MANILA, Philippines – The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) might postpone the baseball and softball competition from its original date of November 27 to December 10 due to the ongoing skinning of the infield of the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
According to athletic director Malou Isip of baseball and softball subhost Adamson University (AdU), the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has not confirmed if the skinned area of the pitch would be available for the original date of opening. By skinning, it means removing the grass particularly on the infield.
Hostilities in baseball are supposed to start on November 27 with a simple opening ceremony kicking off the season at 7 a.m., followed immediately by the 8 a.m. encounter where the University of Sto. Tomas Tigers open defense of their title against De La Salle University (DLSU).
Other opening-day games pit Ateneo against AdU and University of the Philippines (UP) against National University (NU). On November 30 also at the Rizal Memorial diamond, softball hostilities get going with reigning champion Adamson taking on De La Salle at 9 a.m.
At 11 a.m., it will be UP against UST after which Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) battles UE at 1 p.m.
UST owns the most number of baseball championships with 24, followed by Far Eastern University (FEU) with 13 and Adamson and UP with 11 each. Adamson won three straight, but the streak was broken last season by the Tigers.
FEU tops the honor roll in UAAP softball with 19 titles, but has not won since it bagged a record 19 straight crowns from 1963 to 1984. Adamson has 10 titles, winning its first in the 1997-98 season.