THE ATENEO Blue Eagles capped off their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 85 Softball campaign in 4th place, finishing the season with one win and seven losses.
Last Tuesday, March 7, Ateneo bowed out to the unbeaten University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons, 0-14. Meanwhile, yesterday, March 11, the Blue and White lost to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tiger Softbelles in a thrilling eight-inning game, 1-4. Both matches were held at the University of the Philippines-Diliman Baseball Field.
Match versus UP
The first inning saw UP card three runs as the Blue and White’s defensive showing fell short of containing its Katipunan neighbors, 3-0. Despite struggling to snag any runs in the second inning, Ateneo still managed to hold the Lady Maroons off from climbing up the scoring column any further.
To end the scoring drought, UP bagged three more runs in the third inning, putting up a fight against Ateneo’s elevated defensive play, 6-0.
Well-calculated defensive strategies from both teams resulted in the fourth and fifth inning yielding no scored runs. Come the sixth inning, however, the Lady Maroons fired eight runs to close the match in their favor, 14-0. Germaine Guinto emerged as the Blue and White’s top hitter, registering two hits in two at-bats.
Match versus UST
Ateneo started the match with intense pitching from Mary Jane Beronilla and superb defense that limited UST to only three batters. Genesis Degolacion opened the bottom of the first with a home run to give the Blue Eagles an early lead, 1-0. While Alia Tuprio successfully landed a double later in the same inning, Ateneo was unable to pull off another set of runs, with the score maintained at 1-0 for the Blue Eagles.
The next innings were a tight contest between Ateneo and UST as both teams were not able to score a run. The Blue and White were limited to only three batters each from the second until the fifth inning. Back-to-back flyouts caught by senior Guinto and sophomore Rocio Macasaet in the fourth and fifth innings helped Ateneo maintain their lead.
With UST at a disadvantage heading into the top of the seventh, the Tiger Softbelles were able to tie the game with a run from Kyle Miranda. The Blue Eagle sister duo of Sophia and Julia Carsi-Cruz then opened the bottom of the seventh inning with two consecutive hits. However, Ateneo failed to capitalize on the opportunity as UST closed the match with three runs in the top of the eighth inning, 1-4.
“Everyone gave their 110% in each game, especially in the last game against UST and I think that shows how much heart we put in the sport,” said Martina Nacion about their performance this season.
Seniors Guinto, S. Carsi-Cruz, and Sophia Santos played their last games for Ateneo while Nacion will return for another season next year.
“[The team] hope that the next batch of rookies will help us get stronger for the next season especially as the seniors leaving this year have been key players throughout the tournament,” Nacion added.
