AJHS Pony team places 2nd in TOT baseball tourney

Ateneo de Manila Junior High School’s Pony team placed second in the recent 26th Metro Schools TOT Baseball tournament. The team is composed of the following Blue Eagles, whose sections in SY 2022-2023 follow their names in parentheses: Sancho Afuang (7-Claver), Iñigo Bacosą (7-Alvarez), Coby Banta (7-Alfonso), Raffy Blaza (8-Azevedo), Miggy Covarrubias (7-Alvarez), Migz Cruzat (7-Collins), Andre Dizon (7-Grimaltos), Ethan Galvez (8-Ishida), Ponce lgnacio (7-Alonzo), Mio llagan (8-Aranha), Tommy Oblea (7-Goto), Ken Orata (9-Favre), Migo Peneyra (9-Lalemant), Lesther Salapunen (8- Rubio), Bash Salazar (7-Alfonso), and Gino Templo (7-Colombiere). The team is coached by Rex Bangayan and Emerson Barandoc.

The tournament was played using a single round robin format where Ateneo had a 3-2 record. The team played in the championship of the schools division but lost to La Salle College Antipolo, 12-7. The game started off slow, with Ateneo down 0-6, but the boys never lost hope and crawled to 5-5 to make it a tight game. Unfortunately, the LSCA team proved its worth by finishing the game on a 5-0 run to claim the championship.

The TOT tournament was held from December 2022 until April 2023, with most games being held at the Sto. Niño and Marquinton baseball fields in Marikina. It was the first competition for the Blue Eagle batters coming from the pandemic, and they showed grit, hard work and courage as they found themselves in unfamiliar situations. Each player had his "champion moment" and emerged from the tournament knowing himself and his teammates better.