last, if they beat us to it, we often give up. Now, we continue to fight.)
(Earlier during the last inning, we were told to take things one at a time and to focus, and to hold on.)
(Our coaches really do have a lot of faith in us.)
The DLSU Lady Batters will return to the same venue to face their archrivals, the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles on Thursday, February 21, at 1 pm.
