MANILA, Philippines - After two bridesmaid finishes, the NU Bulldogs finally tasted sweet victory in the UAAP senior baseball championships and team manager Wopsy Zamora said yesterday the goal is to make it two in a row next season with an intact lineup reinforced by three crack rookie pitchers.
It’s been a whirlwind ride to the top for the Bulldogs whose only other baseball title came in 1966-67. Zamora, 67, jumped aboard in 2009-10 and backed by SM Prime Holdings president and NU chairman Hans Sy, transformed the NU squad into an overnight contender. The crown eluded NU twice but on his third season with the varsity, Zamora made sure the Bulldogs went all the way to the altar.
Success didn’t come easy. “We were seeded fifth among six with Ateneo No. 1, UST No. 2, La Salle No. 3 and Adamson No. 4,” said Zamora, a diamond aficionado who was Baseball Philippines commissioner last year. “Our secret was mental conditioning. Coach Saki (Bacarisas) toughened the boys’ minds and told them not to be intimidated. We started out 1-2 and after a massacre by La Salle, we adjusted our batting order with three rookies and six veterans. The change led to seven straight wins. We finished the eliminations 8-2 and took first seed with a twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals. Ateneo was second, La Salle third and UST fourth. We lost to UST in our first game of the semis but won the next to go to the finals against Ateneo.”
Zamora said Game 1 against Ateneo was a nightmare as the Blue Eagles romped, 13-4. But NU stormed back to even it up, 5-2, then captured the crown, 5-4. “The day before each playoff game, we treated the whole team, including 24 players, at our house in Makati for swimming, lunch and dinner,” he said. “It made us a tighter unit. We told the boys good teams win games but great teams win championships. We talked about the heart of a champion and challenged them to show the will to fight, win and gain the gold. Ateneo had seven sluggers and the shortest was 5-11. But we kept reminding the boys not to be intimidated. We countered with good hitters.”
In the Game 3 clincher, the Bulldogs roared to a 3-0 lead but entering the ninth inning, Ateneo had knotted the count, 4-4, with NU at bat. After the first batter popped out, M. J. Gante singled. Ateneo pitcher Adrianne Bernardo then erred on a wild throw to first hoping to catch Gante off base. Instead, Gante scampered to third. With two outs, Mark Anthony Elic smacked the ball to centerfield. Ateneo’s Kirk Long dove for a catch but the ball slipped out of his glove as Gante scored the winning run. NU’s defense blanked the Eagles in the bottom of the ninth to seal it.
“The MVP was our 19-year-old pitcher Aries Oruga from Batangas,” said Zamora. “He pitched in 11 of our last 12 games with no relief. In Game 1 of the finals, he hurt his right knee playing centerfield. Luckily, the MRI showed no tear, just a bone chip under the knee. So he was back on the mound for Games 2 and 3. The victory wouldn’t have been possible without Hans who has done a lot to upgrade NU’s athletic department which is headed by Junel Baculi. During the baseball season, Hans watched all our games except for two because he was abroad on business. Not too many know that Hans’ favorite sport is baseball which he played at Xavier. He’s a thoughtful and caring person, someone you’ll want on your side in battle. We share the same passion for the game.”
Zamora was only seven when his father took him to watch legends Boy Codiñera, Rudy Lugay and Babes Adorable play baseball at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. He grew up loving the sport. Zamora played a year of softball as a shortstop with the Ateneo high school varsity in the NCAA. From 1991 to 1994, he was Silversports TV’s color commentator for baseball.
“Aside from baseball and softball, I played jungolf, billiards and bowling but never won a championship,” he said. “Until in 1975 when I coached Metrobank to the national championship of the Game of the Generals which the late Ronnie Pasola invented. I remember in the title series, I benched my Board 1 player for disciplinary reasons and replaced him with a rookie who managed to get a draw. We wound up winning the championship but the big story was how we did it despite leaving out our top player. I’ve always felt discipline should never be compromised in sports.”
Zamora, who owns the light-and-sound company Amigo Entertainment Technologies, said since taking over the Bulldogs, he has been immersed in baseball. “We’re going for a repeat,” he said. “We’re not losing any player and we’ve recruited three outstanding pitchers. We’re also getting back Kong Calivoso who was out last year with an ACL injury. I take my job as team manager seriously like my idols Tommy Lasorda and Joe Torre. My friends tease me for aligning myself with NU, particularly as I finished elementary, high school, college and graduate school at Ateneo and 75 percent of my friends are from La Salle. But the Jesuits taught me that when there’s a job to be done, to do it well. I love baseball and as team manager, I’ll do what it takes to win. Before the season, we did team building in Los Baños and Morong, Bataan. Our confidence got a boost. We started to believe in ourselves. We knew we would be champions.”