Baseball player Jerome Yenson, the star of Adamson’s last UAAP championship and a member of the Philippines’ gold medal win in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, died Friday, Sept. 24.
Friends, colleagues and members of the local baseball community were among those who took to social media to express their grief over the sudden passing of Yenson, who was supposed to turn 25 on Sept 30.
Cause of death has yet to be confirmed as of posting time but there are suggestions that it was not health-related.
A native of Talavera, Nueva Ecija who started playing baseball when he was at third grade, Yenson rose to prominence in 2018 when he pitched the Falcons to the UAAP crown by sweeping the La Salle Green Archers in a best-of-three finals.
Yenson’s two-run double in the third inning launched Adamson’s comeback from a 5-0 deficit before pitching six innings in relief to secure a 13-6 win on March 16, 2018 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
“Isa yun sa mga pinakamasayang nangyari sa buhay ko,” Yenson said in a video posted by the Philippine Baseball the Dreamers Facebook page in July 2020.
He earned a spot on the national team later in the year, and was part of the Philippines’ victory in the East Asia Cup in Hong Kong.
The following year, Yenson was a member of the Philippine squad that ruled the 2019 SEA Games held in Clark, Pampanga. The national batters won all five games, including a 15-2 drubbing of rival Thailand for the gold.
Yenson was supposed to take part in the Philippines’ campaign in the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in the United States, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.