DRAWING from his deep experience as a Major League Baseball scout, Fil-Am coach Vince Sagisi Jr. is bringing a new offensive-oriented mindset to the national baseball team tipped to rule the East Asia Cup scheduled Oct. 27 to Nov. 3 at the Village pitch of the Clark International Sports Complex in Angeles, Pampanga.
“We have put together a quality baseball team that will compete not only for the East Asia Cup but also for many more championships. I did not come here all the way from the US just to finish second,” Sagisi said yesterday during the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum at the Philippine Sports Commission conference room.
Joining Sagisi, who took over the helm of the national squad last June, in the public sports program were baseball chief Chito Loyzaga and national players Claren Caasalan and Agon de Vera.
Loyzaga echoed the sentiments of Sagisi, saying: “We expect the Philippines to be a powerhouse squad in the East Asia Cup, which will be the qualifying event for next year’s Asian Cup. The two top two teams will make it to the Asian meet.”
Loyzaga, the president of the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association, said also competing in the East Asia Cup are Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
“Preparations for the tournament are at 90 percent and should be completed in the next few days,” said Loyzaga, noting the last big Asian baseball meet the country hosted was the Asian Cup in 1995.
Underscoring the offensive clout of his charges, Sagisi, who was an MLB scout for 13 years, the last with the Cleveland Guardians (formerly Indians), said the Nationals had 80 runs and gave up just three in sweeping its four-game tune-up series against the Singapore national team last month at the Rizal ballpark.
“Our hitting is outstanding, anybody on the roster can hit, the pitching is outstanding, the defense is outstanding,” said Sagisi, who was born in Ilocos Sur.
“We’re trying to elevate baseball in the Philippines. And we’re bringing in a different perspective. We’re going to be the next great baseball team, we’re coming after Japan, China and Korea,” Sagisi said in the public sports program presented by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, Smart/PLDT and the country’s 24/7 sports app ArenaPlus.
“We are bringing a new perspective to our team, on how Major League Baseball prepares their players to compete at the highest level, and I consider our national team to be the highest level and is that how we treat our players,” he pointed out. “We will be prepared like no other team has prepared. We are bringing a perspective that has not been prevalent here in a while.”
A strong pitcher and slugger on the national squad, Caasalan said it took sometime before and he and the other players embraced Sagisi’s principles.
“Naging focused lang kami sa roles at goals namin. Medyo nanibago dahil bago ang coach, pero ti-nake namin na parang new subject lang. Naging open-minded kami at naging effective naman,” said Caasalan, who was described by Sagisi as their “Shohei Ohtani,” the LA Dodgers superstar.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the effectiveness of Sagisi’s tactics were on display in the way the national team pounded top UAAP clubs Adamson, NU and La Salle, winning against all three with a combined output of 40 runs while just giving up four.
Sagisi, bullish about his squad, predicted that “we are going to be the next great baseball Asian country. We are coming after (powerhouses) Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. We respect but we do not fear them.”
