Eagles and Bulldogs tear up diamond

It looked like it was going to be one of those usual Rizal Memorial baseball games even if it was Game 1 of the UAAP finals.
For one, there were not too many fans already seated, aside from parents, friends and school band members when the game between Ateneo and National University started last Thursday.
But a championship is a championship and before long, many more baseball fanatics, including the senior citizens who consider the Memorial their home, started trekking in.
In sum, about 400 people were on hand that morning, quite big when you consider that your usual baseball crowd at the Rizal ballpark never really reaches the thousands.
The game had a different generational feel, though, and insiders explained that the codes of conduct instituted by different youth leagues may have brought about more restrained decorum from the dugouts and in actual play.
Gone were the usual catcalls and jeers from each dugout, the usual rally cap antics and the joyful teasing that have been part of baseball through the years. Perhaps some untoward incidents in the past caused the implementation of stricter guidelines for cheering and baseball chatter.
Nonetheless, the championship game did not disappoint the exacting taste of baseball die-hards. There were tons of action in every inning, with double plays and rundowns happening at almost every turn.
It was after all a battle between two hungry collegiate teams: NU had won this title before in the 1960s but Ateneo frequently languished in the bottom through the years. Both sides had won their semifinal games and were determined to go all the way.
In the opening frame, Ateneo’s Mac Laurel nailed a two-run homer that gave the Eagles an early 3-0 edge.
It was the opening barrage that Eagles needed as they held the Bulldogs scoreless for seven innings before NU got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth. Ateneo went on to win, 11-4, by scoring four more cushion runs in the top half of the ninth.
Ateneo now has a chance to wrap it up on Sunday and claim a first-ever UAAP crown. At the start, Laurel felt that they had a pretty good chance for a great season. He knew the field well, having played the game since the age of six in the ILLAM tournaments and the Southeast Asian Games.
NU’s pitching was stable but could not hold up against the heavy bats of the Eagles in the last two innings. What’s more, the Bulldogs stranded too many runners, like during the crucial fifth and sixth when they were breathing down the necks of the Eagles.
NU will need a well-rounded game on Sunday to tie the series against an Ateneo team that is aching for a place in the school’s athletic history.