A look back: Batter Joseph Orillana
DLSU’s baseball legend former Joseph Orillana played an instrumental role in DLSU’s UAAP Season 66 baseball championship. He continues to contribute to DLSU’s baseball team as a member of the coaching staff.
Excellence in the field
In 2003, Joseph Orillana brought home the championship trophy, the Best Pitcher Award and the MVP Award. During the same year, Orillana graduated from DLSU, and earned the Student Athlete of the Year Award.
Orillana joined the team in 1999, and from the start, the lad already showed dedication on the field. In that same year he received the UAAP Rookie of the Year Award.
Other than his expertise in pitching, Orillana also dominated the field with his homeruns. He was the recipient of the Most Homeruns Award for three UAAP seasons.
With his excellent pitching skills, he led the Green Batters to grab two championship titles in his five years of playing for La Salle. He made sure that his final pitch as a Green Batter would send the team to another championship title before leaving the Green-and-White team.
A victorious run for the country
Prior to his comeback as a member of the Green-and-White coaching staff, Orillana joined the Philippine Baseball team immediately after he graduated from the University.
Orillana explains his reason for pursuing a career in baseball. He said, “The reason I pursued and joined the National team is because I know that I have the ability to prove my skills as a good student athlete of DLSU, and also to give honor to our school.”
During his time as a member of the National team, he competed in the Southeast Asian (SEA) games where he helped in bringing the country two championships. One of which is cam from the 23rd Southeast Asian Games held in Manila.
Coach Joseph had to struggle during that time, as he had to juggle coaching and playing for the National team.
Passing the torch
Coach Joseph Orillana believed that a good attitude inside and outside the field would help his athletes achieve the team’s goal. He is confident that with the right attitude, the team can have a good run just as it did years ago.
He ended, “The only thing I can advise to the team is to love, discipline and respect their sport. With this, the rest will follow.”
Orillana has a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education – Major in Sports and Recreational Management graduate (BPE-SRM). The baseball legend has passed on the responsibility of winning the baseball championship to the current team.
He shared, “Now that I’m the coach of DLSU, I want to inspire the DLSU Baseball and Softball players to play by heart. Also, I want to share with them what I’ve learned in National Team.”
A journey of a Softbelle: Joy Lanting
When Joy Lanting decided to bring her talent to Taft Avenue prior to UAAP Season 65, she knew that she had to help resurrect a softball team that had dwelled at the bottom of the standings.
Donning the Green-and-White jersey, the Pampanga native carried her team to a third-place finish in Season 67, which by far is one of the best runs DLSU has made in UAAP softball history. Unfortunately though, she could not bring home a UAAP championship title for DLSU. She did, however, helped accomplish five fruitful seasons before ending her stint in DLSU.
Aside from graduating Honorable Mention, the psychology major also received back-to-back Gawad Mag-aaral Most Outstanding Athlete awards (2005 and 2006), the UAAP Athlete Scholar award, and the DLSAA Sports Achievement award.
Reaping success outside UAAP
Despite failing to make a successful bid for a UAAP championship, Lanting made a name for herself in non-UAAP tourneys. Since she was a youngster, she had already played in other countries.
She played in the World Series in the United States, the Junior World Championships in China, the Asian Juniors Championships in Korea, and other invitational softball games in Japan, Malaysia and Taipei.
As a result, she received the PSA People’s choice award for winning gold in the SEA games during her graduation.
Mending work with further studies
After a successful softball career as a player, Lanting tried coaching in the Muntinlupa Little League. After some time, she could not commit since she was already working a full time job at DLSU as the tournament coordinator of the Office of Sports Development (OSD).
Finishing her degree of Masters of Education Major in student affairs and Services Management is one of her present priorities. She also wants to pursue graduate studies abroad in the near future.
She shared, “It’s still in my plans to take sports psychology abroad if given [a] scholarship. It’s not an urgent thing but if given a chance, I would love to take it.”
Despite her desire for knowledge, she wants to return to her first passion – coaching a softball team. She added, “I find coaching a fulfilling job because you get to share your knowledge and everything [of] what you have. For me, it’s an achievement, too.”
Developing character in the UAAP
Being part of an underdog team during her playing years proved to be a blessing in disguise for Lanting. All the setbacks and challenges have helped her become persistent, resolute, and idealistic.
She explained, “Throughout my five years in the team, I’ve always felt down but I didn’t give up.”
What sets her apart from other student athletes is that she values education. She quipped, “Study hard. Playing softball is not forever. Your education is something to be treasured.”
She ended, “People will laugh at you, will tease you, will stab your back, and will call you losers. Let them be. Don’t let them affect you. Don’t mind them, just do your best in everything you do, and you will feel more accomplished than they do.”
