UAAP softball: Mission accomplished for Adamson

MANILA, Philippines – Adamson University coach Ana Santiago has only one thing in mind before the start of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) softball tournament. Regain the title the Lady Falcons lost to the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons last year. That’s why she motivated the team to achieve that goal. “From the start of the season we have set our minds in winning this year’s title," said Santiago after her wards’ 10-0 shutout win over UP in Saturday’s final regular season game at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) field. The Lady Falcons completed a 10-game sweep after the double elimination round to win the crown outright and deny the Diliman-based squad’s title defense. Overall it was Adamson’s ninth title after a pair of four straight wins from 1997 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2007. “I asked the players to play with their heart and I’m very happy we accomplished our goal," added Santiago, who got her fourth title since assuming the head coaching post in 2005. It was a fitting end to Cloiene Muyco’s sterling UAAP career as she displayed the form that earned her the tag as the country’s top pitcher. She only allowed one hit in the 16 batters she faced in the shortened five-inning contest. Felixwanda Custodio went 2-for-3 and blasted a three-run home run in the first inning to highlight Adamson’s nine hits against UP pitcher Joyce Payongayong. Adamson opened up with a four-run lead thanks to UP’s decision to intentionally walk Muyco in a two-out and a man on base situation. Elna Parohinog made them pay with a single to let Anavic Jugos reach home before Custodio’s three-run homer scoring Muyco and Parohinog. Adamson added two runs in the fourth before closing with four more in the fifth. Outside of the weak pitching, the deposed champion also committed six errors with second base player Erika Flores and shortstop Jocelyn Gonzales committing two each. Chrisele Sangalang got UP’s lone hit, a third inning single in a two-out situation, but she failed to advance after Muyco struck out Eliza Legarte for the final out. UST took second place after a 14-3 win over La Salle while University of the East, despite a 3-1 loss to Ateneo, placed third this season. – GMANews.TV