Angelo Bernardo stepped up to the plate at the very last moment and delivered Ateneo de Manila University to an 8-7 walk-off spoiler win over Final Four-seeking Adamson University to finish their UAAP Season 87 Baseball campaign on a high note at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium, Wednesday morning.
Bernardo, a third-year slugger out of PAREF Southridge School, was called up to bat for Alfonso Tueres with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning with just one out.
He embraced the trust given to him by head coach Bocc Bernardo, hammering a blooper to left center field that scored Joaquin Mendoza and Khristian Ferrolino for the victory that snapped a six-game skid for the Blue Eagles to end the season with a 2-8 record.
“Medyo nagtalo kami ni Coach Randy (Dizer) sa last minute na yun ano? But sabi ko kailangan ko lang ng hitter. Even if you don’t look at the stats, si Angelo was one of our more consistent hitters all throughout the season. So at that very moment, I made that decision na siya ‘yung papaluin,” said Bocc Bernardo, who is in his third year as the Ateneo head coach.
After Matt San Juan flew out to left field to open the bottom of the ninth stanza, senior players Mendoza and Carlos Dela Rosa reached base on a walk and a single, respectively. Dela Rosa was then replaced with pinch runner Ferrolino.
Rico Samson then earned himself a walk to load the bases, with him being replaced by pinch runner Rafael Aquino.
Then Angelo Bernardo’s moment came.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
“Alam naman namin lahat what we are capable of. Just breaks of the game, and of course, our youth was a big factor. Winning at the end of the season was also very good for us kasi siyempre, we don’t wanna move on and look at what we did wrong. We also want to know what we did right,” said Bocc Bernardo.
Trailing 4-6 in the top of the eighth period, pinpoint baserunning allowed Adamson to take over and regain a 7-6 lead.
John Mark Tupig ignited the three-run rally with an inning-opening triple followed by John Matanguihan’s single to plate him and trim the Soaring Falcons’ deficit to just one, 5-6.
After Ateneo took out the next two batters, Bocc Bernardo gambled by intentionally walking the next two hitters, cleanup batter Joao Severino and Lawrence Mercado to open the possibility of a force-out.
However, a failed pickoff attempt at first base allowed Adamson to score Matanguihan and Severino for the 7-6 advantage.
The Soaring Falcons, who ended the elimination round at 4-6, could have entered the Final Four with a win. Instead, they are now relegated to the play-off for the last semifinals spot against the loser of the UST Golden Sox-UP Fighting Maroons match, being played as of publishing time.
Ateneo’s plate discipline was in full display, earning nine walks while also nabbing eight hits, while Joshua de Juras registered a no-relief effort on the mound, striking out seven.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
Matanguihan went 3-of-6 at-bat while Severino and Mercado also tallied two hits each for Adamson.
James Nisnisan, a rookie pitcher out of Baguio National School of Arts and Trades, started for the Soaring Falcons but struggled. He allowed two hits and two walks in just 1/3 inning of work before head coach Lando Binarao pulled the plug and replaced him with Rommel Bacalla, who pitched 8 and 1/3 innings.
With two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, Kenneth Delos Santos took over the mound for Adamson but could not finish the job.
Mendoza, Dela Rosa, Samson, Emilio Perez, Lorenzo Montemayor, and Ezekiel Laygo made their final run around the diamond.
TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E
———————————————————
AdU | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 1
Ateneo | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 3
