In a striking display of skill, tenacity and teamwork, the De La Salle Zobel (DLSZ) High School baseball team overpowered Ateneo, 11-4, in the winner-take-all match of UAAP Season 77 to claim the championship for the Juniors Baseball Division last March 12 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
DLSZ’s victory underscored the true colors of our green-blooded Zobel batters who were determined to maintain their position of leadership in the UAAP’s Junior Baseball Division. “This is ours,” they let off during the pre-game huddle. They wanted nothing less than to seal the season with a back-to-back title.
The excellent pitching of Team Captain and this year’s MVP, Gino Tantuico, highlighted the championship game who together with relief pitcher AJ Francisco, and closer Carl Minana, gave up a no-hitter for the full 7 innings. GTantuico faced 12 batters in 4 innings, setting the stage for a win with 4 strikeouts.
The offense was equally impressive with the powerhouse hitting of our Zobel batters scattering 13 hits throughout the game.
True to a La Salle-Ateneo finale, the game was neck to neck. The first to the fifth inning was a pitching duel between starters GTantuico of DLSZ and Marco Mallari of Ateneo. With key hits coming from seniors Anton Acuña and Luis Leonio, as well as sophomore, Angelo Tantuico, DLSZ found themselves on familiar territory, leading the game by the slimmest of margins 2-1 by the end of the fifth inning.
The top of the 6th inning was reminiscent of Game 2 where DLSZ was up by one run, only to let it go with Ateneo scoring 4 runs in the 6th and 6 runs in the 7th. This time around, however, DLSZ craved the championship more than anything. The team had it in their eyes and in their hearts. There was no stopping them. In the huddle, they claimed victory as they cheered, “This is ours!”
This game-changing 6th inning saw the hot DLSZ batters blitz with 7 hits and 9 runs to widen the lead to 11-1. The Zobel batters were on a roll. Hundreds of spectators at Rizal Memorial witnessed for themselves, the true colors of this champion team.
Ateneo tried to make a comeback on the bottom of the 6th, and scored 3 runs as GTantuico gave up 2 walks. Francisco valiantly came in to take the mound and got 2 outs while giving up 4 walks and 3 runs. Not leaving anything to chance, Miñana was brought in to close the game.
After 2 fly outs and a walk on the 7th inning, Miñana pitched the third fly-out to center fielder Magsadia to win the team’s 2nd consecutive UAAP Baseball Jr. Championship.
“Sinunod lang talaga ng mga boys ang game plan. Maganda ang execution,” said Head Coach Kelly Culubong. The boys’ impressive performance this season was anchored on its roster of seasoned coaches led by Coach Culubong, Ricardo Jimenez, Jaime Paningasan, and Gil Encarnado, and under the leadership of Team Manager Pepot Miñana.
First Baseman and ace slugger Sandro Manzano won the Best Hitter, Best Slugger and Most RBI Awards; Starting Pitcher AJ Franciso won the Best Pitcher Award; and Shortstop Gino Tantuico was named MVP for Season 77 of UAAP. The Most Stolen Bases and Most Homeruns awards went to Ateneo’s Marco Mallari.
The DLSZ Junior Baseball Varsity baseball team is composed of Jose Maria Tantuico (DLSZ 2015), Jose Carlos Miñana (DLSZ 2015), Alejandro Martin Manzano (DLSZ 2015), Antonio Jose Francisco (DLSZ 2015), Jose Antonio Acuña (DLSZ 2015), Francis Antonio Dungo (DLSZ 2015), Luis Antonio Leonio (DLSZ 2015), Martin Roberto Mapa (DLSZ 2015), Joseph Victor Martinez (DLSZ 2015), Daniel Geoffrey Magsadia (DLSZ 2016), Ivan Edric Hernandez (DLSZ 2016), Joshua Santos (DLSZ 2016), Fumiya Kyle Ueda (DLSZ 2016), Angelo Raphael Tantuico (DLSZ 2017), Julio Alfonso Arrastia (DLSZ 2017), Romualdo Anton Rosas (DLSZ 2017), Lorenzo Angelo Amado (DLSZ 2017), and Isaac Sebastian Valmores (DLSZ 2016).
This is the third UAAP championship of the De La Salle Zobel Baseball Jr. Division in just four years, winning in 2012, 2014 and 2015. It is a fitting tribute to the school and in all certainty, will be a lasting legacy through generations of DLSZ baseball, one season at time.
