University of Santo Tomas continued its Cinderella run, claiming the last Finals berth with a 4-3 walk-off victory against National University-Nazareth School during the knockout playoff in the UAAP Season 82 Juniors Baseball Tournament, Tuesday at Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The Jr. Golden Sox will square off against the top-seeded Ateneo Blue Eaglets in the best-of-three Finals slated to start on Thursday.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning, Miggy Reyes hit a looper to right field to bring Jester Tapia to home plate for the walk-off victory.
“Ang pinaka-crucial, full bases, two outs, si Miggy Reyes, alam ko naman na sanay na sa laro yon, nag-international na yan, hindi basta-basta kakabahan, siguradong palo lang, ayun tumama,” UST coach Jeffrey Santiago said.
Steven Dominguez started the fightback with a chopper to left field that sent pinch-runner Dustine Rebustillo home to tie the game at 3-all at the bottom of the seventh inning.
After losing its first two games, UST went on to win its last five matches en route to the championship round.
Tied at two in the third inning, Julius Soriano sent a flyball to deep left field to drive in Kyle Ilagan for the lead, 3-2.
UST pitcher Rafael Regalado pitched 4 1/3 innings, fanning 10 Bullpups, while leaving six stranded on base. UST backstop Junel Cruz tallied two RBIs.
After winning their first four games, the Bullpups dropped their last three matches to bow out of the tournament.
NU saw Regie Omaña, Gio Gorpido, Cyril Antipolo, Romeo Ronquillo, and John Llave run around the diamond for the final time.
