Davao City athletes start gold medal hunt in Mati
By CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEY
THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD Catherine Pulido can still vividly recall the scene: The girls from Compostela Valley celebrating on the field and her teammates reduced to watching the celebration with tears in their eyes.
That was moments after Compostela Valley pulled off a stunning comeback to win the elementary girls softball gold in the 2014 Davao Regional Athletic Association (Davraa) Meet in Tagum City.
That was moments after Pulido and Davao City absorbed a shocking defeat and let a golden opportunity to win the championship slipped away with a monumental final inning disaster.
Leading 2-0 going into the bottom half of the seventh and last inning, and even two outs away from the gold, the Davao City girls gave up three runs to lose the game and settle for the silver medal instead.
“Yes, I cried that time,” Pulido told Edge Davao in the vernacular. She was a pitcher of that losing team last year, but was not the one who gave up the runs that shattered their dreams.
“The girls from Compostela Valley were yelling and celebrating on the field,” Davao coach and trainer Isidro Gaitano said. “We were just standing there and watching them celebrate.”
“Sakit uy (Of course, it was painful),” said Pulido, a Grade 6 pupil.
For this year’s DAVRAA Meet in Mati City, Gaitano said he is hoping Pulido and the team composed mostly of pupils from the Baguio Central Elementary School will have another shot at the gold.
The girls and the rest of the 500-strong Davao City athletes, with most of whom holding their training at the Davao City National High School, arrived in Mati City Sunday on board 11 buses.
The delegation is staying at the Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology for the duration of the DAVRAA Meet which fires off from February 24 to 28.
The Davao City bets are competing against nine other divisions in 17 events.
Also seeing action are athletes from Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, Panabo City, Digos City, Island Garden City of Samal, Tagum City and host Mati City.
