MANILA, Philippines – The defending champions Ateneo Blue Eagles wouldn’t give up their title without a fight. They beat archrivals De la Salle University 10-8 in the Game One of their best-of-three series in the UAAP76 baseball championships on Friday afternoon at Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Manila.
The win immediately gives Ateneo a twice to beat advantage. Ironically, they have not won over the Archers in the elimination round. Another win on Tuesday, February 18 will ensure that the crown does not go to the green side.
Game One was a coach’s battle as much as it was a pitcher’s duel.
Ateneo started out with their ace pitcher Andy Tan. Tan held the green batters to only 6 hits and 5 runs throughout 7 innings before finally giving up 3 hits and 3 runs in the eighth. He was working behind an offensive juggernaut that saw the Ateneans take a commanding 5 run lead up to that point.
Ateneo scored 6 runs in the 4th inning alone behind a string of hits produced by the Remollo brothers Dio and Pelos, as well as Adrian Bernardo. The inning would not have been such a blowout if not for the 3 throwing errors and 2 passed balls posted by the team. La Salle pitcher Basti Uichico also walked 2 batters in this inning to load the bases.
Uichico was a surprise starter for La Salle. Coach Joseph Orillana opted to use Uichico and was hoping to have 5 good innings from the right hander before fielding Carlos Munoz, La Salle’s ace hurler. Uichico was doing well until the fourth inning happened. He managed to one-hit Ateneo offensive, giving up one run and posting a single strikeout in the 2nd and 3rd innings. Munoz was called to the mound to start the 5th inning.
DLSU mounted a comeback by tying the game in the 8th inning behind the heroics of Andre Palacios, Dino Imperial and Paul Naguit. However, Ateneo’s championship experience clearly came through as they were able to post 2 runs in extra innings. Closer Adrian Bernardo then sealed the game with an outstanding clean up job in the 9th and the 10th inning giving up a lone hit, striking out 2 batters and inducing 2 easy flyouts to center and right field.
Coming into this series, La Salle had superior numbers and had dominated the elimination round with a 9-1 record. They were a better hitting team with a deeper, more seasoned pitching line-up. In fact, DLSU out-hit Ateneo 11-9, though most of these came in the tail end of the 7th and 8th inning when there was an obvious slow-down in the velocity of Andy Tan’s pitches. However, the relative inexperience in championship situations such as this of the boys from Taft is reflected in the 6 errors they posted versus none from the blue batters.
La Salle recognizes this and vowed to be ready for the next game. Pepe Munoz, La Salle Team Manager, points out that there are still two more games. This loss should make the players realize that they should step up if they want to bring home the trophy.
Randy Dizer, Ateneo Head Coach, is relieved by the result. He admits though that he also made a tactical error in keeping Andy Tan on the mound that long. “I told Andy that he should not worry about the 3 hits he gave up in the 8th. It was my call to leave him there. I told him, whatever happens after that, this game was his.” Andy Tan was player of the game because of his performance.
LOOKING AHEAD TO GAME 2
It is expected that there will be a lot of adjustments in Game 2.
Carlos Munoz pitched a full 5 innings for La Salle so he might be a questionable starter on Tuesday. Being down in the series, La Salle will be needing the services and leadership of their number 1 pitcher. Although they have other options such as Carly Laurel, Edward Flores and Miguel Olmos, their choice of starter must be strong enough to hold the rejuvenated players from Katipunan.
La Salle’s top of the batting line up struggled in game 1. It was the players at the bottom of the order who posted the string of hits that helped the team stay in the game. Will Coaches Orillana and Estipular stay with the order or will they risk a shake up?
Andy Tan on the other hand pitched 8 innings and may also be a doubful starter. Ateneo must continue to manufacture runs to keep the pressure off their pitcher, whoever that may be.
Coach Randy Dizer maintains that despite this win they will still be coming into game 2 as the underdog. He is hoping that his boys remain focused and play as well as they played today.
The La Salle coaching staff acknowledge the strength of their team and they are hoping that the loss today will reignite the same desire that brought them to the finals.
Box Scores
Ateneo – 010 601 000 – 2
DLSU – 030 000 230 – 0
– Rappler.com
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