Diego Lozano: Bigger stage, same results

After Ateneo’s Gino Tantuico hit a series-ending groundball that gave the DLSU Green Batters the championship, a collective cheer erupted from the La Salle bench. In the middle of it all was rookie pitcher Diego Lozano.

Fresh off ending his high school career in La Salle Green Hills with a championship, he began his stint at DLSU the only way he knows how: winning. For a player, there really is no better way to make a first impression than to win at the highest of levels. This season’s championship was a moment he would never forget, even if he has been representing the Green-and-White his entire life.

“It felt really good to end the drought,” Lozano mentions. “It was a 13-year drought if I’m not mistaken. It felt good to be a part of the team and I’m really honored and happy that all of us did our best and made our school proud.”

Lozano’s relationship with baseball started very early in his life. He explains, “I started playing baseball in the first grade because of my dad. My dad used to play baseball and he was the one who taught me how to play.”

From that moment on, he never let the sport go. He remembers the first time he pitched very vividly saying, “The first time I ever pitched, I started loving it. That was in either grade three or grade four and I just remember that during the game, I felt like I was at home on the mound.”

By the time he reached high school, Lozano was already considered one of the standouts of his batch. Adding to that, the lessons he got from his coaches and older teammates, such as current Green Batters Boo Barandiaran and Joaquin Bilbao, helped him become the player that was usually considered by his peers as the best on the field.

As he recalls though, it was in no way easy to get to that point. “I always practiced,” he says. “Every time I had the chance, I was on the baseball field trying to get better in any way possible.”

It was also in his junior year when he represented the Philippines in the Senior League World Series in Bangor, Maine. By his senior year, he was the captain of an LSGH team that eventually won the championship against rival Ateneo in the finals. When he graduated, he was awarded the “Best in Baseball” award to go along with multiple MVP and best pitcher awards that he had already collected throughout his high school career. There was very little Lozano did not accomplish in his high school baseball career. The only question that remained for him was where he was going next.

While being in a La Salle jersey has been the norm for Lozano, it was never absolute that Taft Avenue was his next destination. “Honestly, I was not supposed to go here for college,” he says on his initial college plans. “Since first year high school, my plan was to go to the [United] States for college but going into the latter years, third or fourth year, I decided to go to DLSU because I was offered a scholarship.”

While it did not show in the stat sheet, Lozano says that the transition to college baseball was not at all easy. “[The] biggest difference is the skill level,” he says. “In high school, not all the teams are as good as the ones we play in college. All of them get into the team not just because they know the coach or something, but because of their skills. College is a really different ball game.”

Add to that the rigors and stress of a college student, Lozano emphasizes that he really needed to find the perfect balance between sports and studies. He elaborates, “I have a daily schedule of my plan. I set a certain amount of time for study then a certain amount of time for practice. It’s hard to balance butit can be done.”

While it is just his first year in DLSU, Lozano still has the desire and fire to continue working hard for championships. He emphasizes that his goal is “to get better and win five championships” before it is all said and done.

“I love baseball,” he says. “I love the thrill of the game. Like every inning of every game, you don’t know what to expect; every inning is a surprise.”

With Lozano in the fold, the future looks very bright for DLSU baseball.