College’s timeless rivalry is rekindled once again as the DLSU Green Batters and Blue Batters of Ateneo clash in a best-of-three series championship match starting tomorrow, Febraury 14, at 12 pm in the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium, for a shot at the championship. From the season series, the Green Batters hold the upper hand over the defending champions 2-0, winning their first match with a score of 13 – 6 and their most recent one at 11-10.
Non-bearing preview
DLSU and Ateneo both played last February 2 in what was supposed to be a non-bearing match, yet the result told a different story. The Green batters started strong, scoring six runs in the second inning alone. Despite the early deficit, Ateneo went on a run and managed to tie the score at 10 apiece heading into the eighth inning. DLSU then scored a run in the eighth and capped it off by holding the Blue Batters scoreless in the last inning.
The pitching and the offense will be key in this series, according to Office of Sports Development (OSD) director Emmanuel Calanong. “I think man for man we have a better pitching rotation. I think the scores will show that hitting-wise, we’re strong from our first batter to the ninth,” he says.
During the ballgame, both the Green and Blue Batters each registered nine walks, evidence of both teams’ patience at the plate. Aside from this, the two teams had eight hits each. Errors were also more abundant in the Blue dugout with four to La Salle’s two. If DLSU will be able to show more plate discipline, limit their errors and get more hits, then this will prove to be one difficult match for Ateneo.
The last outing was a high scoring match, wherein both teams finished with double-digit scores. To add to that, the Blue Batters were able to catch up and tie the game late into the ballgame, in what would have been a crucial letdown for DLSU. Should the Green batters manage to gain the lead, the key to maintaining it this time would be to silence the Ateneo offense through pitching, defense, and most importantly, limit the men on base (nine in the previous outing).
Expectations
For Green Batters head coach Joseph Orillana, playing against the defending champion in the finals is no walk in the park. “Ang expectations ko sa finals ay hindi ito magiging madali,” he says on series opener. “Yung intensity ng players ko, high morale sila ngayon. I think makukuha namin yung game one lalo na kung magstick lang kami sa game plan namin.”
“I expect the game to be close,” adds Green Batters team captain Carly Laurel. “I hope that we stay healthy. We will be relying heavily on our pitchers. Hopefully, nobody gets laki-ulo because of the TV exposure. I expect us to stay focused and play the way we play”.
