WITH BOTH the Blue and Lady Batters suffering with detrimental injuries to key players, the consequences of a shallow bench prove to be overbearing.
The end of the first round marked an unfortunate run for the Ateneo baseball team as they had not been able to place a single win in the standings.
“Our current standing could be attributed to bad timing and bad luck,” Patrick Morales shares. “[It’s considerably] bad timing because we couldn’t get the big hits or the timely execution of our plays at the right time. And bad luck because of freak injuries.”
Entering into Season 72 has already been problematic for the men in blue. Aside from being down to 12 players this year, their opening game against UST on January 10 produced the season departure of team captain, Carlo Banzon, due to a fractured shin.
From being down 2-7 early in the game, the Eagles flew up to 8-7 advantage. Yet the Tigers did not give up as their import, senior Song Chun-wang, hit a game winner, batting in three Tigers and gaining back the lead 10-8. With poor play executions and Banzon’s accident just before the last inning, the Eagles were not able to recover as the Tigers sealed the win 10-9.
Same story
It has been the same story for the rest of their first round matches against UP, Adamson, NU and La Salle. And with another casualty to add to the list, the team is now down to ten players with second baseman Paolo Castillo dislocating his ring finger.
Morales says, “It’s a really trying time for our team and we are still fighting though.”
Amidst all these, pitcher Kevin Ramos has gone beyond his rookie status and has consistently delivered his A-game. Ramos, more than just a pitcher, is also one of the top hitters of the league.
With Coach Emer Barandoc re-shuffling the lineup every game, the team hopes to find the right combination in order to attain that elusive first victory, despite only having one man in the bench, and yet another minor injury to co-captain Alex Tolome.
“For now we just have to take it a game at a time and see where it brings us. The team knows we can win and we will be fighting and leaving it all on the field till the last out,” Morales says.
Lady Batters: sidetracked by injuries
In similar fashion, despite the pre-UAAP preparations brought by the Unigames and the first ever Ateneo Cup, the softball team’s hopes of top gunning Season 72 has been beset by injuries as they ended the first round at the bottom two position.
“This season we lost crucial players to surgeries and sprained ankles,” co-skipper Isabel Cang says. “
The Lady Batters took off on the wrong foot in the UAAP season opener, as they succumbed to the currently unbeaten UST Tigresses, led by the sensational pitching of Erika Panganiban, 1-11.
With a more flexible rotation care of Bada Lao’s new command of the starting pitcher position, the ladies in Blue asserted their experience in their next match against UE.
Down 0-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Red Warrior pitcher was all ready for a shutout, but determined to salvage their season from the opening loss, the ladies in blue made two consecutive hits, then capped off the last ditch rally with a home run to tie the game.
With the UE Warriors unable to advance in their at-bats, the Lady Batters forced an extra inning. In the eighth inning, they forced three outs against the opposition and placed their first win in the standings with a 5-3 comeback victory.
The detrimental effects of injuries have made themselves evident as the error-plagued Ateneo team lost costly games against the UP Fighting Maroons, 4-5 and to Adamson 1-11.
Having ended the first round with only two wins, the other a 21-8 beating against the DLSU Green Archers, the Lady Batters’ injury plagued lineup has hindered them from performing at their maximum potential. “The [injuries] have put a big dent on our defense, and we’re also having difficulty executing plays and connecting in terms of hitting,” Cang says.
Player shortage
The player shortage experienced by both teams is a wake-up call for better recruitment in future seasons. While the UAAP allows for a team of 20 players, both the Blue and Lady Batters have only occupied a fraction of the slots with 12 and 15 players respectively.
“Not that many people try out, and the ones that do are simply not good enough,” Morales says of the lack of recruits.
