WITH A win-loss slate of 1-4, the Lady Batters have suffered through tough defeats at the hands of their opponents—but, they have come a long way from their winless days.
Until the arrival of coach Ulysses Mejia, the Lady Batters did not win a single game for 12 seasons.
Having finished fifth last season, sporting a 3-7 record, Coach Mejia summed up last year’s performance as, “wasted effort.”
“Our goal last season was to enter the final four” said Mejia. He claims that the only reason the Lady Batters failed to reach that goal was because they had lost their number one catcher to academic issues.
The difference this year is that the team has garnered the much needed poise and composure while becoming more mature. “We have the brain,” Meija said of their greatest strength.
“[The game is] 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical, we just need to match up with the skills of the other teams, we have a fair chance [of winning] if we can out hustle and outsmart our opponents.”
The season so far
Starting the season with a 2-0 loss to Adamson University, followed by a 8-0 loss (due to mercy rule) to UST, things were starting to look all too familiar. Both losses however were attributed to errors and mental lapses on the field.
Most recently, they suffered yet another close loss at the hands of DLSU last December 11, with a tight score of 3-5.
While the girls claim that they have been playing their best defense in years, their offense has been a stubborn engine difficult to crack. Their only victory came against UP in a close 2-1 match-up. Ironically, those two runs were scored on errors by UP.
Troubleshooting
Bringing home players has been an on-going issue for the Lady Batters. Their season lies on whether or not they can translate that effort into hits to provide a much needed spark.
“We’ve been working on our consistency on offense and really seeing the pitches and choosing which to hit and what to let go,” said Team Captain Tiffany Mathay.
On and off the field, the Lady Batters work just as hard as anyone else, always staying focused and keeping in mind their goal to win UAAP, “that’s every team’s goal,” Mathay said.
“I would have to say that this year has got to be our most intense training schedule out of my whole four years of playing in Ateneo,” says Mathay. The team has been training three times a week since the first semester.
“For the second semester we train everyday from 6-9am and would have practice games a few times on weekends,” she says.
Fourth year pitcher, Ina Yulo adds, “we have a male pitcher who comes to pitch to us three times a week, we started using the pitching machine to hit balls at 100kph, and we’re getting more serious training when it comes to our fielding.”
Newbies
With a new year comes both loss and gains. As with any other team, players have been lost due to graduation and this year was no different. However, there is much reason to be excited with this year’s class of rookies.
“We have some talented rookies this year,” says Yulo. “All are outfielders—which is a position we’ve always tried to improve on, so it’s good to get some new players in who can bring a fresh outlook to the game.”
Erica Abello, who returned from a major shoulder injury which required surgery earlier in the year, feels the same way.
“Our sets of rookies this year are very strong. A big asset to the team considering we lost a few players this year,” says Abello. Everything else aside, the Lady Batters have come to show and prove their heart and dedication to the sport through the intense training that they have endured.
Despite all the potential surrounding this year’s team, Mejia doesn’t deny that their greatest weakness is the lack of a dominant pitcher. Currently coaching his third season for Ateneo softball, Mejia doesn’t shy away from the goal of contending for a championship and making history.
“I’ve always told my players that luck only comes to those who have the right attitude and discipline [and] that God watches us when we play, and that only the deserving team wins.”
