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.
(“We kind of had a disagreement, Coach Randy (Dizer) and I, in that last minute, right? But I told him I just needed a hitter. Even if you don’t look at the stats, Angelo was one of our more consistent hitters throughout the season, so at that very moment, I made the decision that he would be the one to take the hit.”)
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.
“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 syempre 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.
(“We all know what we’re capable of. It was just the 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 because, of course, we don’t want to move on just focusing on what we did wrong—we also want to recognize what we did right.”)
