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By Robert Balajadia
Losing the 2015 girls softball title still resonates with Academy Cougars and Saturday’s first game of the IIAAG season was their first step at getting back to championship form.
The Cougars rallied at bat and took advantage of an error filled day from the Titans while also relying on freshman pitcher Ashley Mendiola for the 16-5 win over the Tiyan through six innings. A scoring error from the official score keeper after five innings forced a 6th inning to prevent the 10-run mercy rule, but the stat of a missed run in the 5th inning was corrected at games end.
Academy still has a handful of returnees from their 2015 team which made the weight of a win for the first year Cougar Mendiola a much heavier burden. Her first start for a championship hungry team wasn’t easy, but the girls picked Mendiola up when she needed it most.
Mendiola gave up two runs in the 1st inning and walked a Titan in the 3rd with the bases loaded with her team clinging to a 5-3 lead. The girls called for time to settle down their visibly frustrated pitcher and Mendiola responded by getting a strikeout to end the inning.
“When I broke down my team came to me and told me to have confidence and to just be myself. I’m very thankful for them. Their willingness to pick me up allowed me to move on to the next inning and finish strong,” said Mendiola.
Mendiola saved her pent up personal aggression for the at bats where she went 4-5, including 2RBI’s for the game.
“That was definitely the reason,” said Mendiola of her hits atoning for her runs allowed at the mound. “I wanted to prove to myself, my team and all the family and friends that I’m more than what I presented myself to be in the beginning of the game.”
Mendiola picked up the win for the Cougars and Titans Lizel Dela Cruz takes the loss. Both pitchers went all six innings.
The Cougar offense was steady throughout by scoring four runs in the 3rd inning and five runs in the 4th and 5th. Another big hitter for Academy was Doriaun Calvo, who went 3-5 and added an RBI while scoring two runs herself. Four runs in 4th inning were scored off Titan errors and three more were scored in the 5th inning off errors as well.
Calvo, now a sophomore, saw a lot she liked from her offense Saturday as they began their run towards the 2016 title.
“We’re very hungry for the title and we did really well today. Today was a good first step and we kept a positive attitude and we did our best. We’re slowly getting out full team back from other sports and our goal is to be the best team out there,” said Calvo.
As far as facing Tiyan, Calvo credited the Titans for their much improvement from 2015.
“[Tiyan] put up a great fight. You can see how they improved in all areas of the game,” Calvo added.
Academy continues the season on Wednesday against the GW Geckos at the Tai Field near FD and the Titans will play the defending champion JFK Islanders at JFK also on Wednesday.
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GPS Sports Calendar
April 2024
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for April
3rd
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE
Events for April
4th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
5th
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
6th
HIGH SCHOOL PADDLING
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
Events for April
6th
Events for April
8th
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
10th
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
12th
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
13th
HIGH SCHOOL PADDLING
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
Events for April
14th
GUAM KO’KO’ ROAD RACE
GUAM KO’KO’ ROAD RACE
Events for April
15th
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
17th
IIAAG M.S. BOWLING
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
18th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
ISA HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
19th
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
20th
Events for April
22nd
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
24th
IIAAG M.S. BOWLING
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
25th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
ISA HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
26th
INTERSCHOLASTIC GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ISA HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG HS BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for April
27th
PATGON JIU-JITSU TOURNAMENT
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
Events for April
27th
Jiu-Jitsu
MARIANAS OPEN TAKES MATS TO MANILA
Volleyball
ROYALS BLAST EAGLES FROM ALL ANGLES
Feature
THE THRILL OF PILOTING BACK HOME
Volleyball
GW WINS ANOTHER 5-SET THRILLER
Baseball
BASEBALL MVP TO PLAY COLLEGIATE BALL
Feature
THE THRILL OF PILOTING BACK HOME
Running/Track
KENT BREAKS TWO HIGH SCHOOL RECORDS
COMING SOON …
4th Quarter Sports