Success is not final, failure is not fatal.
The De La Salle University Green Batters suffered a crushing 2-0 Finals sweep against rivals Ateneo de Manila University a season ago, their second Finals appearance in two years.
Moreover, the batters from Taft Avenue lost three key players going into the season with seniors Carlos Laurel, Dino Imperial, and Luigi Nolasco finishing their UAAP careers. This season’s King Archer Carlos Muñoz was also sidelined due to a nagging shoulder injury suffered during the team’s second game of the season.
“We lost last year, that was hard for us,” last season’s best pitcher and rookie of the year Boo Barandiaran reflected. “You don’t want to go back to that. We just want to win it more than ever.”
Entering the season, the Green Batters roster consisted of 14 rookies and sophomores, 70% of the team’s composition. “Sabi ko sa kanila, wala ng rookies at sophomore dito sa UAAP. Pag maglaro kayo dito, mama na kayo. It’s a gentleman’s game, wala ng pa-baby dito,” La Salle head coach said about his young team. “Kelangan lumaban kayo. Fight for your name and fight for your school.”
After a come-from-behind loss against the National University Bulldogs in their season opener, the Green Batters immediately regrouped and strung together three consecutive wins prior to their match-up against the defending three-time champions.
The La Salle sophomore, who is also part of the Laurel baseball family, started for the Taft Avenue-based squad in their first encounter with Ateneo in the UAAP since Season 77. Barandiaran solely focused on pitching in the game since he does not want to think about offense and defense in the pivotal tilt. “When I start, I don’t like hitting. I like focusing on one thing. And it’s better for the team because we have good hitters,” he said. “In the end, it was a good decision.”
Barandiaran was right, the high-powered batting order of the Green Batters delivered and gave La Salle an early 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the 4th inning. However, the champions stormed right back during the said inning with Barandiaran giving up three clean hits that led to two runs. Filipino-American Blue Eagle Marquis Alindogan then connected with a huge 2 RBI double to center field that cut the La Salle lead to just a solitary run going to the 7th inning.
Even with the Blue Eagles rally, Barandiaran admitted that he did not overthink nor panicked as most would do during the situation. “I believed in our hitters. I know they can hit and it started well for us when we got two hits. It gave leway to me. From then on, I just wanted to make sure that they won’t get ahead of us,” he said. “[If they did] that’s when we get kabado. So the offense, the intensity of the game was all good. Even the bench and the crowd were load. Everything was good.”
The La Sallians bombarded the Ateneans with five hits in the inning, including two doubles and a triple, that paved the way for seven runs. The rally broke the game wide-open and the Blue Eagles were not able to recover,falling 14-7 to close out the first round.
After at least 135 pitches and 8 2/3 innings, Barandiaran tallied eight strikeouts and gave up just eight hits against the high-octane Ateneo offense. As he entered the team’s clubhouse, “Boo” was showered with cheers by the entire La Salle faithful in attendance. “I wanted to play that inning but they were able to connect on me,” Barandiaran said about wanting to pitch the entire game. “It’s okay, we got the win. That was important.”
More than just the win and the top seed going into the second round, the most important thing La Salle gained in the game was that it erased any doubts that they can’t beat the defending champions. “Now we’re confident. We’re super confident and we want to keep on that. We want to play even better,” he disclosed. “There’s no such thing as stopping and then playing better. You just want to continue until the end.”
When asked about if he and the team can finally take home the championship that has eluded his school for the past 13 years, Barandiaran confidently answered: “I do believe. 100% I believe.”
