Adamson put on the finishing touches on its drive for a rare three-peat after beating National University, 10-5, to win the 72nd UAAP baseball crown at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
This time, both teams relied on their offense but pitcher Romeo Jasmin kept the Falcons lead intact while Marvin Malig provided the key hits early to complete the school's 11th title overall by completing a sweep of the stubborn Bulldogs.
The San Marcelino-based batters thus tied University of the Philippines for third all-time with University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University leading the pack with 23 and 13 championships, respectively.
"Ito siguro ang pinakamahirap na championship na nakuha namin dahil natalo kami ng dalawang beses at madami kaming laro na talagang dikitan ang score," said coach Orlando Binarao, whose squad will lose five players, particularly Jasmin and Malig, due to graduation.
Despite nailing the top spot after the double-round elims, Adamson had a hard time clinching that berth after losing to UP in the first round after staging a walkout and then to NU in the second round.
After dispatching La Salle in the Final Four, the Falcons took Game 1, 3-1, last Sunday behind a pitching gem by Jasmin, who flirted at a change to make a perfect game before holding a late Bulldogs attack.
This time, though, Jasmin wasn't able to make a repeat of that outing giving up five runs off 10 hits in a no-relief effort. Still, he managed to struck out four batters and made timely pitches to douse cold water on numerous Bulldogs rallies.
Jasmin's performance enabled him to wrest his second Most Valuable Player plum for the second time in three seasons while bagging the Best Pitcher award in back-to-back seasons, a fitting end to his collegiate career.
"Consistent naman siya kahit tumatama yung kalaban niya kakapukol pa rin siya ng maganda," said Binarao. "Maswerte ako na nagkaroon ako ng pitcher na katulad niya."
"Masaya po ako na natapos ko yung career ko na nakuha ko yung inaasam-asam ko na Best Pitcher at MVP," said Jasmin. "Malaki ang nakukuha kong confidence sa mga teammates ko dahil alam ko na natutulungan nila ako sa depensa."
Malig, last year's MVP, supported Jasmin's strong showing with three RBIs in the contest.
An RBI single to right field off rookie starter Aries Oruga helped leadoff runner Jenald Pareja to score the game's first run in the first frame, then brought Pareja home anew on a similar hit in the third for a 2-0 lead. He later scored on an RBI triple by Joselito Bermoza.
But NU answered with two runs in the bottom half of the said inning as Jarus Inobio drove home Bryan Lumbres on a triple then scooted home after Adamson first baseman Jay Vizcarra failed to caught a pop-up by Mick Natividad to cut the lead to a single run.
The Bulldogs had a chance to take the lead when Raffy Dimaculangan and JB Castro reached third and second, respectively, on a bunt by Alfredo Olivarez for the first out of the fourth frame.
However, Jasmin took over striking out Jezreel Rosita then forced Lumbres to hit a groundout to end the threat.
From there, Adamson exploded for four runs in the fifth inning highlighted by Malig's third RBI of the day scoring Gian Llaguno and a triple by Edward Landicho that pushed Bermoza from second.
"Gusto na talaga namin tapusin tong series na 'to dahil kapag mag-Game 3 pa baka mapunta pa sa kanila (NU) yung momentum," said Binarao, who is also a member of the RP Blu Boys team.
It was a disappointing setback for the young Bulldogs, who was aiming to win their first title since completing a back-to-back in 1967.
But NU is glad to have four players winning some of the league's individual awards as Rosita was named as the Rookie of the Year, Inobio took the Most Stolen Base diadem while Natividad and Ram Casey Alipio shared the Most RBI's plum with UP's Vladmir Eguia.
UST's Chun Wang Song bagged the Most Home Runs and Best Slugger awards while UP's Jojo Apura took the Best Hitter honors.
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